1. CTSO’s In Your Classroom
Vella Coffman, Business Teacher & FBLA Adviser
River Valley High School
Yuba City, CA

2. A LITTLE BACKGROUND

3. What does CTSO stand for?
Career
Technical
Student
Organizations

4. What is the difference between a club and an organization?
Both clubs and organizations have a designated purpose. Clubs are associated only with the school, even though there may be similar clubs on others campuses. Organizations have State and National levels they are affiliated with. Most organizations are broken into local chapters.

5. California Accepts 6 out of the 10 CTSO’s
FFA Agriculture
FBLA Business
SkillsUSA Technical, skilled, service & health occupations
HOSA Healthcare
DECA Marketing, finance, hospitality, and management
FHA-Hero Home Economics Careers. Affiliated with FCCLA (Family, Careers and Community Leaders of America)
All hyperlinks are to the California web sites; NOT the National sites!

6. Purpose of CTSOs CTSOs provide relevant, engaging programs that
CTSOs engage the community and local businesses to help students understand global competition and chart effective and efficient pathways through high school and postsecondary education for their personal success.
improve student achievement,
reduce dropout rates and
help students discover the wide range of career options available.

7. Purpose Continued
CTSO programs, such as industry based competitive events and community service, provide students with the opportunity to develop 21st Century Skills focused on creativity, problem solving, teamwork and goal setting.
CTSOs bring relevance to the classroom and prepare students to be college and career ready.
CTSOs are essential to receiving grants such as the Carl D Perkins Grant.
(New Mexico CTSO Report)

8. Incorporating Into the Curriculum Make it an assignment
Not sure which CTSO?
Find a CTSO that fits this class
Give students a list of the 6 CTSOs accepted by California.
Research and find the one the best one that will meet the needs of this class.
Write up a brief explaining why it is the best choice for our class.
* Be sure to back up your explanation with facts and site your information!
Put it to a student vote – UNLESS you want to decide yourself!
Students are to present their choice for a CTSO.
PowerPoint presentation?
Groups or as individuals?

9. Find the web page listing the competitions for your CTSO?
Send me the web address
In the list the information found on the page
Decide on 2 competitions you are interested in.
Write a 5 paragraph essay. Be sure to include the following information:
Why these 2 competitions are interesting to you
Links to each competition
What you could do to prepare for the competition
Who you could get help from to prepare for the competition

10. More Assignment Topics
Find 2 mentors for one of your competitions
Get permission from the mentor to pass their contact information on to your adviser.
Find the yearly goals the local chapters are to strive to complete during the year for your chosen CTSO. Some organizations call it the Program of Work (POW)
me the link to the web page
Use the POW (or whatever it is called) to make assignments from
FBLA POW & SkillsUSA POW have categories with different mandatory goals and optional goals chapters to choose from that they need to complete for the year.

11. Come up with ideas for:
Service Projects for the school, community, nation, or world.
Fundraising
Guest speakers & contact information
Topics for guest speakers
Fun activities could do as a chapter
Who would they invite to join
Descriptions of officer positions
2 officer positions they would like to apply for
List of committees chapter would need
Why need the committees
Which committee chair position would they like & why
Etc.

12. Assignments part of what you are already doing: just a change in the topic!
Example: teaching how to format a memo or letter. Have them type up a memo based on the topic of the assignment and follow the formatting guidelines. Grade on both the formatting and the content.