1. TEXAS CAREER SIGNING DAY Kick-Off Webinar April 18, 2019
Hello and welcome to this webinar to kick-off a new initiative called, Texas Career Signing Day! Let’s find out who has joined us today. If you’ll please type your name, location, and organization into the chat feature, that would be great!
Welcome, my name is Jen Troke and I am the Director of Workforce Grants and Contracts. I am excited to see so many of you here today!
Before we get started I want to mention that this Adobe Connect technology offers a live chat feature. If you have questions, please type and submit them in the text feature as we progress. We will open it up for questions at the end of the brief presentation. At that time, I will try to answer as many of the questions as possible. Thanks, let’s get started…

2. SIGNING DAYS
Texas Career Signing Day builds on the concept of a statewide signing day proclamation and provides an opportunity to recognize and celebrate important decisions and commitments made by high school students.
Signing days are not a new concept – in fact, they’re modeled after existing signing days that already exist that lift up and celebrate major milestones for high school seniors.
The difference is that Texas Career Signing Day promotes the success of high school seniors choosing to enter into careers and career pathways leading to in-demand careers in targeted occupations directly from high school – we’re celebrating their employment opportunities and long-term career goals.

3. TEXAS WORKFORCE COMMISSION
Signing Day event held on Tuesday, March 5, 2019
Texas’ first ever Career and Technical Education (CTE) Signing Day event was held on Tuesday, March 5, 2019 after HR 241 was read and adopted by the Texas House of Representatives. I am going to read you that statement:
“WHEREAS, Career and technical education is offering a path to success in the 21st-century economy while helping to address the urgent need for skilled labor in high-demand industries, and it is enabling numerous Texans to secure gainful employment and lead productive, fulfilling lives; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 86th Texas Legislature hereby recognize March 8, 2019, as Career and Technical Education Letter of Intent Signing Day and extend sincere best wishes to all the talented young Texans who have chosen career and technical education as a way to achieve their long-term professional goals.”
A signing ceremony immediately followed at the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC), where four students received scholarships from Lamar Institute of Technology and signed Letters of Intent (LOI) reflecting their commitment to attend their institution. It was a very exciting day for these students, their families, Lamar and all of the TWC Commissioners and staff who supported this event.

4. EVENTS CELEBRATE STUDENTS MOVING INTO CAREER PATHWAYS INCLUDING:
The workforce after completing career certification in high school,
An applied learning opportunity like an internship or Registered Apprenticeship,
A Career and Technical Education program,
Or any combination of all of the above.
Texas Career Signing Day will promote the success of high school seniors choosing to enter into career pathways directly from high school.
This is a pilot year, and the objective is that Texas Career Signing Day events will be held in communities across Texas in 2020 (and beyond) to celebrate students entry into:
the workforce as a result of completing career certifications in targeted occupations while in high school,
an applied learning opportunity like an internship or apprenticeship,
a Career and Technical Education program, or
any combination of all of the above.
We don’t want to limit the possibilities for celebrating talented youth who have technical skills that are ready to enter the workforce. In fact, we want to lift them up!
Organizations participating in Texas Career Signing Day events are any organizations that support the skills development of Texas youth poised to enter the workforce. Participating organizations may include Workforce Boards, organizations serving high school students – high schools and other educational entities, employers and local businesses in the various communities who provide internships, apprenticeship programs, and jobs. We are inviting key partners to participate, too, and that includes P-Tech high schools, Early College High School (ECHS), as well as local technical and community colleges that work on youth development.
Included on this slide is a sample of a flyer template we’ve created for getting the word out to promote local career signing events – You’ll notice that it contains branding reflecting the Texas Workforce Commission seal, the Texas Workforce Solution logo and logos for our youth career exploration campaigns called Careers in Texas Industries and Jobs Y’all. The template also contains a place where you can add your own logo and fields to insert your event details.

5. KEY PARAMETERS OF SIGNING DAY EVENTS
Students sign Letters of Intent (LOI) submitted by prospective employers
Prospective employers, participate in the event by sharing promotional items with the students to welcome them to their company
So, you may be thinking, what would a Signing Day event look like, and what would I be expected to actually do?
Here are a couple of key parameters of signing day events:
Students will actually sign a Letter of Intent (LOI) submitted by a prospective employer while parents, teachers, and fellow students cheer them on. On the right side of this slide, you’ll see an image. This is a certificate of intent template to share with your employer partners and ultimately have students sign.
Events can take place at locations most feasible to the host organizations based on number of students, and may include places such as Chambers of Commerce, libraries, auditoriums, or Workforce Solutions Offices. Be creative! Also, please feel free to add a signing day component to an existing event where it makes sense!
Prospective employers and partners will participate in the event by completing the LOI template and submitting it to the host organization, sharing hats, t-shirts or other promotional items with the students to welcome them to their company and/or career field.
Ask all event participants, or honorees, to sign release forms and submit permission slips allowing them to be photographed and recorded.
You may want to broadcast your event live and/or record and have it available to view on YouTube to allow those unable to attend the opportunity to participate.
You may want to offer your business partners an opportunity to set up a promotional booth at the signing locations to connect with additional prospective employees.
Finally, TWC would like to promote and share your event success and invites you to submit photos and videos to feature and/or link from our flickr and social media channels.
We are open to your creative ideas, too!

6. TOOL KIT W/ TEMPLATES Letter of Intent Invitation
Frameable certificate
Media relation guide
Event planning checklist
TWC will provide a took kit with fillable templates to assist in your signing day preparation. The toolkit will be branded but with ability for you to add your logo or logos. It will be downloadable in Word format and therefore easy for you to customize the templates with your information.
You’ve seen a few samples already of the frameable certificate of intent – that’s a nice souvenir for students to take home. You’ve also seen the sample flyer and how easy it would be to drop your information into those documents.
Here, this is a simple event planning checklist that can help you plan a local event in your area.
Let us know if there are other materials that may be helpful to you as you think about hosting an event!

7. WHO’S READY TO ‘SIGN’ ON?
Identify high school seniors!
Identify employers!
Submit plans and dates for hosting your Texas Career Signing Day events by May 2 to
Don’t forget to submit photos and success stories to TWC afterwards!
We hope we have done a good job of getting you excited about this opportunity. Are you ready to sign on? Get it, Signing Day! I can ‘hear’ the groans across the airwaves!
We invite all of our partners - Workforce Boards, and other strategic partners to host a Texas Career Signing Day starting in Spring/Summer 2019.
What we ask of you:
Identify high school seniors and ensure participants are finishing high school with post-secondary certificates or industry-recognized certifications and are eligible to be hired by employers, entering apprenticeships, or any other career pathway programs;
Identify employers to participate in a Texas Career Signing Day and an opportunity to promote programs connecting high school students and employers in the community;
Provide the LOI template to the qualifying organization to complete and return for signing day;
Customize and use the templates provided for your big event;
Submit information and questions to TWC as event plans are confirmed to We’d like to post to our event calendars and help promote through social media.
And please don’t forget to submit photos! We want to share your success!

8. QUESTIONS? All right – who’s ready to sign up!?
What questions can we answer for you? Please enter those questions in the chat feature.
Any questions after today’s webinar, please
Thank you and have a great day!