The CTAE Connector

Spring brings a wealth of new opportunities for our students, from exciting field trips and engaging competitions to memorable banquets and joyful end-of-year celebrations. These activities not only enrich their learning experiences but also create lasting memories.

As we approach the end of the year, the strong relationships we've built with our students become even more impactful. Our support and encouragement help them navigate this busy season with confidence and enthusiasm, ensuring they finish the year on a high note.

Each and every day, we are "Preparing Today for Tomorrow's Workforce," and we can only do this with your support and dedication to our students and schools!

Please feel free to contact us at 813-794-2204 and follow Pasco County Schools!

Stay safe, keep it simple, and be well,

Lori Romano, Ph.D.

Director, Office of Career, Technical and Adult Education

Pasco-Hernando State College is a dynamic institution dedicated to student success through personalized attention, small class sizes, and affordable tuition. PHSC is located in New Port Richey, Dade City, Brooksville, Spring Hill, and Wesley Chapel, Florida. PHSC offers a wide range of programs designed to help students achieve their educational and career goals.

PHSC provides career and technical education programs that equip students with the skills needed for high-demand jobs. These programs include certificates and degrees in fields such as business, health, engineering, law enforcement, and technology. With a focus on hands-on learning and real-world experience, PHSC ensures that students are well-prepared to enter the workforce and succeed in their chosen careers.

Whether you're a recent high school graduate or looking to advance your career, PHSC offers the resources and support to help you reach your future pathways. Explore the opportunities at PHSC and take the first step towards a brighter future!

Eighth grade students from River Ridge Middle School had the opportunity to visit River Ridge High School Academies to learn more and hear about current students’ experiences. Allowing incoming students to tour RRHS is a benefit to help students to feel familiar with a new school environment, shows the highlights of programs, and allows students to meet teachers and current students. Students can apply to the Academies on the RRHS website.

The River Ridge High School Counselors also collaborated with the River Ridge Middle School Counselors to host an event for eighth grade students to build their 4-year plans through Xello, Pasco County's career planning tool. Building a 4-year plan allows students to set goals and plan for their future and explore personalized career pathways.

Submitted by River Ridge Middle & High School

Fred K. Marchman Techncial College hosted their annual “Tech Connect” on Feb. 4 and Feb. 6. Over the two-day event, twenty high schools with approximately 450 interested students toured thirteen Career Certificate Programs. FKMTC Phoenix Ambassadors were the tour guides and program presenters for the recruitment event. It’s so exciting to have so many students interested in pursuing a Career and Technical Education at Fred K. Marchman Technical College as a post-secondary option!

Submitted by Nicole Graziano

We would like to thank The Williams Company for their support of our students and programs in Pasco County.

Submitted by Taylor Constantino

As students prepare for their upcoming Adobe Illustrator exam, they have created word illustrations and transferred them into Illustrator to enhance and bring them to life.

Submitted by Haley Neuhausen

Mr. Hurlburt's first year students have been learning about electricity and motors...below, they are wiring up a motor.
Mrs. Jimenez second year students have been learning about the refrigeration cycle and how to measure pressures and take subcooling and superheat readings. Here, they are measuring pressures and calculating subcooling and superheat values.

Submitted by Valerie Jimenez

HVAC/R had four students compete in the Regional Skills USA competition and all four students placed! Congratulations to High School Senior Michael Lugo for taking home the Gold! For our adults, we had Luke Russell win Gold, Mo Anton win Silver and Steven Gatz win Bronze!!

Submitted by Valerie Jimenez

Angeline Academy of Innovation's Business Entrepreneurship students completed their Everfi Venture Entrepreneurial Expedition course and received a certificate. This financial education course guides students through their own personal journey of becoming an entrepreneur. Tasked with starting their own food truck business, students must create a balanced budget, make informed business decisions, and even perfect their business pitch. The course presents learning in a real-life context, using case studies and interactive business simulations to teach students how to think entrepreneurially in business and in life. I am proud of all our students.

Submitted by Chad Mallo

Business Academy students attended a field trip to the Tampa Premium Outlets, where students had the opportunity to tour the mall and gain insight into its operations. They asked questions and learned about potential summer opportunities available to them. As part of the experience, students participated in a scavenger hunt, worked in teams to explore various businesses and engaged with managers, employees, and shoppers. This field trip provided a valuable hands-on learning experience, combining education with real-world exploration.

Submitted by Jennifer Biedler

Marketing students have been working side-by-side with the Art department to help build attendance and participation in their fundraising events. Getting the academies to collaborate and reach goals together was a dream of mine when I took over this role. This marketing flyer was an example, created by one of our students, Abel Joseph.

Submitted by Jamie Thornton

River Ridge High School's FFEA students showed great success at the state competition. River Ridge FFEA won first place in the video competition. While at states, the new President for the state of Florida was elected, and we are proud to announce it was River Ridge's very own, Ella Vilardi. Ella will serve as the upcoming President for the State of Florida's Future Educators of America.

River Ridge accomplished something very rewarding to the Education Program. Overall, they have had six state level officers come from their chapter over time. This is a huge accomplishment that has only been achieved by Pasco.

Submitted by Beth Hess

Students collaborated with students in the school to create Goal Mountain. Students were asked to decorate a Goal man and add personal goals. Students created a collage of all of the entries. The mountain provided a visual of SMART Goals. It incorporated our theme for this year of Soar to Extraordinary.

Submitted by Jennifer Wakeman-Rippy

Kirkland Ranch Academy of Innovation's Academy of Health Sciences celebrated their 3rd Annual Scrub Ceremony. From freshmen to seniors, each student was presented a pair of scrubs, with a specific color indicating their class.

Congratulations to all students!

Submitted by Siddhesh Muley

On February 13, the CTAE Department hosted their 10th Annual Creative Confections Dessert Competition. This year, there were five schools that participated in the competition, and for the first time ever, the event was extended to middle school students.

Our students presented a wide variety of cupcakes and other desserts around the theme of “Cinderella Goes Camping." Students worked in teams to create the ultimate culinary confection. Student Chefs presented their desserts to a panel of judges who scored their desserts, resulting in one first place winner. This interactive event allowed for audience participation of sampling their dessert as well.

We would like to thank our sponsor, The Pasco Education Foundation for continuously helping us to provide these opportunities to students. Thank you to our participants from Dr. John Long and Pine View Middle Schools, as well as Anclote, Land O' Lakes, and Wiregrass Ranch High Schools. Finally, a huge thank you to the Academy of Culinary Arts at Land O' Lakes High School for hosting this prestigious event!

Submitted by Angel Hernandez

Congratulations to Ariana Thomas, the new District 6 Historian for Family Career and Community Leaders of America.

Last, Congratulations to Lyaddie Smart. Just 13 points away from a gold medal, Lyaddie Smart won a silver medal competing in fashion construction at FCCLA's District Competition. Lyaddie will advance to the State Competition happening in Orlando, FL, April 4 - 7th, 2025.

Submitted by Chelsea Dillon

Angeline Academy, Kirkland Ranch and Wendell Krinn all competed in a Capture-the-Flag Cybersecurity competition hosted by St. Leo University's, College of Computing, AI, Robotics and Data Science (CARDS). Our schools were invited to compete in three categories: Web, Cryptography, and Digital Forensics.

The teams were given 3 ½ hours to “capture” as many flags as possible (10 total). Each team consisted of five members. We are happy to report that all three of Pasco County's schools placed in the top three positions, each winning a trophy and a cash prize (donated by Cisco) as well as a certificate of recognition for each team member. The rankings were as follows:

1st Place – Wendell Krinn Technical High School (9 out of 10 flags captured). Award: 1st Place trophy and $600
2nd Place – Angeline Academy of Innovation (8 out of 10 flags captured). Award: 2nd Place trophy and $500
3rd Place – Kirkland Ranch Academy of Innovation (6 out of 10 flags captured). Award: 3rd Place trophy and $400

Submitted by Michael Marchesano

Congratulations to the Gulf High NJROTC Academic team members who competed in another Brain Brawl at Fivay High School. Team 1 finished in a respectable 6th place out of 24 teams while Team 2 took 14th place. It was a hard fought competition with many outstanding teams competing. Midway through the competition the top 16 teams enter one team member to compete in an individual competition called the "Brawl Stars".

Cadet Slavinsky and Cadet Adams earned medals for placing 1st and 2nd against the other 14 teams best Brain Brawlers. Congratulations to both. Next up for the BUCS is the Area 11/12 State Brain Brawl Championship in Palm Bay, Florida. Way to go BUCS and good luck at States.

Submitted by Gulf High School

The Criminal Justice Academy at Cypress Creek High School provides students a hands-on approach to learning about the world of Criminal Justice through four levels of training. Students have the opportunity to learn the fundamentals of the Criminal Justice system, develop essential skills needed to enforce the law and public safety, and solve complex cases. Check out their promotional video below, and visit Cypress Creek's Criminal Justice Academy page.

Submitted by William Elders

Fivay High School Fire Science Academy attended the Board of County Commissioners meeting to thank Pasco County Fire Rescue and the commission for the donation of a fire truck to Fivay High School!

Submitted by Stephen Smith

The Fivay Mock Trial team, a component of the Fivay Criminal Justice Academy, won the 6th Judicial Circuit (Pasco and Pinellas) Judge Simms Mock Trial Competition on Saturday, February 22. The victory marks the second year in a row the Fivay team wins the district competition. Incredibly, this is only the team's second year in existence!

Fivay advanced to the final round with a resounding victory over Brooks-Debartelo Charter School of Tampa, while representing the prosecution. Fivay defeated Pinellas Park High in the final match, while representing the defense, with a top-notch strategy and amazing performance by the attorneys and witnesses.

With the win, the Fivay team has punched their ticket to the state final competition to be held at the 13th Judicial Circuit courthouse in Orlando from March 27 - 29. Fivay will compete against the winners of the other 19 judicial circuits during a four-match preliminary round and hopefully, perform well enough to make the final match.

Congratulations to the Fivay Mock Trial Team- Maleea Hice, Santiago Fernandez, Jaidyn Parra, Aniyah Jones, Josephine Picotto, Chloe Fox, Marielis Salgado, Inci Yazaltin, Chanquel Russell, Xavier Schott, Kaleb Schott.

Submitted by Denis Riel

Austin Polonitza, the Forensic Science Administrator for the Pasco Sheriff Office, conducts an amazing interactive demonstration for Criminal Justice students and Forensic Science course students. Mr Polentitza is a nationally recognized expert in anthropologic pathology and we are fortunate to have his support in our forensic program here at Fivay.

Submitted by Denis Riel

To share information about your program that you would like considered for the CTAE monthly newsletter (photos, awards, events, certifications, etc), please use our monthly CTAE MachForm or email Taylor Constantino (taconsta@pasco.k12.fl.us).

Email: lmromano@pasco.k12.fl.us

Website: http://www.pasco.k12.fl.us/

If you are interested in becoming a CTAE Business Partner for the 2024-2025 School Year, please submit your information through this Mach Form.