Michael Horn named CTE Champion of the Year by Dallas Independent School District
The team at AC Horn has greatly enjoyed working with students from the Dallas Independent School District’s Career and Technical Education Program over the past year. Apparently, the feeling is mutual, because the district named company President Michael Horn its CTE Champion of the Year.
The honor comes as part of the CTE program’s 3D Design Challenge, which was begun as a way to honor some of the district’s industry partners and showcase how their engagement affects students. Horn’s award represents that he is an “all-around advocate for all things CTE (students, teachers, department, and other partners),” according to the district, which added that “Michael exemplified this award by continuing to advocate for the underrepresented career cluster of Manufacturing with the following: sharing his network to get involved with the CTE program, reaching out to the CTE program to inquire if we needed/wanted manufacturing equipment, being an active member of the Industry Leadership Council (ILC), sharing his experience with hosting a virtual worksite tour, reaching out to the CTE department on job opportunities at his company, hosting student interns during this year's internship program, and being the first industry partner to host a virtual worksite tour during the 2020-2021 school year.”
“We have enjoyed working with the district and the CTE program, and our first two summer interns were great additions to the AC Horn team,” Horn says. “They got exposure to things they may want to do in their careers and plenty of hands-on experience. We are eager to continue helping our diverse student population get plugged into real-world opportunities where they can visualize and understand all that they are learning from the CTE’s outstanding faculty and curriculum.”
More than 50,000 of the school district’s students are enrolled in the CTE program, whose mission is “every Dallas Independent School District CTE student will graduate with a high school diploma plus post-secondary credit and/or industry-recognized certification.” To meet this goal, the district offers courses across 135 comprehensive CTE pathways to students in grades 6 through 12.