CTE Program Celebration Informational Technology

 Week 2 of the CTE Celebration Month is informational technology. The jobs that are a part of the information technology CTE program include:

• Graphic designer

• Web designer

• Prepress technician

• Bookkeeper

• Medical biller/coder

• Payroll specialist

• General manager

• Event planner

• Preschool teacher

• Teacher assistant

• Network and computer administrator

The Business Management program has three certificates, which include: event management, retail management, and small business management. These management degrees were created in 2016 after the program was started. 

The informational technology job wages are:

• Graphic designers - $57,542

• Web designer s- $50,300

• Prepress technician - $45,073

• Bookkeeping - $44,336

• Medical biller/coder - $52,697

• Payroll specialist - $48,750

• General manager - $ 72,100

• Event manager - $41,717

• Preschool teacher - $ 33,246

• Teacher assistant - $33,470

• Network and computer system administer - $87,201

Michelle Hayes is an accounting technology major at LBCC. What made her go into LBCC’s Career and Technical Education program is that she has always loved numbers. That helped her be able to work in any field that she was looking into when she completes her accounting technology degree. 

Due to COVID, the program has been harder in that there are pros and cons. One of the pros of the program during Covid is how much instructors are helping, and one of the cons is that it's online. 

The biggest challenge is not being able to be in person, Hayes said. The biggest highlight is working with numbers and learning and making new friends along the way. 

The benefits of joining the CTE program include learning about the classes that are for accounting majors, and she can be certified in QuickBooks online and help her skills in Microsoft. 

Some information for future CTE students that Michelle shared: “Stay motivated and don't give up, because the teachers in this will support and help you in any way possible.” 

CTE program celbration at Linn Benton Community College

 

The Career and Technical Education celebration is this month. CTE is an LBCC program that helps students that are in the program get linked to employers in the regen for their career. They also help prepare them for high-wage and high-demand careers. CTE is also emphasizing problem-solving, creativity, teamwork and critical-thinking skills. 

The CTE celebration first started in 2017 and the first national CTE “signing day” was in 2015 where the president of the CTE program Greg Hamann invited LBCC to come back the following year and present. 

How the college selects students that are going into the CTE program is what they call “first-come, first-served” because they know that it's competitive and a lot of students want to be in the CTE program. 

During CTE Month, the first week of February focuses on health care programs. The health care programs that are a part of the CTE are:

• Dental assistant

• Diagnostic imaging

• Exercise and sport science

• Medical assistant

• Nursing

• Nursing assistant

• Occupational therapy assistant

• Phlebotomy

• Public health

• Sleep technology

• Surgical technician

The typical wages that the health care CTE program students can earn in their jobs are:

• Dental assisting - $48,358

• Occupational therapy assistant - $65,167

• Diagnostic imaging - $76,777

• Medical assistant - $41,007

• Medical coding and reimbursement - $52,762

• Nursing - $94,950

• Surgical technology - $59,762

• Phlebotomy - $42,717

• Sleep technician - $52,697

• Nursing assistant - $ 35,884

The signing day this year will be completely virtual over Zoom on April 15 from 9-10 am. There will be pre-recorded sessions from presenters and some live presentations in breakout rooms. The Zoom link will be posted on the website when the date is closer. 

Covid has affected the CTE program in many ways, including how many things are virtual and it has been hard for most of the programs. The programs that were doing projects and labs and more in-person are now presenting instruction over Zoom, along with in-person lab sessions.

Tirah Rich is a diagnostic imaging student who is getting her associate degree in science but focusing on diagnostic imaging. She knew she wanted to be a part of the CTE program when she was little, when she wanted to go into radiology, and it had a high pass rate and was more affordable. She’s in a two-year program that learns all the information for a four-year program in a two-year program. 

Covid has made her program harder in some ways. The program was already set up with some online classes. The only thing that COVID has affected is the restriction on how many people can be in the lab at a time and the communication between the students so that they can help each other with the work where they need help. 

The biggest challenge to the CTE program is not having enough time, she said. Rich said the program isn’t easy because whenever you have extra time after doing the main assignments then you are reviewing and studying the material in order to do well. The biggest highlight is the connections with the peers and staff. Even with the pandemic the staff and students find a way to get connected to study together. 

The biggest benefit of the CTE program is joining an open door to other opportunities. LBCC is helping the students find the right universities for where they want to go for a career. In the health care portion of the CTE program due to covid, the nursing students are helping administer the COVID vaccine. 

At a glance:

What: Celebration of CTE

When: The month of February

Where: Linn-Benton Community College campus

What are the weeks of celebrations: Feb. 1-7: health care; Feb. 8- 14: information technology; Feb. 15- 21: industrial and manufacturing; Feb. 22-28: agriculture and culinary programs

Website: www.linnbenton.edu/about-lbcc/news/oregon-celebrates-cte-month.php

The Protest of Salam

 During the salam Oregon protest, there was a man called the prayer man who was at the protest who was going to be there from sunrise to sunset just praying. He was the only one there who was praying in front of the capital during the protest. He said “I committed to god to be here today no matter what.” he was praying to get the energy out there into the world. He thought that God sent him to the capital to be there for a purpose. 

He couldn’t see the big picture but he was doing what was asked from god. The prayer man thought that it was important to have a relationship with God. “ men are not perfect” he said. He said that because you have to rely on your own dependent. The prayer man thought that if you have a relationship with God then you know when people are deceiving you and being misleading towards you. 

The prayer man thought that mobs aren’t apart of christ because christ is a small voice, not a big voice that everybody hears. The prayer man was praying for the peace of the country so we are not divided by hate and fear. “ the united states is a united body.” the prayer man’s family was on the pay flower. Apart from the Minnesota cowboys, he was also part of Cherokee and some of his family were the first Mormons that were in the united states. 

Before the prayer man was at the capital god told him what to bring to the protest and that was candles and the American flag and God told him what to do during the protest. He fasted for a few prior to the protest. The prayer man was there from sunrise to sunset just praying in front of the capital, 

The prayer man wasn’t there for himself he was there for god to help people heal from this hate and fear that has been happening in the country. He wanted to concentrate the ground of the capital so people who would stand on the ground of the capital would feel peace. All the prayer man wanted was to bring peace.