When most school programs are winding down for the year, many Career and Technical (CTE) courses are exploding with student-designed and fabricated projects for competition in the annual Utah Valley CTE Expo hosted by Nebo CTE held Wednesday, May 19, 2022, at the Spanish Fork Fairgrounds. It all gets underway tonight as participants from all over Utah start checking in for the big day on Thursday. The fabrication judging will begin at 9 am Thursday morning, and Drift Trike races will follow at 10:15. Numerous events will follow throughout the day.
The expo however is not new to Nebo School District. The idea was implemented by the Spanish Fork High School welding teacher Shaun Black. In 2010 Black's vision was to provide students with an event that would create competition for his welding students to go head to head with projects that they had fabricated in his welding program. From these early beginnings, the expo moved forward at an exponential rate. Other Nebo high schools soon joined in the excitement and in 2015 the expo was offered to all high schools state-wide. Currently, the online entries for this year total over 370 with more late registrations to flow in today.
The CTE Leadership team has arranged for all 3000 7th grade students to be bused to the expo for an experience they will be talking about for months. The vision is for students to witness firsthand many of the skilled trade and high-tech courses that are available through Nebo School Districts classes. In addition to the welding trades that have been the main attraction since the expo's inception, many other hands-on interactive trades and technology will be showcased at this year’s event. Students will have the opportunity to visit with instructors from health occupations, aeronautics, computer programing, and agriculture just to mention a few. Life Flight will be landing an air ambulance on site and UVU will display a light aircraft from their aviation program. Big Trucks, aka Touch-A-Truck and Virtual welding, will all be on display. Agriculture will have a petting zoo and floral craft for students to create. Technology and Engineering will be having CO2 mini-car races and Woods programs will have student projects displayed and a CNC machine demonstration. FCS program will have fashion show creations displayed along with projects students have created throughout this year. Business and Marketing courses will have displays in our Gallery Walk of projects students have learned to create in the digital world. Cars from the ALC Automotive programs will be on display to showcase the talent and ability that our students have learned at the end of the year.
The CTE Leadership team has also organized lunch for all Middle school students and faculty to enjoy who attend and participate in Thursday’s event. High School CTE specialists will be on hand to answer student questions about possible career pathways available from 7th grade through high school graduation and beyond. This will be a one-stop-shop to catch a vision of what Nebo School District has to offer to its students.
CTE Teachers and students have solicited thousands of dollars in prizes for the winners and participants in the welding category. Many local and area businesses have contributed to the expo as they firmly believe in the value these school courses have in preparing students for future skilled and technical careers.
The event is open to the public at no charge. The Nebo District Administration and CTE programs encourage anyone interested in a skilled or technical pathway and career to attend. Nebo has much more to offer and many of the offerings will be showcased at the expo. We hope to see you there.