LANSING, Mich.—Sen. Ed McBroom and Rep. Sara Cambensy recently participated in Flannel Day. The event was coordinated for Feb. 28 by the Career Technical Education (CTE) Committee of Marquette and Alger counties in support of career technical education.
“We appreciate the work of the CTE Committee to highlight the work they are doing to ensure students know of the various hands-on options available to prepare them for a career and to connect them to job providers throughout the U.P. who have many good-paying skilled trades jobs available,” said McBroom, R-Vulcan. “I was proud to participate in Flannel Day because it helped bring attention to these incredible opportunities and to the career technical education programs that are working to help prepare the next generation of skilled trades men and women.”
The CTE Committee was established in 2013 to support secondary and post-secondary vocational programs to provide the skilled workforce needed to sustain and grow the U.P. economy. The committee’s focus is to help young people make the best possible career decisions before they graduate from high school.
In that pursuit, the committee helped establish the Marquette-Alger Technical Middle College and it regularly publishes CTE Magazine to better inform students about industry opportunities. The committee has helped increase Marquette and Alger high school student participation in CTE programs from 37 percent in 2013 to over 50 percent today.
Flannel Day was coordinated to celebrate the magazine’s inclusion in the Marquette Mining Journal.
“These are family-supporting, quality jobs where talent is in high demand, and students need to know about these options as they search for the right career. I’d especially love to see young women consider jobs where they are now underrepresented, so we can help break down barriers to fair wages and other issues women face,” said Cambensy, D-Marquette. “The CTE Committee has done incredible work bringing these issues into focus and increasing opportunities for countless young people. I’m so proud of their success and will continue to support their efforts in any way I can.”
The CTE program focuses on high-demand, high-skill and good-paying occupations, and seeks to better connect the skills and degrees that students are pursuing with the jobs that are currently available and will become available in the future. Occupations include professional trades, business and information technology, healthcare, and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields.
“Efforts by local leaders including the CTE Committee are helping to transform our communities,” said McBroom. “I look forward to supporting CTE issues and programs to grow skilled trades across the U.P.”
For more information on the committee, visit https://www.nmu.edu/career-technical-education-committee-marquette.
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