Pinellas School Board proclaims February 2025 Career and Technical Education Month, honors five academies of distinction

The Pinellas County School Board on Feb. 11 unanimously approved a proclamation designating February 2025 as Career and Technical Education Month and recognized five high-school career academies that earned an Academy of Distinction designation.

Board members voted 7-0 to adopt the proclamation after Superintendent Hendrick and Mark Hunt, the district's executive director of career technical and adult education, highlighted student work from the district's CTE programs. "Students experience something they're interested in, get industry certifications, leadership, teamwork and skills," Hunt said when introducing the proclamation.

The proclamation presented figures from district records: nearly 30,000 high-school students in the district, more than 22,000 enrolled in at least one CTE course, and Pinellas Technical College reporting 4,725 students in certificate and apprenticeship programs (including 1,068 dual-enrolled high-school students). The proclamation also cited 138 programs of study across secondary and postsecondary schools, 50 registered high-school CAPE academies and 18 registered middle-school CAPE academies.

The board then recognized five academies that had gone through a multi-stage review and site-visit process managed in part by community partners and the Pinellas Education Foundation. The district said each recognized academy receives a monetary award to support supplies, field trips or equipment. Those honored were:

- Jacobson Culinary Arts Academy, Tarpon Springs High School - Center for Education and Leadership, Seminole High School - Center for Journalism and Multimedia (CJAM), Lakewood High School - Center for Technology, Entertainment, and Design (CTED), Osceola Fundamental High School - Commercial and Digital Arts Academy, (Raymond Richard O. Jacobson Technical High School)

Lisa Fasting of the Pinellas Education Foundation and representatives from corporate donor Ditech joined district staff in thanking academy teams; Ditech provided an additional financial award for the five academies, the district said. Ron Schnell and Mark Hunt described the multi-step verification process used to evaluate programs and confirm they met the Academy of Distinction standards.

Students from Lakewood High School also addressed the board earlier in the meeting, describing their school programs and magnet pathways, including CAT (Center for Advanced Technology) and CJAM. Student speakers Lucas Barsky and Jules East described academic and extracurricular achievements and the benefits of pathway programs; the board applauded the students' presentations.

The vote to adopt the proclamation was moved by Board Member Kane and seconded by Board Member Long. The board then recessed to take photos with the recognized academies.

The board framed the actions as part of broader efforts to connect students with industry-relevant skills, scholarships and career pathways; district staff said the recognitions are intended to support program sustainability through targeted funding and community partnerships.

The board did not take any separate restrictive or regulatory action as part of the recognition; the proclamation is a formal designation and the academy recognitions are awards and acknowledgements accompanied by monetary support to the programs.