The AGC of America ap-plied for and received funding from the United States Department of La-bor to begin Construction Career Academies in lo-cal high schools across the country. AGC Hous-ton was awarded one of these grants - which are funded under the Presi-dent's High-Growth Job Training Initiative. This

initiative focuses on high-growth industries, such as construction, where specialized skills training curricula needs to be developed or up-graded to ensure that workers have the right skills for the right jobs.

February 5, 2009 marked the launch date of the Aldine & MacArthur High Schools Academy of Construction, Art, Sci-ence and Technology (CAST).

Students will be exposed to speakers and business owners in the industry throughout the school year. Career fairs are also planned for possible summer employment.

Aldine & MacArthur High Schools Academy for Construction, Art, Science and Technology (CAST)

S P R I N G 2 0 0 9 A L D I N E I N D E P E N D E N T S C H O O L D I S T R I C T 1 4 9 1 0 A L D I N E W E S T F I E L D R D . H O U . T X 7 7 0 3 2

C A R E E R A N D T E C H N I C A L E D U C A T I O N

S P E C I A L P O I N T S O F I N T E R E S T :

CAST Academies

FEMA DAWG HAUS

Aldine BPA & Reed Career Day

Advisory Council Visits Carver Magnet

Nimitz Counselor Tour

Hospitality Competition

IKE BPA On The Move!

TECH Rally 2009

A Word From The Director

Pictured in the photo left to right: Franklin Higgins (CTE Director), Jose Rivera (FEMA Representative), John Rogers (Aldine HS Teacher) and Bart Miller (Aldine HS AP)

FEMA & LOWES

Partner with

AISD Schools

To Build\Remodel Safely!

The "Dawg Haus" is com-ing to town to show how to build or rebuild stronger, safer structures that can withstand most tornadoes. "Dawg Haus" is the acro-nym the Department of Homeland Security's Fed-eral Emergency Manage-ment Agency (FEMA) uses for its portable tornado-resistant demonstration structure. Building materials for the project will be generously donated by Lowe's Store #0563 in Spring and store #0501 on SH 249. Aldine High School stu-dents under the direction of their teacher John Rogers will build the "Dawg Haus" as a class project.

Aldine Advisory Council Visits Carver Magnet High School

A total of 11 Business partners attended the 3rd Advisory coun-cil meeting held at Carver high school on March 26, 2009.

Business partners representing engineering, finance, higher edu-cation, construction manage-ment, and non-destructive test-ing were presented the taught curriculum and also given a tour of the Carver Career & Technical education classrooms.

Career Counselor Helen Houston gave an overview of the various strands of pre-engineering taught at Carver.

CTE Department Chair Mike Taylor led the group on a tour of the manufacturing, computer aided drafting, electronics, and research and design classrooms.

The robotics lab was espe-cially impressive to the mem-bers as the witnessed the stu-dents milling a part needed for their senior research de-sign development project.

A L D I N E A D V I S O R Y C O U N C I L V I S I T S C A R V E R

Nimitz counselors recently toured two of Aldine ISD CTE pro-grams that train students for careers in hotel & restaurant man-agement. The Nimitz Hospitality internship partners with the Doubletree Hotel Houston Intercontinental Airport and the Holi-day Inn Houston Intercontinental Hotel. On March 9, high school interns Johanna Lopez and Claudia Reyna guided the counselors through newly renovated, elegantly appointed facilities at both properties.

While on site the counselors observed students applying valuable skills in areas like front desk, banquets, kitchen, restaurant, sales, reservations, accounting, engineering and human resources. Ho-tel mentors explained that students must master a series of task performances to prove job readiness by the end of each year in the program. Ms. Milsaps, Hospitality coordinator, reminded coun-selors that students can receive college credit for this course if they choose to pursue a degree in Hotel & Restaurant Manage-ment.

The appreciative counselors left with new knowledge and warm Doubletree Chocolate Chips Cookies.

Page 2 C A R E E R A N D T E C H N I C A L E D U C A T I O N

On January 30, 2009,

eight Aldine High School BPA seniors

participated in the Reed Academy Career

Day activities, under the supervision of

their teacher Marjorie Isgitt. Yesenia Go-

mez, Anthony Guevara, Betty Hernandez,

Martha Matamoros, Jessica Montemayor,

Yvonne Olivares, Ana Reyna, and Ricardo

Salas prepared information to 160 Reed

Academy students.

The BPA students talked about choosing a

career to suit your interests and passion,

and showed the academy students how to

fill out an application form, prepare a re-

sume, and get ready for an interview.

The high school students enjoyed the ex-

perience and the academy students en-

joyed having the attention of the "older"

students. It was a great experience for

both groups

Nimitz HS

Counselors

Tour

Hospitality

Programs

The Aldine High School Chapter of FCCLA Regional competition

1st Cecilia Garcia - Applied Technology - Made with Love

2nd Magali Rios, Janie Toscano - Applied Technology - Zippy Bags

3rd Adilene Rios, Monica Melgar,Rachel Taylor —Applied Technology - Rag Dolls 2 Love

Hall HIGH SCHOOL FCCLA REGIONAL COMPETITION

1st Crystal Virgen Life Event Planning

1st Steven Shaw Job Interview

2nd Valarie Martinez Illustrated Talk

HOSA Spring Leadership Conference, February 20 – 21, 2009

1st Margaret Sampson Clinical Specialty

1st Kanica Hardy Nursing Assisting

1st Almeria Rosario Medical Laboratory Assisting

1st Keely Culp Medical Photography

1st Goomatie Ramnarine Job Seeking Skills

2nd Victor Tellez Path physiology

2nd Gladis Soria Extemporaneous Health Poster

3rd Yolanda Navarro & Cedric Ntanosya, Researched Persuasive Speaking

3rd DeAntre Parrott, Rayna Evans Biomedical Debate

2009 State & Regional Competitions

T E C H R A L L Y 2 0 0 9

Page 3

3rd place- Recruiting Audio Visual

Crystal Virgen & Steven Shaw 3rd place- Banquet Centerpiece Design

Crystal Virgen

6th place- Job Interview

Steven Shaw

The 13th Annual High School Hospitality Competition

was held March 26, 2009 at the Katy ISD Merrell Center. From among 14

Houston area programs, 242 students demonstrated work-place competencies

in various events. Aldine ISD hospitality students brought back medals.

Competition events were judged by professionals from the hotel

and restaurant industry.

First place winners in some events were eligible for scholarships.

Students also spent time networking with recruiters at the college fair.

A total of ten students from internship programs with the Doubletree Intercontinental Hotel and the Holiday Inn Intercontinental Hotel competed. Participants included Juan Cabrera, Jamie Kerr, Valeria Martinez, Joana Millan, Angela Pineda, Claudia Reyna, Rocio Reyna, Eunice Rodriguez, Steven Shaw and Crystal Virgen.

The Aldine ISD District TechRally

was held at Grantham Middle school

on Saturday, Feb. 7th. Students from

Middle and High school participated in

a variety of events including Technol-

ogy Bowl, CO2 Car races, Pen making,

Bridge building , Safety Posters and

problem solving.

It is hard to believe the 2008-2009 School Year is coming to a close. The Career and Technical Education department has had a successful school year. The CTE

Advisory committee has met throughout the year focusing on what is being taught in the CTE curriculum. Our goal is to constantly improve the CTE course content as we prepare students to enter into a college or the workforce and/or both.

As we move forward toward the end of the year the Aldine ISD, Career and Technical Education department along with the AGC (Associated General Constructors of America, Inc.) and Lone Star College are imple-menting a Continuing Education Construction Trades Management Program.

The Aldine and Eisenhower high schools have received grants to participate in the FEMA and Lowes “DAWG HAUS” Project. This program is designed to teach students how to design and build houses that will withstand most tornadoes.

Also, the 50th Livestock show once again set new records with the Grand Champion Steer selling for $20,000.00 to the First Construction Group. The total sale was $225,000.00. Furthermore, as part of this event the FCCLA Country Fair was outstanding. Many students displayed projects from both our middle and high schools.

The Aldine Tech Rally and LOTC Drill meets continue to be extremely successful. The number of parents and students participation has increase each year. Students have an opportunity to demonstrate their skills against their peers in a competition event. The knowledge and the skills the students gain from these two events are invaluable.

As we approach the end of this school year, we are planning for the next two years. In 2010 we will be implementing the new Texas Essential and Knowl-edge and Skill (TEKS) for Career and Technical Education, as well as opening a new high school in 2012.

If we can be of further assistance in any way, please contact us.

A W O R D F R O M T H E D I R E C T O R

On March 26, 2009, the Eisenhower Senior High School Business Professionals of America

were invited by the Texas Department of Transportation to participate in small business briefings.

Under the supervision of BPA Chair Jettie Brookins and Co-sponsors Delia Bass and Courtney Williams, the

students were able to witness first hand, small and minority-owned businesses, who sought out contracting

opportunities and information on how to do business with TX DOT and the state.

This was not your typical field trip. The students were actively engaged and were able to partake in various

breakout and networking sessions, the contracting opportunity fair, and reception. The students were

intrigued and excited to be in the company of successful business people.

A few days later on Saturday, March 28, 2009, Big IKE’s Business Professionals were part of MDAStride and

Ride at Minute Maid Park .

Accompanied by teachers Jettie Brookins and Delia Bass, the students participated in a one-mile victory lap

for continued research and cures for kids and adults who are affected by Muscular Dystrophy. For the last

couple weeks students at Eisenhower collected for MDA. Students and teachers bought circles, which were

displayed around the cafeteria, made contributions on-line and our Club members collected donations from

their families. Our students were proud and honored to be part of this life changing experience.

BPA On The Move!