Category: CTE

Warriors Build ‘Castles’, Learn Team Work

By America Cardenas

Card Building Activity

More than one thousand Pueblo students participated in this year’s Card Castle Building Leadership activity on Friday, Aug. 14, during all seven periods, in an effort to increase team work, bring about self-awareness and learn campus responsibility.

Ms. Marie Little, auto teacher, brought this activity to Pueblo from previous trainings at various other schools. A year ago, she asked her CTE (Career and Technical Education) colleagues to take it on as a group lesson in order to reach more students.

“Mr. Mario Reyes [an intervention specialist at Pueblo] and I did this same project at Howenstine High Magnet School with the entire campus as part of a community-building activity, and it was wildly successful,” Little said. “It made a lot of sense to bring it to Pueblo.”

Mr. Pete Pederson, who teaches graphic arts and yearbook, delivered the debriefing at the end of each period, which provided our students a deeply meaning of the day’s activities.

Junior Alejandro Carrazco said, “After Mr. Pederson debriefed us, I fully understand the learning objective of the activity. We were here to learn and understand that we can overcome our obstacles. We weren’t able to talk, but we learned through other means to communicate.” He paused and said, “We learned that there are alternative ways to talk to one another.”

All students of CTE teachers and Ms. Kari Warner [student council advisor/science teacher] participated in this event.

Students Learn Valuable Lessons At DECA Conference

By Iram Arce and Daniel Cantu

On Sunday, March 1, six Pueblo Students attended the DECA [Distributive Education Careers of America] Conference at the Phoenix Convention Center, competing in events among 2,000 other students from all around the state.

Also known as CTSO [Career Technical Student Organization], DECA is part of marketing—giving students an opportunity to learn business skills and compete with others in various activities.

Mr. Pete Pederson, Pueblo’s digital printing (and yearbook) instructor, was a judge for one of the DECA contests that involved students having to apply for an entrepreneurial business proposal. Pederson said that Pueblo students did not compete in this event.

“All contests were scenario-based,” Pederson said. “Students had to play their part and exemplify business etiquette and business savviness.”

Mina Van Gorder, President of the DECA chapter at Pueblo, attended the competition for the second time—this year with more experience and preparation.

“Last year, I had no idea what I was doing,” Van Gorder said. “Now I had more experience on what to expect from the competitions.”

Junior Daniella Contreras admitted that she was really nervous in front of people during the competition, but was able to confront her fears and succeed.

“I was about to have a breakdown, but luckily Mina [Van Gorder] was there to help me out,” Contreras said.

After the competitions students enjoyed the award ceremony—and this is when our Warriors found out that they would not advance to the next round.

“Although we didn’t win, we met lots of new people and gained much more experience on how to talk professionally, making us effective leaders,” Contreras said. “Learning how to be an effective leader is important—not just at school but in ‘real’ life.”

The advisor/sponsor for DECA, Dr. Maria Bicknell, explained that students were very successful raising money for this trip through numerous events and student participation.

Bicknell said, “I’ve been to many of these conferences, and I never get tired of them. I have a never-ending passion to help our students grow and to learn to be leaders as well as critical thinkers. I really want them to succeed in life.”

Ernesto Somoza: Getting Students Ready for the Next Step

By Anais Salais

Mr. Somoza (center in plaid shirt) with group of students

This spring semester welcomed several new faculty and staff members to the Pueblo community, including Mr. Ernesto Somoza, our new Communication Media Technology teacher.

Somoza attended the University of Arizona where he earned his bachelor’s degree in photography while minoring in art education.

While attending the University of Arizona, Somoza worked for the campus’ newspaper, The Daily Wildcat, as a photographer. The significant amount of hours that he invested while working for the Wildcat (and later with Red Bull as a photographer) was enough for Somoza to earn a CTE teaching certification in photography.

After graduating from college, Somoza took his first teaching position working as a special education teacher at Utterback Middle and later at Oyama Elementary School.

Eventually, Somoza saw an opportunity to teach photography, and this position eventually brought him to Pueblo.

“I wanted to find a job that was close to home and one that I got to teach photography and graphic arts,” said Somoza. “It’s exciting coming to work [at Pueblo] because I’m teaching what I truly love.”

Somoza is teaching a new class here at Pueblo that educates and trains students about enrolling in communications media technologies courses.

“This class hopefully breaks the monotony of how school is set up,” Somoza said. He added, “This class helps students understand basic concepts while making them more creative while adhering to the Common Core.”

Although Somoza came in at the beginning of the second semester—and the class is something both new to him and his students—Somoza remains optimistic and positive.

“So far, my experience at Pueblo has been great!” Somoza said. “The students are enthusiastic, and that makes me excited to teach when I see that they are excited.” He added, “I’ve already seen students’ creative levels increase, and I can just imagine where they’ll be by May.”

Somoza’s goal for the remainder of the school year is to ensure that his students are prepared to enter the appropriate communications art class next fall.

“I’m hoping that when students leave this class in May, they’re able to amaze their next teachers,” said Somoza.

Somoza also has hopes to see more students, especially the underclassmen, enroll in his class as they prepare for the communication art electives.

“I would encourage students to take this class if they are interested in taking classes like photography or graphic arts,” said Somoza. “This class is about going more in depth with the outstanding programs that are offered here at Pueblo.”

Audrey Diaz Named To FEA Honor Society

Audrey Diaz, sophomore at Pueblo Magnet High School, has been named to the Future Educators Association’s 2012-13 Honor Society . She is the first Pueblo student to be named to the this national organization’s Honor Society.

Audrey Diaz named to Future Educators Association Honor Society.

Audrey is in the Education Professions class and participates in work-based learning at Hollinger Elementary School.  For more information see the F.E.A. website.

Congratulations to Audrey on this award and for representing Pueblo at the national level.

Pueblo Opens Newly Remodeled CTE Auto Tech Shop

Career and Technical Education students at Pueblo High School will be using the newly renovated auto shop beginning October 8th. The project was funded by TUSD bond monies and the ground breaking ceremony began July 2012.

Upgrades included: new HVAC, new electrical services, new cement apron, epoxy flooring, paint, three lifts, new restroom, changing area, new compressor, instructor’s post and six industrial garage doors. This remodel makes the Pueblo Auto Shop a premier CTE auto shop facility.

Thanks to Project Manager, James Baker, Vivi Watt, principal, Pueblo administrators, site coordinator, Maria Bicknell, and CTE central directors, Kathy Prather and Chuck McCollum for their leadership.

[More photos]

Recent Pueblo Alumni at Work

Sabrina Avitia- Castillo Associates

Sabrina Avitia, Pueblo Alum of the Class of 2011, is Assistant Office Manager, at Castillo Associates, specializing in health and life insurance. Daniel Castillo, President of Castillo Associates, is so impressed with Sabrina’s skills and work ethic, he wants to hire another Pueblo Alum for his expanding business.

Ms. Avitia credits her CTE Tech Apps/Business with her mastery of typing, composing business letters and organization of Excel Spreadsheets. She also says her job shadowing and internship at St. Mary’s Hospital were meaningful opportunities that taught her to interact with the public, skills she uses in her current job.

Jose Santay- Jim Click Nissan

Jose Santay, the poster child for hard work, won the prestigious Jim Click Automotive Scholarship in May 2012. He is now working in the service department of Jim Click Nissan on Automall Drive. As the Scholarship winner, Jose receives $4,000 in free tools and his education is paid for courtesy of Jim Click. After Jose completes his Automotive Certification at Pima, he will continue on to complete his Associates Degree and then his Bachelor’s Degree.

Jose’s supervisor, Jason Davis, said that, “Jose has the attitude and the aptitude to succeed.” Jose gets up at 5:00 a.m. to open the shop at 7:00 a.m. Jose credits his Pueblo experience for where he is today. Endless hours working as Manager for the Basketball Team with Coach Romero, and his internship with Spraymasters Autobody, readied him for work at the professional level.

[Thank you Mr. Ostroff]