Carbon Career & Technical Institute Principal Michelle Allen presented her monthly report to the Joint Operating Committee at its November meeting.

Allen thanked the five school districts’ guidance counselors and principals for sending their ninth grade students to CCTI for tours.

They had approximately 155 Jim Thorpe students, 128 Lehighton students, 40 Palmerton students, 150 Panther Valley students, and 34 Weatherly students.

“They toured the building,” Allen said, “got to see all of our technical areas, and enjoyed a short presentation from each of the technical areas. It was a very worthwhile two weeks of ninth grade tours. We will start the application process now.”

Allen also shared that CCTI hosted two assemblies on Nov. 10. Students held a Veterans Day ceremony, followed by a luncheon for veterans and guests. In the afternoon, a program was held in which students participated in a flag ceremony, learning the proper way to fold a flag.

“We would like to thank Sgt. Major Daniel Dailey and Carbon County Veterans Affairs Director and Office and all veterans who participated for presenting both of these assemblies for our students,” Allen said.

Allen also thanked Sue Gerhard, National Technical Honor Society adviser and the honor society students for their help with the event.

The pre-NOCTI exams were administered during October to seniors in all technical areas except precision machine technology. The testing helps teachers and students prepare for the NOCTI exam in the spring.

“Our results were outstanding with 95 students out of 98 scoring competent or advanced,” Allen said. “We will use these results to measure the amount of growth made between pre-NOCTI and NOCTI testing.”

Allen added to her report that an assembly took place at the school on Nov. 15 for the HVAC and welding students presented by the Local 420 Steamfitters about apprenticeship opportunities and the path to journeyman.

Facilitator learns about human trafficking

Christine Trovato, facilitator of Special Education at CCTI, shared information she learned at the Region 7 Homeless Regional Conference that was held Oct. 25.

Topics and breakout sessions included Human Trafficking Awareness, the Student Assistance Program, Ensuring Educational Stability for Youth in Foster Care; and Defining and Identifying Unaccompanied Youth.

The opening speaker Steven Turner, an anti-trafficking consultant, spoke about human trafficking (human, sex, labor).

The National Trafficking Hotline is a public resource, which provides information regarding how to get help if one is a victim, how to report a tip if you suspect someone is being trafficked, local services to victims/survivors of human trafficking, safety planning to aid in the prevention of trafficking, and statistical information by state about the number of, and locations of reported/known areas in the U.S., where trafficking has been reported to be present.

Homeless youth are at risk for trafficking because they are often vulnerable and easily preyed upon, other risk factors for trafficking (sex and/or labor) include substance use, runaways, youth with unstable housing, mental health concerns, recent migration/relocation and criminal record/history.

For more information, visit humantraffickinghotline.org/en and Polarisproject.org/human-trafficking. The hotline is 1-888-373-7888.