TCE News

Cisco 10th Anniversary Meeting with Governor

Virginia Beach City Public Schools
Department of Media & Communications Development
Office of Community Relations
Superintendent's Report
February 13, 2008

On February 13, 2008 The Cisco Network Academy celebrated 10 years of partnership with the Commonwealth of Virginia with an event at the Patrick Henry government building featuring Governor Tim Kaine, Secretary of Education Dr. Thomas Morris, numerous legislators and Cisco executives and Networking Academy graduates, students and faculty. (CNNMoney.com). Cisco invited a few graduates to be part of the event, to meet the Governor and to speak briefly about the impact the program had on their future careers and studies. Carroll McGillin, National Initiatives Manager for the Cisco Networking Academy Program invited Cory Gray, a graduate of our Cisco Academy to be one of the graduates that was part of the formal presentation with the Governor. Ms. McGillin also invited one of the Cisco classes to be a part of this celebration and to meet the governor.

Beach Students Receive Industry Certifications

Education News
By Lauren Roth
The Virginian-Pilot
© March 2, 2008 VIRGINIA BEACH

More than 1,000 city high school students earned an industry certification or license last year, mostly outside traditional areas such as automotive repair and cosmetology.

Beach students also are earning credentials in Web site development, drafting software, computer networking and programming.

"Students attest it helps them as soon as they open the door to an employer," said Patrick Konopnicki, director of technical and career education for city schools. "They can't believe a high school student has this."

During the 2006-07 school year, 1,380 Beach students earned industry certifications and an additional 464 passed career assessment tests or earned licenses. The total was up nearly 500 from two years earlier.

Second to Fairfax County, students in the Beach system earned more credentials than any other Virginia school divisions. Norfolk schools ranked fourth in the state in 2006-07, with 487 credentials, and Chesapeake schools ranked seventh, with 452 credentials.

Cory Gray had a job before he got out of high school after being the first Virginia Beach student to earn a Cisco networking credential in 2001. Now 24, Gray works as a traveling network engineer and consultant and expects to earn a salary in the six figures by the year's end.

"All the school systems should provide this for their students," Gray said. "It's for smart people."

More than half of Beach career and technical students go on to college, Konopnicki said.

Credentials earned in Virginia Beach cover a wide range of subjects including customer service, early childhood education, plumbing, turf management and Microsoft Office.

Konopnicki said passing scores demonstrate students are qualified for work or college, the goal of high school career and technical education.

Nick Palmer said the outdoor power equipment program at Virginia Beach's Technical and Career Education Center directly prepared him for his job at Land & Coates Inc., and for earning two certifications a year after graduation.

"It allowed you to do it hands-on so you could later explain it on paper," he said.

The school division spends about $100,000 a year to cover testing costs for industry credentials.

Konopnicki said he expects Beach students will earn the most credentials in the state in 2007-08 because hundreds take work place readiness tests that are being counted for the first time.

The state Board of Education is encouraging school divisions to increase industry certifications as part of a new awards program that will recognize exemplary career and technical education programs with awards and cash prizes.

Gray, who advises students in the Cisco Networking Academy at the Advanced Technology Center, said their knowledge is up-to-date because they train on the "latest and greatest" equipment.

"That's what customers are using," he said. "If you're behind, it doesn't really apply."

Reza Hashampour, founder of Impaq Corp., a Virginia Beach-based software development and networking company, has hired at least a half-dozen Beach high school graduates in the past several years.

"These are 15-, 16-, 17-year-old kids," he said. "They put a lot of pressure on these kids so when they get to the real world, they know what to do."

Lauren Roth, (757) 222-5133, lauren.roth@pilotonline.com

Advanced Technology Center Wins
Boat Design Competition!

Currents
A weekly publication of Northrup Grumman Shipbuilding - Newport News
March 31-April 4, 2008

The Advanced Technology Center in Virginia Beach won the boat design competition sponsored by The Apprentice School’s chapter of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME) on March 15. The team’s boat was built by Newport News apprentices to compete head-to-head in sea trials that took place at the Bass Pro Shop lake in Hampton. “The competition is intended for high school students in the Hampton Roads area to have fun while raising awareness of the naval architecture profession, the shipbuilding industry and careers in naval design,” said Richard C. Boutwell, advisor to The Apprentice School’s SNAME chapter. “The competition was designed to engage student’s math, science and creative abilities and expose them to engineering, drafting and project planning.”