He said Walt Disney’s dream started with a drawing of a mouse and a vision of greatness. CareerTech doesn’t have Mickey Mouse but it does aim “to help make dreams and success a reality for Oklahomans,” he said.

The CareerTech system of vocational technical schools across the state helps tens of thousands of high school students and adults each year gain job readiness skills, and for many, a start on a college education.

But the system also struggles with higher operating costs amid stagnant state funding, loss of many Baby Boomer instructors to retirement, and a significant high school drop out rate.

Still, CareerTech graduates add $2 billion annually to the state’s economy, Berkinbile said. 

Now that’s a mouse that roars.

Susan Simpson, Education Writer

Here, we go from an air conditioned house to an air conditioned car to an air conditioned workplace.

In New York City at an education seminar this past weekend, I went from an air conditioned hotel to a subway station more appropriately referred to as a sauna, then up the stairs to conquer a few more blocks of pavement before reaching my air conditioned destination.

All with my laptop bag on my shoulder. So heat is all relative. This is one of the things I learned at the Hechinger Institute’s seminar for new education reporters.

Lifestyle differences aside, I learned an incredible amount about reporting on education. I was an eager student for three days, absorbing everything I could from the speakers and taking copious notes for everything I could possibly need to review later on.

I want to share a few interesting notes with you.

Oklahoma singled out

First, Oklahoma got a shout-out in a session about prekindergarten.

Albert Wat with Pre-K Now cited the Sooner State in his presentation for having at least 70 percent of eligible students enrolled statewide. We’re one of only three states (Georgia and Florida are the others) to enroll more than 50 percent of all 4-year-olds.

He specifically talked about Tulsa, where a study showed that all races of students gained from one year of enrollment, and noted that Oklahoma pre-K teachers are paid equivalent to K-12 teachers, which he said doesn’t often happen.

A few degrees of separation

There was another Oklahoma tie in the presentation about academic rigor, even if by a stretch.

One of the two presenters was Jerry Weast, superintendent of Montgomery County Schools.

If that school district sounds familiar, it’s because that’s the last place John Porter worked before moving from Maryland to Oklahoma for his abbreviated tenure as superintendent of Oklahoma City schools.

Working in uni(s)on

Another highlight was hearing from Randi Weingarten, who was elected president of the American Federation of Teachers just five days earlier.

Weingarten advocated for “real collaboration” — politically and practically.

Politically, that means doing reform with teachers, not to teachers, she said. And practically, she’d like to see a collaboration of services that put after-school enrichment, medical clinics and parent help in the school building.

‘Physicians of the mind’

During the Q&A afterward, I asked Weingarten what she thought the union’s role is in recruiting enough teachers in the first place.

“In this instance, money does matter a lot,” she answered. After boosting starting teacher salaries in New York City by more than $5,000 in 2005, the hiring halls were filled and the number of uncertified teachers fell from 17 to 2 percent, she said.

Teachers want to be treated as professionals in their quest to better the lives of their students and the institutions in which they work, she said, adding that “teachers are physicians of the mind.”

Upon reflection

I’m thankful for the opportunities I had to learn from and network with experts and colleagues across the nation, and I can’t wait to start putting all my newfound story ideas and tips to work.

It was all made possible by the Hechinger Institute on Education and the Media at Columbia University’s Teachers College, which is supported by various philanthropies, including the well known Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Oh, and I’m also thankful I won’t have to wait in underground, un-air conditioned subway stations again any time soon.

Wendy Kleinman
Education Reporter

Where did you go, and how did it change your perceptions about the world or your chosen profession?

We want to hear your stories and see your photos. We’ll even publish some of them in a future paper.

E-mail ssimpson@oklahoman.com with your submissions.

Susan Simpson, Education Writer

The Hechinger Institute fellowship was an amazing opportunity to hear from college leaders, policy analysts and researchers about two-year colleges, which educate nearly one-half of our nation’s college students.

But one of the most inspirational moments took place not in the historic halls of Columbia’s Teachers College, but on the airplane ride home.

On the short flight from Dallas to Will Rogers, I met a young man named Luis. The high school senior from Boulder, Colo., was enroute to his sister’s home in Oklahoma City and then to apply for enrollment at Oklahoma City Community College.

Luis, who lives in a Colorado housing project, wants to study music and business. American Idol aside, this first-generation American has a passion for singing but knows he needs a college degree to succeed in any field.

He can’t afford the University of Colorado, but was told by a high school counselor to check into community colleges. While out-of-state tuition at OCCC is less than he’ll pay if he stays in Colorado, he hopes to qualify for financial aid as an emancipated minor.

Today, I planned to go through my notes from my week in New York and prepare a schedule of stories about community colleges. Instead I’ve been thinking about Luis and the journey he’s taking. It seems so much more momentous than anything I’ll do.

Susan Simpson, Education Writer

Ssimpson@oklahoman.com

For grade-school teachers who want to give their students a chance to visit Colonial Williamsburg without the cost and red tape of taking a class on a 1,300-mile field trip, subscriptions are available for “electronic” field trips to the historical grounds.

The Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence has more than 130 Colonial Williamsburg Electronic Field Trips to award to fifth- and eighth-grade teachers at Oklahoma public schools. Students can phone-in questions to town historians and participate in online activities that connect them with students in other states.

For more information and an application, visit www.ofe.org.

And if you’re a student or parent making the college-tour circuit now, or if you’ve been-there-done-that and have tips for others, send an e-mail to wkleinman@oklahoman.com and share your experiences with me. They may just make the paper at a future date.

Wendy K. Kleinman
Education Reporter

Not because my friend is embarking on a lifetime of learning, but because he’s embarking on a second life of learning.

Armed with a bachelor’s degree from OU, a work history here as a fine education reporter, and some new orange duds (well, maybe not), Michael Bratcher is now a Oklahoma State grad student — a Cowboy. He’s embarking on a degree in hotel management, having picked one of the nation’s top schools in this area.

A few years from now, expect Michael to be running a luxe resort on some breathtaking beach somewhere. And doing a darn fine job of it.

It takes a lot of guts to leave a job you do well for a chance at your dream vocation.

We’ve all wondered about it … what we would do if we could go back to school and pick a new career? I love journalism — it’s all I know — but what if I could also get a degree in creative writing or art history or some other subject I love?

What would you do? Where would you go?

E-mail me at ssimpson@oklahoman.com

Susan Simpson, Education Writer

It’s a drawing of a calf asking its mother the whereabouts of their livestock trailer.

The cow answers “Hauling the kid to Stillwater.”

Maybe I laughed because it struck home. Until about two years ago when I finally hired a moving company, I’ve used my family’s livestock trailer for every move I’ve ever made.

Moving to Stillwater as an OSU student, I didn’t even think it odd that my meager belongings got there in a trailer more suited to bovine. (The key here is making sure the trailer is cleaned very well before the move.)

I suppose if I had been moving to Norman, it might have drawn a few double-takes.

After all, OU offers valet services for some of its dorms. You can hire people to take your belongings from your moving van into your room. If you pay them even more, they’ll come clean your bathroom every week.

Maybe cash-trapped ranchers can start hiring out their trailers to students — a Cowboy moving company if you will. It may not be luxurious, but a little baling wire and some duct tape would keep your things secure.

What’s the strangest way you ever got your belongings from Place A to Place B? How will you be moving to college this summer?

E-mail me at ssimpson@oklahoman.com

Susan Simpson, Education Writer