Staff Members Present Teaching Resource at State Conference

Pennsylvania College of Technology staff members recently presented a session at the Conference on Integrated Learning: The School to Career Connection.

Tom Speicher, video production developer, and Jeannette F. Carter, director of Outreach for K-12, presented "degrees that work: A Free Career Exploration Resource" on Nov. 9.

The three-day Conference on Integrated Learning, held in State College, is conducted by the Pennsylvania Department of Education's Bureau of Career and Technical Education. It is designed to share successful strategies that increase academic and career and technical success for all students.

"degrees that work" is a career-exploration documentary television series produced by Penn College in conjunction with WVIA Public Media. The award-winning series airs on public television. Complete episodes can also be accessed online and through YouTube .

Teachers (grades 7-12) are encouraged to use "degrees that work" episodes and related free lesson-planning guides to help students explore their possible future in one or more of the U.S. Department of Education career clusters explored in the series. The Department of Education developed 16 career clusters, representing occupations in a broad range of industries.

Following a story-driven approach, each 28-minute episode of "degrees that work" highlights the technologies, educational foundation and opportunities within career clusters. Available episodes focus on nanotechnology, welding, advanced manufacturing and plastics. Episodes focusing on green technologies and sustainability are in production.

Speicher is the co-producer of the series along with Christopher J. Leigh, video production coordinator. Speicher is also the co-host of the long-running public television cooking series "You're the Chef," which was filmed at Penn College. He earned a master's degree in communication from Bloomsburg University.

Carter has been Tech Prep and Outreach for K-12 director at Penn College since 1993. She is also director of the Central Pennsylvania Tech Prep Consortium and, since 2002, has directed Workforce Leadership Pipeline grants funded by the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development. She holds a doctorate in political science from The Ohio State University.

Through its work with the state's Career Development Leaders Network, Penn College's Outreach for K-12 Office helped to recruit presenters and plan eight conference sessions at the Integrated Learning Conference.

To learn more about the services offered by the Outreach for K-12 Office at Penn College, call 570-320-8003 or visit on the Web .

For general information about the college, visit online , e-mail or call toll-free 800-367-9222.