Tri-valley students and educators honored business and industry partners at the recent Tri-Valley Educational Collaborative (TEC) “Celebrating Partnerships and the Students They Serve” event.

Recognized for their support and contributions to the success of Career Technical Education (CTE) Programs in the Livermore, Pleasanton, and Dublin School Districts as well as Las Positas College, were Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Chevron Corporation, Valley Care Health System and Contra Costa Science Technology Engineering Math (STEM) Workforce Initiative. “It is amazing what we have accomplished for our students through collaboration with our industry partners” stated Julie Duncan of the TEC Administrative Council.

TEC is a Carl D. Perkins IV grant-funded effort that has prepared students for college and careers since 1991. TEC is a collaborative forum that plans Career Technical Education articulation strategies through a regional effort among the following education jurisdictional governing boards: Dublin Unified School District; Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District; Pleasanton Unified School District; Sunol Unified School District; Tri-Valley Regional Occupational Program; and, Chabot-Las Positas Community College District, Las Positas College.

The celebration kicked off with Dr. Neal Ely from Las Positas recognizing LLNL for the Science and Engineering Seminar Series – Theory to Practice: How Science Gets Done in which students learn how scientific theory is connected with practice. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Chevron Corporation, and Contra Costa STEM Workforce Initiative were each recognized for their support to the Engineering Pathways in each of the three districts.

As partners, they afford students real-world experiences by providing role models, mentors, speakers, field trips opportunities, and financial support. During the celebration, Dublin engineering student, Tyler Nevans, conveyed the benefits of his involvement in this pathway in not only developing a hands-on understanding of engineering principles, but also in learning time management, developing critical thinking and facilitating creativity.

Livermore High School student Laila Hassen spoke about placing at the Alameda County Science and Engineering Fair with her “Power of Sand” project. She stressed learning the value of cooperation, teamwork, and communication in the development and engineering design process.

Valley Care Health System partners with Tri-Valley Regional Occupation Programs to support high school students who are engaged in learning about and gathering experience in the nursing field. High School students completing this pathway have a pipeline to the Las Positas College health careers courses.

Lauren Lyon, from Chevron, summed up the importance of a regional approach to STEM education by noting that it is critical to the health of the community and the education of our students to immerse our students in STEM East Bay Region.

This was the culminating event for TEC’s 2011 – 2012 school year, where the theme was Leadership at all Levels.