Technology Education in Lake Stevens
The third in the series about the Lake Stevens School District was given by Ron Moag who spoke to us about the Career and Technical education programs in the district.
What is career and technical education? The Career and Technical Education program has a 10 year strategic plan. Ron Moag referenced the success of kids who learn to read at an early age. If kids cannot read at the 12th grade level when they graduate from high school, they will have a path to proverty according to Moag. The school district has a "course reapproval process" in place which the district went through this past year, which includes 21st century skills. Some of the programs include Project Lead the Way which is run by a private company from Indiana as well as Gateway to Technology which requires a teacher to go through 80 hours of teacher training to be certified. These programs are taught in Seattle and San Diego. Two teachers from the 7th grade were involved in the program this past year. STEM is another program for students which is a rigorous results driven education program.
The school district encourages students to be involved in student and community organizations as a way of providing tremendous leadership skills which was very evident in our selection of candidates to receive our Rotary Club's scholarship funds this year. Lake Stevens High School provides 5 of the 8 nationally recognized student organizations for our students to participate. SKILLS USA, teaches leadership in and out of the class room. There are 18 college ready programs for students. Moag encourage members to be involved in Partnership Opportunities on local advisory boards which needs new members and/or as mentors. Other ways to participate include having students participate in job shadows and internships.
At 50 years of age, Moag isn't ready to give up going to school which started at age 5 with a couple of breaks in between. He received is Undergraduate degree in Accounting from Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, MI. After a few years as a high school teacher and JV boys & girls basketball teams coach and JV baseball coach he became an Assistant Principal. This also involved overseeing the Vocational Education and School-to-Career programs--a foreshadowing of what was to come.
Two tenures as Assistant Principal led to becoming Principal of Caledonia High School in Caledonia, MI for a few years. Then he served in the Kent Intermediate School District overseeing the Career & Technical Center. He even served as an adjunct professor at Cornerstone University teaching courses in the Masters in education program. Ron had, by now, earned his Masters in Art with a Major in Education and was starting to work on his doctorate in Education.
In 2010, Ron Moag became the Superintendent of Hart Public Schools in Hart, MI. There are four schools with over 1,200 students in the District. He has been successful in all areas of his career and has a passion for the Career and Technical Ed programs. Two years ago he had the opportunity to come to the Pacific Northwest when Dan Bushnell retired as Assistant Principal at the High School and the School District's CTE Director. Ron and his wife Sheryl have five kids between them and they wanted to be closer to family. Ron is continuing to work on his doctorate through Seattle University and expects to finish in two years.
This was another great program offered to our members and guests.