In honor of February being Career and Technical Education month, let’s talk about how we can propel CTE forward through advocacy! Career and Technical Education has always been something that I have held near and dear to my heart. CTE is ultimately the answer for students wanting to gain skills for life beyond high school. CTE is such a broad field that it includes Family and Consumer Sciences, Agriculture, Business, Engineering, and so many more courses. One very important part of these courses is the ability for students to participate in career exploration. Career and Technical Education is more important than ever before due to the extreme workforce shortages the state of Nebraska is facing. The question is, what can we as youth do to advocate for the things that matter to us?
- Share Your Story! With all of the social media platforms available to us today, it is quite simple to share our personal experiences and reach a large audience.
- Write a Letter to Your Senator! You can write a letter to express your thoughts on upcoming legislation. Your voice as a student matters more than you could imagine. Even better, schedule a meeting with the senator from your district!
- Attend local council meetings. Your voice matters in your community! Testify and share your experiences and how the discussed topic could support or affect certain areas of your community.
Right now there is a bill that would assist with advancement of Career and Technical Education and Career and Technical Student Organizations. Legislative bill 1085 would provide state funding for Career and Technical Education. I would highly recommend that you visit the Nebraska Legislature’s website and learn more about this bill. Here is the link: https://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_bill.php?DocumentID=47591. I hope this blog encourages you to speak up and advocate for what matters most to you! If you have any questions about advocacy or LB1085, please feel free to reach out to me directly via email at vpdevelopment@nebraksafccla.org.
Harleigh Claussen, Vice President of Development