By Laura Toney, College and Career Readiness Coordinator

MANY OF YOU know about Career Technical Education (CTE), but do you know about CTSOs? Career and Technical Student Organizations (CTSOs) provide career leadership and speaking experiences for students in CTE classes. We have quite a few CTSOs flourishing in Madera thanks to our many dedicated CTE teachers who offer countless hours to advise and support our students. The National FFA Organization or Future Farmers of America currently has 803 members. Madera Unified is very active in FFA; in fact, our very own Madera South High School student Arthur Cuevas is not only Madera’s FFA Chapter President but is also the San Joaquin Regional President. Lesly Madriz (MSHS), Madera’s Chapter Vice-President, is also the West Fresno Madera Section Vice-President. Merary Hernandez (MSHS) is Madera’s Chapter reporter and was just awarded the San Joaquin Regional Star Reporter. Other Chapter highlights include: Supervised Agricultural Experience, 32 students earned California State FFA Degrees, 15 sectional proficiency winners, six regional proficiency winners, six state proficiency finalists, and one State Star finalist. The local membership of the international Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) organization has grown over time to 215 students. HOSA’S mission is to promote career opportunities in health care. MSHS HOSA is integrated into the CTE patient care pathway. This school year, 12 HOSA students have earned recognition for providing 2,483 community service hours at local health agencies in Madera. Recently, Alvaro Tapia Reyes and Eddie Ramon-Gonzalez received three recognitions for Organizational Leadership, Medical Terminology, and CPR and First Aid Skills. Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) prepares students to become “community-minded business leaders” by providing opportunities to learn career skills and gain leadership experience. This year both MSHS and MHS have active FBLA chapters. A few of their experiences included hosting the Central Section Officer and Adviser Training Day and participating in the Disney YES program to learn about business branding. Students also attended The Leadership Development Institute in Santa Clara and learned more on career preparation, professional etiquette, proper dress, scholarship options, and preparing for competitive events. Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America or FCCLA is active at MSHS and MHS. In February, MSHS hosted the FCCLA Spring Leadership Meeting and Competition. At MSHS, 24 students competed in 9 different events and had students earn top honors in eight out of nine events. At MHS, a total of 12 students earned competition honors. At MSHS, Junior Hunter Holguin is running for next years’ state office and, at MHS, juniors Catie Corchado and Maria Pimentel are also running for state office. In addition to competitive events, FCCLA members donate many community service hours to various causes. While FIRST Robotics is not an officially recognized CTSO, the MHS Madtown Robotics is an afterschool organization in which many of our Manufacturing and Engineering students partake. Seniors Victor Alcantara and Juniors Rajan Bains and Yuvraj Sekhon each logged over 650 practice hours during this robotics build season. These three young men were instrumental in teaching the incoming freshmen building techniques needed to build a world-class competition robot. This year the team doubled in size from its 15 members, last year, to a much more substantial crew of 30 students. While each of these organizations caters to various careers, ultimately, they all accomplish the same goal. They provide CTE students with additional opportunities, outside of the classroom, to grow and develop skills needed within their chosen career paths. Students are also given opportunities to network with industry partners to start building professional relationships before they leave high school.