Dedicated to postsecondary workforce readiness, Littleton Public Schools has a robust Career and Technical Education (CTE) program that supports a variety of nationally recognized Career and Technical Student Organizations (CTSOs). These organizations give students an opportunity to explore real-world career paths while building leadership skills in a competitive environment. In recent weeks, LPS students attended, and performed marvelously, at a variety of state conferences and competitions dedicated to career and technical education.

HOSA
At this year’s Colorado Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) State Leadership Conference in Colorado Springs, seventy-six students from the Littleton Health Sciences program were in attendance. Students in this program come from Littleton Public Schools as well as Douglas County, Cherry Creek, Englewood and Sheridan schools. Fourteen LPS students qualified for the National Student Competition by placing first, second or third in their event. Many additional LPS students placed top 10 in the state.

DECA
Students from all three of the district’s high schools attended the 2016 DECA State Conference in Colorado Springs. Arapahoe High School had 43 students compete at the conference with 14 national qualifiers, 8 honorable mentions and 26 Top-10 finishers. Heritage High School had seven students compete with one national qualifier, one honorable mention and one Top-10 finisher. Littleton High School had 45 students compete, including one State Officer, with 10 national qualifiers and 10 Top-10 finishers. The National Competition will be held in Nashville, Tennessee in April.

TSA
The 2016 TSA State Conference was held in Denver with nearly 1,600 middle and high school students from around the state. Students from Euclid Middle School, Goddard Middle School, Powell Middle School, Arapahoe High School, Heritage High School and Littleton High School were in attendance. Euclid, who sent fifty-one students to the competition, earned 2nd place overall in the state, qualified nearly 20 students for the National TSA Conference and earned 11 1st place awards, seven 2nd place awards and five 3rd place awards. Goddard, who sent 84 students, earned 3rd place overall in the state and received six 1st place awards, four 2nd place awards and eight 3rd place awards.

In the high school category, Arapahoe High School had twenty-three students compete and earned eight qualifications for the National Conference. Heritage had thirty-five students compete and earned seven national qualifications. Littleton had thirty-nine students compete and earned 13 national qualifications. Additionally, a Littleton High School student was elected to serve as the State TSA Reporter.

SkillsUSA
The SkillsUSA Regional Leadership and Skills Conference was held on March 3rd, in preparation for the state-level conference in April. A student from Arapahoe earned 3rd place in the Customer Service category, along with two Heritage students who earned 1st and 2nd place finishes in the Automotive Service category and another who earned 1st place in the Job Interview category.

ACE
The ACE Challenge offered an opportunity for students in the ACE program to compete in categories such as Travel and Tourism, Personal Finance, Job Interview, Human Relations and Event Planning. Students received a gold, silver or bronze medal for their presentation or activity. Among the nine students from Arapahoe, six earned gold in at least one event, five received a silver medal and four received a bronze medal. Of the 11 Littleton students, each received gold, silver or bronze in all the events in which they participated and Options’ six ACE Challenge participants earned at least one gold medal each.

Mimi Leonard, the district’s Career and Technical Education Coordinator was beyond thrilled with the success of these students at their varying competitions. Leonard regularly emphasizes the district’s dedication to preparing students for postsecondary careers and the importance of these organizations in teaching students valuable leadership skills.