- By Paul Griser
- Around Town
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The event, which was attended by dozens of proud family members and friends, honored the top first-year and second-year students from each CTE program. Several other awards were also presented throughout the evening, including scholarships and the Rotary Club Student of the Year.
TST BOCES’ Career and Technical Education Center recently held a recognition ceremony to honor students who excelled in the classroom this year. The event was capped off by naming the Rotary Club Student of the Year. Pictured from left, Ithaca Rotary Club President Janet Steiner, students Deanna Day, Elizabeth Drake and Valerie Covert and CTE Principal Jeffery Podolak are all smiles during the event. Day would go on to be crowned Student of the Year. During his speech, DiLucci noted that career and technical education is “different” than most traditional high school settings, in that CTE programs look to determine how successful a student will be at the next level.
“Most schools measure success based upon regents test scores, graduation rates and college entry rates. And those are very important measures, and we base our success on those too,” said DiLucci. “However, we go just a little beyond that. We look at how we believe an individual will fair in college and careers.”
DiLucci said career and technical education programs should no longer be thought of as a second-class option. More importantly, CTE students should no longer be thought of as less successful than their classmates that do not attend a BOCES, DiLucci said.
DiLucci noted that many graduating seniors will go off to post-secondary schools, whether they are technical schools, two-year universities or four-year universities. However, DiLucci cautioned that college isn’t the final designation.
“That’s a very important message for me to make tonight. College is just another step. There’s more,” said DiLucci. “College is just another step in the journey to find meaningful careers. And we are confident that the students here tonight are well on their way to such careers.”
DiLucci noted that each student in attendance is leaving the school with skills that are marketable, regardless of the pathway they choose moving forward.
In closing, DiLucci read the poem, “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten” by Robert Fulgrum, which explains that the world would be a simpler place if adults adhered to basic rules.
Following DiLucci’s speech, class awards were presented to students from their respective teachers. Several other awards were then presented, including scholarships and the Berkey and Wheelis Awards.
The final award of the night, the Rotary Club Student of the Year, was presented to criminal justice student Deanna Day. Also finalists for the award were students Elizabeth Drake (animal science) and Valerie Covert (culinary arts).
Closing remarks were delivered by District Superintendent Dr. Jeffery Matteson, who congratulated the students for a successful school year and encouraged the students to finish the year strong.
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