Ohio College Tech Prep Podcast

Middle School Career Technical Education Programs

In our March episode of the Ohio College Tech Prep Podcast, host Matt Cola from Kent State University and the Northeast Ohio Tech Prep Region sits down with Bill Dimascio from the Four Cities Compact to explore an exciting and often overlooked area of Career Technical Education (CTE)—middle school programs.
During this engaging conversation, Matt and Bill dive into:Funding Strategies: How to secure and sustain financial support for middle school CTE initiatives.
Marketing Approaches: Best practices for promoting CTE programs to students, parents, and the community.
Teacher Licensure: Understanding the requirements and pathways for licensure in middle grade CTE programs.
Whether you’re an educator looking to expand CTE offerings to younger students or an administrator seeking guidance on program development, this episode has something for you!
Reach out to Bill Dimascio at wdimascio@fourcitiescompact.org for more information about middle school CTE.
If you’d like to suggest a topic, recommend a guest, or even appear on an episode yourself, email Matt at mcola@kent.edu.
 

Including the Student Voice on your Business Advisory Council

Episode 15: Including the Student Voice on your Business Advisory CouncilIn this episode Host Matt Cola interviews Mr. Ryan O’Donnell from the Columbiana County Educational Service Center and the Columbiana County BAC discuss the BAC’s decision to include student members as part of their council.In the discussion Ryan and Matt discuss how having student members has changed the way the council operates, the benefits of having students on the council, how the students were recruited and selected, the benefit of having students sitting on the council, and speedbumps that the BAC navigated as they began the process of adding student members.If you have any questions about what was discussed on the podcast feel free to e-mail Ryan a trodonnell@leetonia.k12.oh.us.And if you’ve got a suggestion for an episode topic, or would like to be featured in an upcoming episode please e-mail Matt at mcola@kent.edu

Strategies for Serving Perkins V Special Populations: Students with Disabilities

In this episode host Matt Cola interviews Harleigh Hodge from Ashtabula County Technical and Career Campus. This episode is the first of several that will focus on different Perkins V special populations.
In this episode Matt and Harleigh discuss the population Students with Disabilities. Harleigh provides strategies aimed at how to best support and work with the special population.
During the interview, Harleigh specifically mentions two resources- they are linked below:
Youth Opportunities: https://www.atech.edu/youthOPPORTUNITIES.aspx
Grant Information: https://education.ohio.gov/Topics/Special-Education/On-Track-for-Graduation
If you have any questions about what was discussed on the podcast feel free to e-mail Harleigh at harleigh.hodge@atech.edu.
And if you’ve got a suggestion for an episode topic, or would like to be featured in an upcoming episode please e-mail Matt at mcola@kent.edu

Work-Based Learning and Pathways in the Culinary Arts Career Field

For our last podcast of the year host Matt Cola, Tech Prep Coordinator from Kent State University, out of the Northeast Ohio Tech Prep Region, had the opportunity to interview Chefs Anthony Thomas and Tiffany Daley from Trumbull Career and Technical Center.
During this interview Chefs Thomas and Daley discussed opportunities available in Trumbull Career and Technical Center’s Culinary Arts Academy, how they navigate work-based learning opportunities, and shared pathway opportunities for their students in both higher education and directly in the workforce.
If you’ve got questions about anything Chefs Thomas and Daley talked about, they can be e-mailed at anthony.thomas@tctchome.com and tiffany.daley@tctchome.com respectively.
Additionally, if you’d like to appear on the podcast, or would like to request the podcast find a guest to speak on a subject e-mail Matt at mcola@kent.edu

Advice for New CTE Teachers from a Seasoned Educator (Part II)

This month’s episode features the second in our two part series centering on providing advice to new CTE educators from a veteran Educator. This is the second half of the interview where Host, Matt Cola speaks to Veteran Educator (and current Lakeland Community College Tech Prep Coordinator) Lucy Ott.
During this episode they touch on Career Technical Student Organizations (CTSOs,) WebXams, Work-Based Learning, Ohio Graduation Seals, and Industry Recognized Credentials.
If you have questions or want to connect with Lucy about her CTE experience, feel free to reach out to her at lott1@lakelandcc.edu.
Additionally, we are currently recruiting for guests for our second semester podcasts- we are especially interested in interviewing people who are skilled in recruiting nontraditional populations for CTE programs. If you are interested in appearing on the podcast to talk about that subject, or any others- or know someone who is, please e-mail Matt Cola at mcola@kent.edu.

Advice for New CTE Teachers from a Seasoned Educator (Part I)

This month’s podcast episode features host Matt Cola interviewing Lucy Ott, a veteran former CTE teacher and current Northeast Ohio Tech Prep Coordinator at Lakeland Community College.
This episode kicks off a two-part series aimed at supporting new CTE educators. In the first episode, listeners will gain valuable insights on navigating their first year as a CTE teacher, marketing their programs, implementing strategies for recruitment and retention, and designing effective curriculum for the first year.
This series is both an excellent complement for those who attended our Career Technical Education Summit, and a helpful resource for those who couldn’t make it.
Be sure to tune in for part two in November, where we’ll cover the fundamentals of Career Technical Student Organizations, WebXams, work-based learning, graduation seals related to CTE, and industry-recognized credentials.
If you have questions for Lucy about her experience teaching a CTE program, feel free to reach out to her at lott1@lakelandcc.edu.

Work-Based Learning and Partnerships in the Air Transportation Pathway

During this episode of the Ohio College Tech Prep Podcast, Host Matt Cola, of Kent State University and the Northeast Ohio College Tech Prep Region interviews Mary Jane Stanchina of the Six District Educational Compact.
During the episode Mary Jane shares information about how the Aeronautics Careers Academy Stem Program incorporates work-based learning opportunities into the program, speaks about how the compact creates strong business partnerships for students of this program, and shares options for higher education credit available in the program.
If you have any questions about the Six District Educational Compact, the Aeronautics Career Academy Stem Program, or anything else Mary Jane shared information about, please feel free to contact her at stahcnhinm@hudson.edu.

Building, Maintaining, and Growing your Successful Business Advisory Council

Welcome to Season 2 of the Ohio College Tech Prep Podcast!
This month's episode sees host, and Northeast Ohio Tech Prep Coordinator from Kent State Matt Cola (mcola@kent.edu) interviewing Sandy Furano, Director of the Mahoning Valley Regional Council  of Governments and Career Counseling Services at the Educational Service Center of Eastern Ohio 
During the episode, Matt and Sandy discuss the Eastern Ohio ESC Business Advisory Council, which services 25 school districts over 5 counties. 
During the interview Sandy shares what it took to build the council, how she and her team maintain it, help it grow, and what she thinks earned them 3-star status last year! 
If you have any questions for Sandy not mentioned in the interview please e-mail her at s.furano@esceasternohio.org. 
To continue learning about building the best business advisory council possible consider joining us for the All Ohio Business Advisory Council Webinar on August 29th from 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM. To register click this link.
If you would like to appear as a guest on the podcast or would like to suggest a topic, please feel free to e-mail Matt at mcola@kent.edu.
Thank you for listening!

Northeast Ohio Workforce Trends with Jacob Duritsky from Team NEO

During this month's podcast episode Kent State Tech Prep Coordinator Matt Cola sat down with Jacob Duritsky, the Vice President of Strategy, Research, and Talent from Team NEO to discuss the workforce needs of Northeast Ohio, and to learn a little bit more about what Team Neo does, and how they can help our CTE Educators and their students.
If you have any questions for Jacob he can be reached at jduritsky@teamneo.org. 
To be featured on an episode of the podcast, or suggest a podcast topic, please reach out to Matt Cola (mcola@kent.edu) or the member of the Northeast Ohio Tech Prep Regional team you feel most comfortable with!
Thank you for listening to the first season of our podcast, and please consider giving our podcast a rating or review!
We look forward to you joining us again in August!

What are Innovative Pathways?

This month Matt Cola, the Tech Prep Coordinator from Kent State University interviews Lynette Boggs from the Wayne County Schools Career Center. During the interview the two discuss the new CTE option, The Innovative Pathway. 
Lynette details the process of applying for this type of program, and explains why Wayne County Schools Career Center decided to utilize this option for their Industrial Electronics program.
If you have any questions about anything Lynette spoke about please feel free to e-mail her at lboggs@wcscc.org.
If you would have a topic recommendation for the podcast, or are interested in appearing as a guest on the podcast, please e-mail mcola@kent.edu. 
Thank you for listening!