Career and Professional Education



My Writing Timeline

By on March 8th, 2017

This post was written by Natalie, a student in the FLVS Creative Writing Club.

Blog_Creative_WritingWhen I was much, much younger, I saw writing as a chore. There’s not a lot a 7-year-old girl being homeschooled in southwest Florida had to write about, and I certainly didn’t do much of it.

As I grew older, the process of writing morphed from a chore into a helpful emotional outlet and then into a hobby. Although I’ve never been a serious, hardcore dedicated writer, I can say that writing definitely should be credited for its impact in my life.

The earliest I can remember writing would be in my tween years. As most people behave when going through that time in their lives, I could get quite emotional and crave an outlet to vent my frustrations or just write a poem expressing my honest feelings.

I read a ton of books back then and can attribute a lot of my literacy skills to my reading. I kept diary after diary for a few years and grew my writing skills without even realizing it. Writing about anything going on in my life made me think about events and interactions more deeply than I ever had before. Continue reading


How Career & Technical Education Changed My Life

By on February 21st, 2017

CTE_Blog_CoverIn honor of Career and Technical Education (CTE) Month, I would like to reflect on the influence CTE has had on my life – even though I didn’t realize it until a decade later.

As a teenager, I wasn’t a big fan of school. Classes, homework, and way too much science! I couldn’t stand it.

However, every time I left my rural campus to assist nurses at the local hospital, I felt the thrill of escape and the fun of doing something new. So, for all the wrong reasons, I enrolled in my high school’s nursing program and was quickly on my way to plenty of time not in school. The perfect plan!

It didn’t take long for me to learn my first CTE lesson: there is much more to a nursing program than wearing scrubs and getting out of class. I’d signed up for a daily, three-hour block of anatomy and physiology, as well as an introduction to nursing skills. Yep, my brilliant plan to escape school somehow locked me into three hours of science a day. Continue reading


12 Months of Life Skills for Student Success

By on January 13th, 2017

Life Skills for StudentsAs we start a new year, educators and parents all have a common goal for 2017 – to ensure that our children have the skills and knowledge they need to be successful for college and a future career.

What if we each set a goal to teach our students one skill a month?

If all of our students put this plan into action today, can you imagine the impact we could make on our future generation?

Today’s workplace values creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, and communication skills. Managing time, setting goals, handling stress, and a variety of other skills can help students succeed in all of these areas.

Ready to get started? Check out the guide below and set reminders on your phone or calendar to help you stay on track.  Continue reading


Being Competitive in Tomorrow’s Workforce

By on November 30th, 2016

Being Competitive in Tomorrow’s WorkforceThe year was 1989.

We saw the birth of the World Wide Web, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the television debut of The Simpsons, and my epic walk onto the stage to receive my high school diploma.

As I proceeded to college, I used the skills that I had learned in high school: doing research using a card catalog, typing reports using an electric typewriter, and doing accounting class projects that required a calculator, a pencil, and a lot of erasers.

If I were to list these skills on my resume today, I would be considered an unqualified candidate.

You may wonder how a college student with outdated skills became an online technology teacher.

It’s simple, really. By updating my skill sets and being able to evolve with new advancements in technology, I honed the skills to which I am referring. Those skills are soft, hard, and transferable. Continue reading


The Value of an Online Course

By on August 4th, 2016

Value of an Online CourseThe other weekend, my mother was happy to come and watch my son as I tackled a few things that had been on my list for a while.

My “To Do” list consisted of starting a mortgage application, purchasing some “the best way to get your baby to sleep through the night” products and printing nearly 1,000 adorable photos of my now 7 month old.

She immediately scooped up her grandson when she arrived (you would too, he’s so cute!) and took off into the other room so he could show her his new trick of “almost crawling.”

Two hours later, she came out into the kitchen and was startled to see that I was still sitting there. Continue reading


Digital Information Technology

By on April 15th, 2016

Digital Information TechnologyHave you ever thought about what kind of technology skills you will need to be successful?

Tech skills are essential – not only in school, but in almost any career field you can think of. Sure, you can probably use a computer, surf the web, type up your report, and operate a ton of apps, but do you really have the skills you need for success?

Digital Information Technology will be releasing very soon and provides students with hundreds of fundamental skills in technology, ranging from web page design to using spreadsheets as a tool to display and calculate data. Continue reading


FLVS Career and Technical Education Course Tour

By on December 10th, 2015

FLVS Career and TechComputer Science Education Week is a great time to think about getting certified with FLVS!

But what exactly does getting a technical certification mean?

With more than 20 Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses to choose from at FLVS, you can earn certifications from companies like Microsoft, Adobe, and Cisco. A certification shows employers that you have the most current skills and that you meet performance standards within the tech industry—an industry that continues to grow every year.

Interested in Computer Programming, Networking, or Digital Media and Design? With CTE courses at FLVS, you may be able to get a jump start on college credit and earn a weighted credit to boost your GPA. Continue reading


Seven Survival Skills for Careers

By on November 3rd, 2015

Tony Wagner quoteIn his critically acclaimed book, “The Global Achievement Gap,” author Tony Wagner explores what he considers to be “Seven Survival Skills for Careers, College and Citizenship.”

After spending time with the most successful executives and professional people in the world, Wagner came to the conclusion that there is a gap between what our students need to be successful when they enter the real world and what we are teaching them in the classroom.

As a result, he created a list of essential 21st Century skills that all people need in order to be successful in college, in their career, and for their overall citizenship. Continue reading