Walpole , MA (PressExposure) November 01, 2011 -- Green Education Foundation (GEF) and the Virginia Beach City Public School (VBCPS) district have teamed up to ensure Career and Technical Education (CTE) students are prepared to thrive in the new green economy. CTE helps our nation meet the very real and immediate challenges of economic development, student achievement, and global competitiveness. Some 14 million students are enrolled in CTE - encompassing every state, with programs in nearly 1,300 public high schools and 1,700 two-year-colleges. Today, global competitiveness means efficient technology, green construction, and green design engineering, to name only a few.
GEF's CTE Sustainability Program is an exciting new offering for career and technical schools nationwide, with the VBCPS being the first district to join the movement. Patrick Konopnicki , the Director of Technical and Career Education at VBCPS, quickly recognized the value in the program: "As an industry certification leader in the state and nation with 4,541 student credentials earned last year, VBCPS has a keen interest in supporting sustainability as a 21st century skill that all 70,000 students are required to learn. We are excited about adding GEF's CTE Sustainability Program to the list of 102 credentials from which the students can choose. The future will be a better place because of this partnership, and we are proud to be the first school system to undertake this certification effort."
"While there are many educational programs at the state level for CTE Programs of Study, very few, if any, include materials that emphasize sustainability," commented Victoria Waters, CEO of GEF. "The objective of the CTE Sustainability Program is to offer educators state-of-the art sustainability education resources that can be easily integrated into classroom and shop-based instruction." The program provides an introduction to sustainability practices, technologies, and career opportunities in select CTE programs of study. This includes in-depth sustainable building coursework in a semester long Green Building Course that is modeled after the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED® Rating System. Through this program, students will be motivated to become sustainably-minded professionals, eco-conscious entrepreneurs, and green consumers.
GEF's CTE Sustainability Program will provide sustainability curriculum, courses, tests, certifications and supporting materials for the following career clusters: Architecture and Construction; Transportation; Agriculture; Manufacturing; Natural Resources; and Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.
For more information or to participate in the CTE Sustainability Program, contact service@greeneducationfoundation.org.
About Virginia Beach City Public Schools
Virginia Beach City Public Schools is the largest school division in Hampton Roads - southeastern Virginia - serving approximately *69,433 students in grades K-12. Currently, the school system includes 56 elementary schools, 14 middle schools, 11 high schools, and a number of secondary/post-secondary specialty centers, including the Renaissance Academy, Advanced Technology Center, Technical and Career Education Center, and Adult Learning Center.