While attending the 97th Annual National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana, Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster Ron Hays caught up with Oklahoma State Director for CareerTech Brent Haken who was presented with an Honorary American FFA Degree at the convention.
Before taking the State Director Role in 2022, Haken served as superintendent of Morrison Public Schools from 2019. Before that, he served the same district as high school principal from 2016, and elementary assistant principal and special education director from 2015, but before moving to Morrison, he taught agricultural education in Wellston and Stillwater.
Haken decided to pursue the role of State Director for CareerTech because he wanted to make a difference for the organization and the students who need it. He said, “I want to find a way to pour back and show our state how vital CareerTech organizations and experiences are for students because there is nothing like it. There is no other way for students to show off and build leadership, and career opportunities, and make a difference in their own lives. If not for FFA, I wouldn’t be here today.”
Through CareerTech, Haken is proud to serve people in all walks of life from K-12 settings to post-secondary education. The organization boasts more than 140,000 enrolled students in K-12 settings and more than 30,000 in post-secondary education. They have almost 300,000 enrolled students in Business and Industry who want to make a difference through training, career development, and more. It also provides Prison education experiences so former inmates can be released with trade experience to help them reintegrate into society. It also helps adults get their high-school diplomas.
“CareerTech in Oklahoma has a huge scope. The whole purpose of everything that we do is to help people be prepared to have a career and live the lives that they want in our State,” he said.
Haken emphasized that while CareerTech changes and adapts to technology, student needs, and career needs, its main focus is on making the biggest difference to the students.
Future Farmers of America (FFA), National Professional Agricultural Student Organization (PAS), Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA), Business Professionals of America (BPA), Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA), SkillsUSA, Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA), Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA), and the National Technology Student Association (TSA) are all Career and Technical Student Organizations (CTSO) that help CareerTech reach more students.
“People need to find their place, and what makes a difference for them,” Haken said. “FFA was my difference maker and for thousands of students in Oklahoma, but the other organizations provide an opportunity for students that this is not their place. They allow us to give more students in Oklahoma the same opportunity.”
He said that CareerTech is reaching half of the state’s student population in 9th through 12th grade through CTSO programs and aims to reach more as demand for skilled professionals is growing.
“Since the pandemic, we have had a forty percent demand increase in full-time programs and Technology Centers across the state,” he commented. “We are working to meet that need. We have grown by 16.5 percent over the last two years since I’ve been here. We are working to find deficiencies and how we can capitalize on the dollars that we do have so we can reach more students. Businesses are asking for more development.
“We are a demand-focused education platform where the demand is the jobs that are available for students now and will be in the future, and we have to train to meet that.”
He explained that most education entities are supply-focused where they want to supply what has been done with degrees already, but it is beneficial for CareerTech to be able to adapt to industry needs.
A new opportunity that CareerTech has partnered with is the aerospace industry which is the second largest industry in Oklahoma. There are currently seven rapidly growing aerospace programs on different campuses across the state. The healthcare industry is always changing and always in demand, so skilled workers are essential in that partnership.
“The need for what we call soft skills is really becoming essential skills,” Haken added. “It is important to implement that into every program and our CTSOs do that better than anyone. It’s great that while we develop new programs, whether aviation or electric vehicle programs, it is very important that we implement soft skills and job skills into those.”
On the horizon, Oklahoma CareerTech is reaching out to middle school students through CTSOs and CareerTech experiences to let them know what career opportunities are available. “Rapid growth is in the STEM fields for lower grade level students, so they know how to be a part of technical skills. That is where we are really changing is finding ways to dip down into the lower grade levels to show them careers that are available so they know that it might be an interest moving forward.”
Click here to see the website for the National FFA Convention for 2024 in Indianapolis.
Our coverage of Oklahoma FFA engaged at the National FFA Convention is being powered again in 2024 by Oklahoma Farm Bureau. Watch for our stories and interviews from Indianapolis on our Website, Daily Email, our statewide Radio Oklahoma Ag Network and our Social Media Channels. Click here for the OKFB website to learn about how they are making a difference in the lives of Oklahomans. Oklahoma Farm Bureau supports the youth of rural Oklahoma year round- and reminds you- Together- We Are Rural Oklahoma!
