Build Your Own
A Career Pathways Initiative for Students, Teachers, Families, and the Community
Overview
CTU Foundation believes in ensuring all students have access to high quality and relevant Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs in every Chicago Public School through Build Your Own, a Career Pathways Initiative for students, teachers, and the community.
By building partnerships with the skilled trades, school district, employers, and local representatives, Build Your Own addresses the workforce skill gap due to decades of disinvestment in CTE programs at neighborhood schools.
Build Your Own develops a system of programs and services as a model to close the racial wealth gap for families in underserved communities.
BUILD YOUR OWN
| FOR OUR STUDENTS | |
| NEED – Students learn from current and engaging curriculum written by teachers and technical experts in the field. | SOLUTION – Collaborate with teachers and technical experts to design innovative and work-based pre-apprenticeship curriculum that is culturally responsive and trauma-informed. |
| FOR OUR TEACHERS | |
| NEED – Address the shortage of highly qualified CTE instructors to ensure program investment leads to careers for students of color. | SOLUTION – Instructors Apprenticeship for CTE develops educators’ technical, cultural, and pedagogical competence through a comprehensive professional development program. |
| FOR OUR FAMILIES | |
| NEED – Strengthen communities by ensuring students can have access to middle-class careers in their neighborhood. | SOLUTION – Advocate to families the advantages of CTE through marketing and develop training in CTE fields such as construction, solar energy, and advanced manufacturing. |
| FOR OUR COMMUNITY | |
| NEED – Currently, the school district cannot provide the resources needed with limited funding, fragmented planning, and lack of stakeholder input. | SOLUTION – Build a coalition of unions, employers, educators, and representatives for advancing CTE programs through public-private partnerships. |
For information, contact: Michael Moriarty, NBCT, Career Pathways Coordinator, michealmoriarty@ctuf.org
Build Your Own is a Chicago Teachers Union Foundation Career Pathways Initiative of the Children and Teachers Fund, a non-profit 501(c)3.