DETROIT – By now, most of you know that not only am I a meteorologist, but I am also an educator as well, because knowledge is power.
After spending near a decade in the classroom teaching middle school science and also high school family and consumer sciences, I am now a district administrator over Career and Technical Education for a public school district here in Michigan, a vital part of secondary education in all high schools.
But it doesn’t just begin in high school, college and career readiness starts much earlier to help students decide what career path/choice that they want to pursue once graduating from high school and heading onto the next part of their life.
February is National Career and Technical Education (CTE) Month. CTE offers college students, including adults seeking a career change, hands-on training that can be applied to real-world training and career pathways.
As a Family and Consumer Sciences Teacher, this is my wheelhouse, so I’m so happy this was one of my first projects as a district administrator, and that the state sees this as best practice and excellence in Career and Technical Education!
— Bryan Schuerman, M.A., M.Ed. (@BSchuermanWX) January 29, 2025
So glad that Johnathan, Mom, my… pic.twitter.com/xTsKbhLAZn
This month, explore the variety of programs across the state that prepare you for successful career entry, advancement, and/or continuing education. Michigan’s postsecondary institutions offer 1,572 unique CTE programs leading to a certificate or associate degree. In the 2023-2024 school year, 122,062 students were enrolled in these programs across the state. Colleges and some universities across Michigan offer CTE programs that are aligned with high-skill, high-wage, and in-demand careers in fields such as information technology, healthcare, hospitality, manufacturing, and more.
Before going into education and starting off my career as a broadcast meteorologist (which broadcasting/journalism is also under the umbrella of CTE), I am also a product of Career and Technical Education, taking family and consumer sciences courses, providing me the opportunity to learn valuable skills, including leadership skills that will carry me for the rest of my life. Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) is a field of study that focuses on how people interact with their environment and with each other. It draws from many disciplines, including education, business, and social science.
Family and Consumer Sciences courses aim to help people live and work well in a complex world. They help students develop skills for family life and work, such as:
- Nutrition and wellness: Learning how to promote optimal nutrition and wellness
- Personal finance: Learning how to manage personal finances
- Critical thinking: Learning how to use critical and creative thinking skills
- Resource management: Learning how to manage resources
- Balance: Learning how to balance personal, home, family, and work live
Family and Consumer Sciences courses cover a wide range of topics, including:
- Culinary and introductory cooking classes
- Nutrition and wellness
- Parenting and child development
- Sewing, clothing, and textiles
- Housing and interior design
- Consumer education
This also includes my participation as a student member, chapter, district and state officer in Indiana, now turned chapter and state officer adviser in Indiana and Michigan for the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA).
FCCLA is a national Career and Technical Student Organization (CTSO) for students in Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) education in public and private schools. FCCLA offers intra-curricular resources and opportunities for students to pursue careers that support families. Since 1945, FCCLA members have been making a difference in their families, careers, and communities by addressing important personal, work, and societal issues through Family and Consumer Sciences education.
In my role at the CTE Supervisor in the Pontiac School District, I am in the unique position to be able to help build, shape, and grow career and technical education programs in Oakland County, including programs we have such as:
- Engineering Technology
- Business, Marketing and Finance
- Information Technology/Computer Programming
- Health Sciences
- Army JROTC
- Early Childhood Education
- Aviation & Aerospace
This week has been great (let’s negate the fact that I am sick in the middle of all this), but I got to have Johnathan & my mother with me in Grand Rapids, Michigan where I through the district was awarded with the Michigan Department of Education Office of Career and Technical… pic.twitter.com/s6cl4KrumM
— Bryan Schuerman, M.A., M.Ed. (@BSchuermanWX) January 29, 2025
Recently, I along with my district counterparts from the Pontiac School District, were awarded the Michigan Department of Education -- Office of Career and Technical Education 2025 Excellence in Practice: Business & Community Partnerships Award for the newly formed Early Childhood Education Program in Pontiac, that is a concurrent enrollment program where students will earn college credit and high school credit at the same time, taking courses and learning from curriculum at Oakland University in their Early Childhood Education Program.
Programs like these, and other career and technical education courses are vital to a student’s education, and the skills that students use throughout CTE programming are shown to help students obtain that high school diploma, earn those industry recognized credentials that employers are looking for in the workforce, and also if a student is heading into higher education.
Whether you have a child that is looking for what may be right for them, or just like me, got back into a secondary career from broadcasting over into education and teaching, career and technical education is a vital part of our educational system, one that helps not only kids but adults never stop learning.