Throughout this first nine weeks of school for the 2020-21 academic year, Beaver County Career & Technology students have been attending their elected programs online, regardless if they are a new or returning student. Students, parents, and other educators have all asked, “How are you going to teach career and technical education virtually?” Thankfully, here at BCCTC, our teachers, professionals from their own respective industries, are creative and have come up with some incredible ways for their students to get engaged with this new learning platform.
Our next featured teacher from BCCTC is Ms. Renee DiGiacomo, Business Information Systems teacher and FBLA Advisor. Ms. DiGiacomo’s program is actively affiliated with Bender Leadership Academy and Job Genius from Express Employment Professionals.
“The students have been knocking the ball out of the ballpark,” Ms. DiGiacomo said. She continues, “They know how to interact virtually and they are just being wonderful with the online learning process. Even their attendance is amazing and I couldn’t be more proud of my students! For them to show up alert and ready to work as they have been, proves to me that they are wanting to be a part of the CTC and this program.”
So what have the students in Business Information Systems been doing? They started this marking period with Communication Skills for Business, i.e., CSB. CBS entails:
- Verbal, written or virtual communication methods
- Ways in which to analyze the effectiveness of the message to the target audience
- Addressing ethical and legal issues for proper communications
- Problem solving when dealing with business issues
The students also went on a virtual field trip to see Pittsburgh Technical College or PTC, where they visited the campus and had an overview of different programs related to the student’s interest. In addition, they were also made aware of the articulated credit they could receive from PTC should they enroll as five BIS graduates are currently enrolled there now.
After the field trip, one of those alumni students, who is now majoring in Computer Science at PTC, spoke on the importance of joining FBLA in BIS and encouraged the students to work as hard as possible to achieve the certifications offered in the program. Why? For good reason! He was one of two recipients of the FBLA scholarship and received articulated credit from PTC!
Due to the amount of theory presented to the students as this nine-week period comes to a close, they will soon be working on obtaining the following industry certifications when they return to the classroom next week:
- CSB or Communication Skills for Business
- ICDL or International Computer Driver’s License
- Rise Up Customer Service Certification
- IC3 Internet Computer Concepts
And because of the partnership with PTC, students will have a Cyber Security Specialist doing a virtual experience with them from his lab. Also on the agenda—a virtual field trip to Inventionland, a Pittsburgh-based immersive work environment and idea incubator where projects are brought to life through creativity.
BIS Students! We are so looking forward to having you and all the other students return to BCCTC next week! It seems like whether your career path is cyber security, communications, computer science, international business or customer service, ‘Ms. D’ has you working hard to find your talent in the business world. Stay safe!