In a continuous display of commitment to education improvement ten teachers and administrators from Mid-America Technology Center (MATC) recently attended the “Tech Centers That Work” (TCTW) Making Schools Work Conference hosted by the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) in Nashville.
This prestigious event, held annually, gathers educators from Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia to share innovative strategies, best practices, and cutting-edge research aimed at improving student outcomes in technical and career education.
MATC’s delegation attended and played an active role in the conference by presenting their successful programs and initiatives. Their presentations covered various topics, reflecting a diverse range of expertise and commitment to fostering student success.
Moneyball – Strategies Applied to a Technology Center: Mike Eubank, MATC superintendent, outlined the leadership and management concepts of the movie “Moneyball,” and correlates this to strategic planning, operations, and administration of MATC.
Selling Our Programs – One Teacher’s Approach to Marketing & Public Relations: David Graham, Criminal Justice teacher, shared some tried and true strategies to take ownership of your recruiting process and some tools to help with marketing and public relations.
He has developed and implemented a system of selling yourself as a teacher, selling your school as a great option, and selling the programs offered. This presentation is filled with stories about successes and warnings about failures.
Mid-America’s Professional Skills – Giving Students a Competitive Edge: Karen Hemmerling, director of Instruction; Brooke LeMay, Academic Center teacher; and Jenny Thompson, Academic Science teacher, this presentation expounded on the MATC School Improvement Goal that was initiated in 2011 and shared the ‘value-added’ skills and experiences students receive at MATC to give them a competitive advantage in the job market and in life.
These strategies have grown from “Top 10” to “33 Things” skills and practices that have become a part of every program and training offered at MATC.
MATC Access – A Streamlined Solution to the Enrollment Journey: Michael Gustafson, Admissions coordinator, and Susan Martin, Multimedia teacher, discussed the creation and evolution of the ACCESS tool as well as the successes and failures discovered during its initial implementation. This solution automates multiple sources of input regarding a student’s demographics, enrollment desires, and sending school background information and associated documentation to supply data to one friendly database.
ACCESS is MATC’s most current solution created to get the right students in the right programs.
Mid-America’s Grow Your Own – Create and Implement Your Own Teacher Induction: Karen Hemmerling, director of Instruction, and Randy Henderson, director of Fulltime Programs, used this presentation to show how MATC meets the needs of a first-year teacher.
Meeting the needs of a first-year teacher is essential for the retention of teachers ensuring they have the tools necessary to meet the challenges of today’s teachers.
Mid-America’s Collaborative Classes – Collaboration Between CTE Programs: Randy Henderson, director of Full-time Programs, and Alex Jurado, Automotive teacher, discussed that MATC teachers have collaborated for many years.
This workshop showed how MATC teachers team up for collaborative experiences and answer questions: “How does this help our students?” “Who benefits and how can other teachers get started?” “Is it worth it?”
The MATC team also benefited immensely from other presentations and workshops. Keynote sessions and breakout discussions provided them with fresh perspectives on tackling common challenges in technical education. Topics such as project-based learning, competency-based education, and effective use of data in driving instructional improvement were particularly impactful.
A MATC spokesperson said, “The participation of MATC’s teachers and administrators in the SREC TCTW Making Schools Work Conference underscores the tech center’s dedication to continuous improvement and excellence in technical education. By sharing their success and learning from others, they are poised to further elevate the quality of education at MATC, ultimately benefiting their students and communities.”
