On Wednesday, January 11, counselors from all eight Lake County Schools high schools will be spending the day at Lake Tech! During the day, they will have the chance to spend time in our programs participating in interactive, hands-on experiences. The counselors will also enjoy lunch created by our own Culinary program and go to the Institute of Public Safety. Each counselor will receive a resource notebook containing all the pertinent Lake Tech information. The purpose of the day will be to showcase Lake Tech for both dual-enrollment and after-graduation opportunities so that when the counselors return to their schools, they will have a better understanding of the options Lake Tech has available for high school students and graduates.
Academic Affairs
Arts, A/V & Technology
Students in the Digital Design program hit the ground running on Wednesday, jumping right back into it with lessons on printing ink. Students learned how to format Photoshop images with a bleed and place them in InDesign on Friday. If you don’t know what a “bleed” is, ask any Digital Design student! It’s great to see their passion and excitement as the whole process is coming together for them now!
Kassie Cozart, who is in Digital Design 2, was promoted to Art Director of the Lake Magazine (highest design position next to the Publisher) and Kristen Haskins (a 2011 Lake Tech Commercial Art graduate) was recently hired as a graphic designer there. Look at the inside pages and see their names posted in the “Masthead” – it’s that page that lists the names of the people are who make the magazine happen – a highly coveted thing for every graphic designer.
Instructor Kerrie Johnson is now on the Lake Minneola HS / East Ridge HS Commercial Art Advisory Committee. The first meeting of the 2011-12 school year was held the Thursday before winter break. It’s an honor to be included and will allow Ms. Johnson to establish relationships that will reinforce all of our programs, as well as lead to students finishing their design training at Lake Tech.
Lake Tech is becoming well-known for producing good designers in our business community, but we need the word to spread so more students will enroll in Digital Design. Jobs are waiting!
Health Science
Lake Tech is offering a variety of short-term health programs/classes during the Spring 2012 Term:
- Phlebotomy, for currently employed healthcare workers, will be offered T/W evenings from 5:00 – 9:30 pm, January 24 – April 5 or April 10 – June 5.
- Nursing Assistant Articulated/Home Health Aide program will be offered M-F from 8:15 a.m.-2:45 p.m., beginning January 23, March 12, or April 30.
- Patient Care Technician (PCT) will be offered M-F from 8:15 – 2:45 p.m. beginning on January 23. Certified nursing assistants may join the PCT Program on March 1, and Certified Nursing Assistants/Home Health Aides may join the PCT program on March 12.
- Lake Tech is also offering CPR, CPR Refresher, and First Aid classes.
Hospitality & Tourism
Culinary student Travis Roy will be graduating very soon and articulating into Valencia College’s pastry program. His final project was on display in the dining room on Friday.
Human Services
The Cosmetology program is preparing for the arrival of 34 new students on January 23! We have senior students working very hard to course complete and prepare for the state board examination.
Seventeen Cosmetology students want to compete in the SkillsUSA Regional Contest. We are having a campus contest at Lake Tech on January 30 to determine which of those students will go on to represent our program at the Region 3 contest on March 1 & 2 in Winter Haven, Florida. Some of the students even came in during the Winter Break to practice their haircutting skills for the contest. They worked really hard, and did a great job on the long layered haircut. The pictures included were taken on the practice day over the break. That’s what we call “Above and Beyond!”
Law, Public Safety & Security
Lake Tech’s Fire Academy, in partnership with Lake County and the City of Tavares, proudly announces the annual Scott Firefighter Combat Challenge, April 13-15, 2012. The event is being offered to promote the physical fitness of fire fighters. The challenge will be the season opener of the 20-plus Scott Firefighter Combat Challenges to be held throughout the United States in 2012. Mission Inn will be the host hotel for the three-day event. While you must be a fire fighter to take part in the competition, the public is encouraged to watch as the participants navigate the challenge course or “The Toughest Two Minutes in Sports”. High school students who are interested in a fire fighting career are also invited to attend the event. Businesses and individuals who want to be an event sponsor should contact Ron Williams at retfc2@yahoo.comopens in a new window.
The equipment is beginning to arrive and excitement is building for this event!
The Night Law class is studying defensive tactics this week and progressing well. Next week starts our new Day Law class and we are all looking forward to getting back to teaching fresh minds.
Line Supervision starts next week. This is a class for currently working officers throughout the county. Several guest speakers have been invited to speak to the class, including Sheriff Gary Borders, and several Chiefs of Police from around the county including one of our Charter Board Members, Chief Fred Cobb. If anyone is interested in hearing them speak you are welcome to sit in on the class. Please contact Sgt. Russell Edwards for the speaking schedule.
Transportation & Logistics
The Auto Collision students worked with the Digital Design students to complete a sign project for Lake Tech’s Mascotte site. It was installed by Jack Miller over the winter break.
Auto Service Technology instructor Mark McKinney has been organizing and upgrading his shop over the past couple of weeks. The tool room is almost complete and looks brand new!
Adult Education
It is a new year, and students are embracing the opportunity to learn new trades and skills to better themselves within their job, or to prepare for new career opportunities that may avail them in the 2012 job market.
They do this through hard work, and our GED/AAAE lab has some dedicated students who studied over the winter break and came back ready to do practice tests. One of our students took her math TABE test and got a 12.9 and is now ready to finish her practical nursing program in February! Everyone is focused and ready to make this new year count.
Classes are ready to kick into high gear at the new Mascotte site. Flyers have been distributed in the community and people are getting excited about the opportunity for GED and ESOL classes in the south end of the county.
Finally, our vegetable garden has been producing over the holiday break. We have tomatoes and peppers ready to pick, and nasturtium flowers which can be added to salads. We do not have enough yet to have a whole meal, but maybe soon!
Student Affairs
As a charter school, we are required to have a Parent Involvement Facilitator. Lana Taylor was selected by the Charter Board to serve in this role. She can be reached at 352.589-2250.
Admissions, Testing, and Financial Aid have been busy, like REALLY BUSY this week!!!! Congratulations to an outstanding staff for working hard to meet our customers’ needs. Thanks! And if you didn’t notice, it was so busy that counselor Art Seidner only had time to get half a hair cut!
Staff Development Opportunities
Several online staff development opportunities are available through the Florida Association of Career and Technical Education (FACTE). The classes usually last 4-6 weeks, and MIP points are available. Check them out at www.facte.org.
- Web Conferencing: January 16, 2012 – February 12, 2012– Online Course – Live Sessions on Mondays
- Technology Basics: January 17, 2012 – February 13, 2012– Online Course – Live Sessions on Tuesdays
- Connected Classrooms– Part I: February 6, 2012 – March 11, 2012 – Online Course – Live Sessions on Monday
- Technology: Feast or Famine: February 21, 2012 – March 19, 2012 – Online Course – Live Sessions on Tuesdays
- Classroom Management for CTE: February 23, 2012– March 29, 2012- Online Course – Live Sessions on Thursdays
- Connected Classrooms– Part II: March 19, 2012 – April 22, 2012 – Online Course – Live Sessions on Monday
- Connected Classrooms– Part III: April 23, 2012 – May 27, 2012 – Online Course – Live Sessions on Monday
Specific training for Adult Educators is offered through Florida TechNet. Check out the one hour webinars at www.floridatechnet.orgopens in a new window
- Getting Students through the Current GED (Webinar): January 11, 2012
- Basics of Learning Disabilities (Webinar): January 19, 2012
- Ask the TABE Expert (Webinar): January 23, 2012
Technology
According to educational blogger Audrey Watters, there are several technology trends we may likely see in 2012. Three that we at Lake Tech are already dealing with are listed below.
- MOBILE PHONES: Mobile learning is hardly a new trend, but we have now reached the point with near ubiquitous cell phone ownership among adults, and growing ownership among children. More than three-quarters of teens own a cell phone, and about 40% own a smartphone. As such, these mobile devices will help unlock some of the promise of “anytime, anywhere” learning opportunities.
- BYOD (BRING YOUR OWN DEVICE): A related trend to mobile learning. More schools will grapple with their policies surrounding students bringing their own devices to school. They do so already, of course, although cell phones, in particular, are often required to be turned off or stowed in backpacks or lockers. It isn’t just cell phones that are brought from home now either. There are iPod Touches, tablets, laptops, e-readers, and netbooks, and schools will weigh whether or not students will be permitted or even encouraged to bring their own devices to school.
- PEER TO PEER: “Social learning” has gained a lot of attention in recent years as new technologies have offered ways for students to communicate and collaborate — whether they’re side-by-side in the classroom or thousands of miles away. The ability for learners to connect with one another will be one of the most important trends of the coming year. This isn’t just a matter of connecting learners with online resources or with online instruction. Rather, one of the big opportunities will be to create a space in which learners can help and teach each other.
If you would like to read her entire blog, click hereopens in a new window.
Community Involvement
Last Tuesday, Diane Culpepper met with Ned and Debra Bowers of Skybolt Corporation to discuss opportunities for machinists.
This Tuesday, Diane Culpepper will be attending the State of the County address presented by the Lake County Board of County Commissioners. On Friday, Diane will attend a meeting with Leesburg City Officials regarding an aerospace project at the Leesburg Incubator facility.
On January 14, the Executive Board of SkillsUSA will be meeting at Lake Tech.
2012 Legislative Session – Bill Tracking
For information regarding the bills that have been filed in Tallahassee regarding Career and Technical Education, both secondary and postsecondary, please click hereopens in a new window.