In this Issue:

A Letter From the Director

Tech Prep: Reaching Out To Students

Changing the Face of Education: Why Students Enroll in CTE Programs

Assure Success: Have a CTSO in Your Program

Professional Development: Marketing 101—The How-to Book on Recruiting CTE Students

Using Tech Prep To Market Your Program

Sample Handout to Market Articulated Programs

Community College Corner: Recruitment Strategies That Work

Best Practices: Coconino County— Accounting Students Tour CCC Campus

Best Practices: Western Maricopa—Tech Camp Gives Students a Taste of Technology

Cartoon

Professional Development:
Marketing 101—The How-to Book on Recruiting
CTE Students
Vic Harrel, CTE Director for Paradise Valley High School District

In today’s educational environment there is a lot of pressure on students to perform — pressure to achieve high performance on state-mandated academic assessments, pressure from parents to take all the right courses for college admission, and pressure from themselves to find the right path for their lives.

With all of this occurring how do we as Career and Technical Educators promote our programs, and hopefully convince students to take CTE courses? There is no one fail-safe way. Here are some things I have found to work in promoting CTE to potential students.
  1. Informational brochures mailed directly to homes. The brochures outline programs, describe classes, present a coherent sequence of instruction, are informational without being overwhelming, and get to the parents.
  2. Participation by current students and teachers at Career Fairs at the Middle/Junior High Schools. We use students to demonstrate activities in CTE classes. Current students with their enthusiasm are very good marketing tools.
  3. Visits to program areas by potential students have been an effective way to generate interest. Invite students to come to the CTE classes to watch the activities. Make sure that on scheduled days for the tours there are a lot of hands-on activities.
  4. Present CTE information to every parent group you can. Ultimately it is the parents that have great influence on what their student’s schedule looks like.
  5. Have an updated website that is dynamic. We are Career and TECHNICAL Education after all. Demonstrate the technical side of the house as often as you can. Students love it!



  6. Present to the local school board as often as possible. Have students take part in the presentations. The Board is ultimately responsible for support of the CTE program. When more board members are informed about CTE, you increase the potential to offer classes students want to take.
  7. Movie Theater Ads. I have found on-screen theater advertising has been helpful. It can be expensive, but it reaches students in an environment they can be found. Have on-screen ads showing at least the month prior to registration. It will be worth the effort.
  8. Presentations at Future Freshman or Parents’ Night again present an opportunity to attract students you might not otherwise contact.
  9. Articles in the local newspaper provide an opportunity to highlight programs. The locals are papers such as The Independent, etc. They go to every home in the district.
  10. If there is a district newsletter or newspaper, have articles and achievements included. Talk to the district’s information office to request the opportunity to develop and present articles.

Whatever you do get parents involved as much as possible. Parents talk! Use students as spokespersons. Kids will listen to peers. And finally, build a good program. Kids will not stay if they get nothing out of the class, and they will kill a program by talking negatively about the class.

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