Top 5 Ways to Celebrate CTE Month 2024

This post about CTE month originally appeared on the iCEV blog and is republished here with permission.

Key points:

As a career and technical education (CTE) teacher, you know the importance of preparing students for the workforce, no matter what it is. CTE Career Group or Pathway they follow.

But how do you express that importance to your students, your school, and your community?

That is where CTE Month comes in!

Every February, students, educators, and administrators raise awareness about CTE programs by celebrating CTE Month.

So how can you Celebrate CTE Month and show support for your program?

Here are the five best ways you and your students can get involved:

1. Share data about CTE
2. Invite visitors to see your CTE program in action
3. Increase participation in professional and technical student organizations.
4. Spread the word on social media
5. Make CTE Month official in your city

After reading, you'll have plenty of ideas on how to celebrate CTE month and get your students excited about their future careers.

1. Share the facts about CTE

Knowing the facts about CTE and sharing it is a key part of celebrating CTE Month. It's a great idea to start by sharing basic information about CTE as a whole. Also, read the information that pertains specifically to the career group to which your program belongs.

But where can you find this information? There are three great places to start.

First the The Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) has fact sheets that you can download and share in an instant. The documents include lots of facts and even some infographics to make a lasting impression about CTE!

Besides, Advance CTE has fact sheets all about what CTE is, how it works and more showing its benefits. Combined with his passion for CTE, these facts can help you become an extraordinary advocate!

Once you have the information, it is important to find people to share it with. That's where the next idea comes in!

2. Invite visitors to view your CTE program

A great way to spread the word and showcase your CTE program is to host visitors. Visits can increase awareness of the importance of CTE and help others understand the opportunities CTE provides to its students and the community.

While you can invite almost anyone to come see it, it's smart to start with local business leaders and policymakers. These people are great references for hiring your future graduates and boosting your CTE program with funding.

To plan and conduct a visit to your classroom, you can follow a Nine-step process created by ACTE.

But the visits are just the beginning. You have a golden opportunity to take your celebration and promotion to the next level by getting your students more involved!

3. Increase participation in technical and professional student organizations

TO career and technical student organization (CTSO) is an extracurricular group for students on CTE pathways to expand their knowledge and skills by participating in activities, events, and competitions.

As noted by the National Coordinating Council of Career and Technical Student Organizations (NCC-CTSO) says:

“CTSOs expand teaching and learning through innovative programs, business and community partnerships, and leadership experiences at the school, state, and national levels.

“CTSOs are a powerful avenue to help our nation address key challenges such as workforce development, student achievement, economic vitality and global competitiveness.”

There are currently nine authorized CTSOs:

Encourage CTE students who have not yet joined to learn more about CTSOs by sharing the benefits of joining with them. Information about each organization can be found on the CTSO website.

This not only engages students in CTE, but also encourages them to celebrate CTE Month themselves. The more students invest, the more positive impact they can have in their community!

Another way students can get involved is through the next idea on our list: spreading the word on social media.

Talking about CTE Month on social media is one of the easiest and most powerful ways to make an impact.

You can celebrate on social media by sharing CTE facts, information about your CTE programs, highlighting CTSOs, and more.

Use each social media platform in different ways to celebrate and spread the word. Try searching for related groups, pages, and hashtags to connect with others in the CTE community and expand your reach.

For some ideas, the ACTE has a page dedicated to defense of social networks with tips, hashtags, and other information you and your students can use to make a real impact through social media.

Want to do even more as a CTE advocate? The last item on our list will have the biggest impact of all for your community!

5. Make CTE month official in your city

If you want full support for CTE in your city (or even your state), encourage your policymakers to designate February as CTE Month.

Pushing for recognition of CTE month shows your community that you and your local government care about modern education.

By get CTE Month officially proclaimed in your cityintroduces an entire city to the benefits and importance of CTE.

Local businesses, broadcasters and citizens can participate in promoting a form of education that benefits everyone!

Start celebrating CTE month today!

As a Career and Technical Education (CTE) teacher, you want to advocate for the importance of CTE to your students and your community. Celebrating CTE Month in February is a great way to raise awareness about your field, gain support from policymakers and community leaders, and get your students excited about future opportunities.

You can start celebrating CTE Month by choosing an item from this list to start making a difference for CTE in your community.