What an exciting time to be a career-technical educator. What a challenging time to be a career-technical educator. The breakneck pace of changes brought on by The Ohio CORE legislation and the development of Ohio’s Perkins plan sure present us with some huge challenges. I know that educators have historically been creative and innovative, so I know these challenges present us tremendous opportunities for growth and development. But how do we cope with the changes and prepare ourselves not only to survive them but to thrive with them? Information is the answer.

In order to be prepared for the onslaught of changes that are planned under Ohio’s Plan, we must have access to information about the direction the Ohio Department of Education and Ohio Board of Regents are taking. Did you know Ohio’s Perkins plan will be finalized by the State Board of Education in February and that it contains provisions for all career-technical programs to adopt the Tech Prep model? For information and a PowerPoint presentation on Ohio’s Perkins plan, please visit Ode’s web

The changes also present new opportunities for ATPA. Among them: President-elect Dee Stark-Kurtz, a math teacher and leadership institute participant at Auburn Career Center New division services to members including this web site, quarterly newsletter, legislative alerts, and networking events Career Tech = College Tech Prep. This is a great opportunity for ATPA to provide leadership to career-technical educators as they embrace the Tech Prep educational philosophy.