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CTAE

 

 

       

 

CTAE stands for Career, Technical, and Agricultural Education. Although it's more commonly associated with middle and high school levels, some elementary schools (we are currently one of very few elementary schools offering this to our students) are introducing elements of CTAE to help students explore various career paths and develop practical skills from a young age.

 

Here’s how CTAE will look at our school:

  1. Career Exploration: Students will participate in activities and lessons that introduce them to a variety of high-wage, high-skill, and/or in-demand careers. This could include guest speakers, career days, and projects that allow them to learn about different professions in a hands-on way.  Kiara Exum will be supporting some of this work during her monthly counseling lessons. 
  2. Technical Skills: Basic technical skills will be taught through activities that involve using tools or technology. For instance, students could work on simple engineering projects, coding basics, or learn how to use basic tools in a supervised setting.
  3. Integration of Core Academic: CTAE is a real-world reinforcement of core academic areas. Each unit will include the integration of core academic standards that your child is learning in their grade level.
  4. Curriculum:
    • STEM/Engineering: Students will learn the basics of the design thinking process through projects such as building bridges, creating insulators, and developing water-powered rockets.  
    • Computer Science: Students will learn the basics of computational thinking, animation, artificial intelligence, and basic drag, drop programming with Scratch, and robotics.
    • Entrepreneurship: Students will learn about opportunity recognition, product development, marketing, finance and profitability through real-world projects/activities including creating a toy store, “Shark Tank”, and the stock-market game.
    • Agricultural Education: Students will learn about plants, animals, and farming through hands-on activities like school gardens, planting projects, sustainability, and where their food comes from.

 The goal of incorporating CTAE concepts at the elementary level is to spark curiosity, build foundational skills, and help students start thinking about their interests and potential future careers in a fun and engaging way. We will explore careers that require a variety of post-secondary options including two and four-year colleges, technical schools, trade schools, apprenticeships, and entrepreneurship.