CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION SCHOLARS HONORED

It was a great year for the District’s Career and Technical Education programs, as summarized by CTE/Concurrent Enrollment Manager Chris Madrill before the D60 Board of Education.

 

“Each year, our students participate in district, state and national leadership competitions that require them to create a project, test, role play, simulate or present to various professional audiences,” Manager Madrill told the Board. “We have several Career Technical Student Organizations at each of our high schools, and members compete against students in similar organizations for the chance to represent their district, state and even country.”

 

At Centennial, the Future Business Leaders of American program is under the direction of Adviser Joe Petrick.

 

With more than 200 schools competing at the state FBLA championship event this year, seven Bulldogs placed in the top 10 in their events, with the following qualifying for the International Leadership Conference in Atlanta:

At Central, the Health Occupations Students of America chapter excelled in its inaugural year, with two Wildcats qualifying for The National HOSA Conference in Dallas:

“Adviser Janette Ackerman had a slew of placements across the state competition, with 18 students participating in Central’s first ever state championship competition and nine recognitions at the conference,” Manager Madrill said.

 

At East, Janae Passalaqua’s Family Career and Community Leaders of America program once again experienced notable success.

“They will be heading to nationals for the Sustainability Challenge and represent the work being done in The Golden Feather school-based restaurant,” Manager Madrill explained.

 

Also placing first in the Gold Tier, and qualifying for nationals, are the team of Ariana Leon-Mendoza and Lizbeth Serna, in Promotion and Publicizing of FCCLA.

For a second-place finish in the Silver Tier, Atiana Perez and Mary Tafoya Chapter Service Display advanced to nationals.

 

Also placing second in the Silver Tier (Event Management), Aileen Claro and Mryssa Jaramillo are national qualifiers.

 

In Entrepreneurship, Eagles Cooper Johnson, Jordan Chavez and Landon Martinez earned a Silver Medal finish.

 

The following Eagles earned Bronze medals:

Also from East is the DECA chapter, under the advisement of Jacquelyn Armenta. This year, DECA members represented at state and at the International Career Development Conference in Orlando.

 

Devin Klock will serve as a District 9 State Officer for next year, representing at a national level and assisting in the planning of the District and State Leadership Conferences.

 

Kayla Valdez and Skylar Clark earned the “Thrive” level for the DECA Chapter campaign event, engaging DECA Students throughout the year with various activities including Campus Cleanup, Mitten Drive, Veterans Day Card Making, and more.

 

Erika Cordova and Alex Apodaca placed second at state for their Chapter of Excellence Project, which showcased East and the various fundraisers, social activities, and community involvement events that occurred throughout the past year.

 

Jacqueline Armenta was awarded a five-year adviser plaque, with East recognized for donating the most to the Ember Alliance, within District 9 and Colorado DECA.

 

“Devin, Skylar, Erika, Kayla and Adviser Armenta attended the International Conference in Orlando, and had a very educational and beneficial time as they attended multiple leadership seminars and experienced the booming businesses in Orlando such as Warner Brothers Universal Studios and Disney World,” Manager Madrill noted.

 

At South, the SkillsUSA Chapter is under the direction of Advisers Lauren Montoya and Kristyn Graham Bieniewicz, who have supported students through work-based learning.

 

This year, the SkillsUSA State Conference was held in Pueblo, with hundreds of students in attendance.

 

For placing first in Digital Cinema Production and earning a state championship, Gianna Mirshamsi and Sara Sanchez earned the right to advance to nationals.

 

“We will hit the ground running with our CTSO teams at the beginning of next school year so we can represent Pueblo on a global level once again,” Manager Madrill said. “Consider this a Pueblo School District 60 tradition that has been going on for 30-plus years and will continue to do so.”