February is Career and Technical Education (CTE) Month!

Here in Philadelphia, nearly 600 students in 30 District schools participate in CTE programs.

To celebrate the start of the annual monthlong celebration, Mayor Kenney visited Swenson Arts and Technology High School in Northeast Philadelphia.

Swenson students study subjects that help build lifelong, family-sustaining careers, like in the automotive, carpentry, electrical, engineering, plumbing, culinary, allied health, computer networking, and digital media arts fields.

While visiting each program, the Mayor spoke with students about their educational experiences and the importance of gaining skills and connections — connections necessary to build their lives as working adults.

Mayor Kenney with automotive students at Swenson
In the automotive program, the Mayor watched the students work on cars and run tests.
Carpentry students at Swenson
In carpentry, electrical and plumbing, students learned how to build a house as well as run electrical and plumbing through it.
Mayor Kenney with student at Swenson
Many students at Swenson are from other countries and greeted the Mayor in their native languages, including Arabic, Cambodian, Chinese, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Ukrainian.
Mayor Kenney with culinary students at Swenson
At the end of the visit, the Mayor met the culinary program students who baked a special CTE cake! (The cake was delicious.)

Ready to learn more about career and technical education? Check out the Mayor’s Office of Education list of local CTE Month events happening citywide! You can also follow the conversation on Twitter with the hashtag #ThinkCTE!