Portland Area Career Technical Education Consortium at PCC

07/27/2026

"The future of semiconductor innovation for the US starts here in Oregon"
-Skip Newberry, TAO President

07/23/2026

Industry Partners - Save the Dates for PCC's Fall 2026 Industry Networking Events!

Collaborate directly with our region's Career and Technical Education (CTE) educators who are shaping the next generation of your workforce.

Please join us for a working lunch to share industry insights that help align academic curriculum at both the high school and college level.

Registration coming soon - please find the correct day for your industry

07/13/2026

Check out this PCC article on PACTEC's Culinary Workshop hosted by the Food Innovation Center, Portland Oregon - thanks to the partnership with College of Agricultural Sciences - Oregon State University

The next Portland-area food startup could begin in a high school kitchen, but only if teachers can keep pace with the science, math and business skills behind today’s food industry

07/02/2026

Earlier this week, PACTEC teachers attended a new Welding Qualification workshop hosted by Airgasrgas and Portland Community College'sWelding Technology program. This brand new "Train the Trainer" session was specially designed to teach new techniques in fillet and groove welding, with the bonus of equipping our teachers with the skills to provide Industry Recognized Credential exams to their own students. This will allow CTE teachers in Oregon to provide IRC exams at a lower cost, increasing access to students across the state.

We look forward to future collaborations with Airgas as we work to increase these efforts across Oregon.

06/29/2026

On June 18th, PACTEC Culinary teachers participated in an industry training experience at the Food Innovation Center, Portland Oregon.

The teachers began with an overview of starting a food business, and went over key considerations such as market research, branding, marketing strategy and business planning. They then moved on to a Recipe to Market session where they worked on four teams to convert a kitchen recipe into a production formula, each choosing a special ingredient to distinguish their recipe. The teachers moved into a kitchen facility to scale and prepare marinara sauce four different ways: regular, sweet, spicy and garlicky. During this process, teachers learned about food safety by testing for pH levels, brix, and water activity in the sauces. They concluded with a flavor science presentation and demos, along with a sensory activity.

We look forward to further collaborations with the Food Innovation Center and provide our culinary teachers with new skills to bring back to their CTE classrooms. Special thanks to Marcia Walker for setting up this amazing experience and presenters Sarah Masoni who led the Recipe to Market exercises, and Christina Edwards for the sensory presentation.

06/24/2026

PACTEC kicked off our Summer Skills Summit with the STEAM Lab Design Process & Mass Prototyping session last week. Thank you to PCC OMIC Training Center and the PCC Steam Lab for hosting our educators and bringing in industry.

🛠️ Last week, the PCC OMIC Training Center Fab Lab (PCC STEAM Centers) hosted the Portland Area Career Technical Education Consortium at PCC Summer Summit, welcoming 17 high school CTE instructors from ten Portland metro area schools for two days of hands-on training in 3D design and manufacturing! 🎉

Teachers didn't just watch, they built. Participants started with cardboard prototypes of flat-pack, slot-together furniture, modeled their concepts into cut-ready CAD designs, then fabricated finished pieces from single sheets of plywood using the Fab Lab's CNC routers and laser cutters. 🪵

Big thanks to our industry partners who made it happen: Phil Eichmiller from Autodesk led educators through CAD for manufacturing in Autodesk Fusion, and Sallye Coyle from ShopBot Tools, Inc guided hands-on demos on the ShopBot Desktop CNC Routers plus Vectric software training. 💡

Every skill these teachers picked up heads straight back into their classrooms, reaching the next generation of makers and manufacturers. This is exactly what the PCC STEAM Centers are built for! Organized by PACTEC in collaboration with the PCC STEAM Centers. 💙

Learn more at pcc.edu/pactec and pcc.edu/maker

06/18/2026

Celebrating National Nursing Assistants Week! - June 11 through 17, 2026

Portland Community College relaunched their Nursing Assistant program this year from a Future-ready Oregon grant.

During this academic year, the Nursing Assistant program served over 120 students – many of whom are entering the workforce as a certified nursing assistant (CNA) or continuing their healthcare studies. Student participants included incumbent workers from healthcare facilities who were looking to upskill and advance into better positions within their field and Integrated Education and Training (IET) students, adults who simultaneously built their English language skills while completing their nursing assistant training. The program delivered a hybrid model of online lectures and in-person labs and clinical rotations to Benson Polytechnic High School students who got an early start on their healthcare careers.

What’s next for the Nursing Assistant program?
- The application is open for fall 2026 admission and closes June 18, 2026.
- Fall courses feature online lectures, in-person labs, and clinical rotations.
- Students may choose to enroll in the course for either credit or non-credit.
- The credit course fulfills an elective requirement for the Medical Professions Healthcare Pathways certificate. https://lnkd.in/grP6ByQH
- State CNA exams are now hosted at PCC providing easier and timely access to testing.

Happy Nursing Assistants Week!

Nursing Assistant
pcc.edu/NA | [email protected]

Why choose the Nursing Assistant non-credit or credit training program at PCC? Are you ready to join the healthcare workforce in a role that is in high demand and offers...

06/03/2026

Last Chance for PACTEC CTE Summer Skills Summit: Register before spots fill up!

We still have some spots available for the below sessions (all others are currently full - we are offering a waitlist option)
- Now offering a $50/hour stipend for all sessions

Project-Based Learning for CTE Curriculum - 6/23-6/24

Surveying & AutoCAD Workshop - 7/29-7/30

STEAM Lab Design Process & Mass Prototyping - 6/15-6/16

Food Innovation Center: Culinary Workshop - 6/18

Project Management Series: Fundamentals, Intermediate & AI in PM - 7/20, 7/27, 8/3

Cybersecurity Workshop - 8/4, 8/5, 8/6

Irrigation Systems: Installation, Components & Maintenance - 8/10, 8/12, 8/14

05/27/2026

Register for the PACTEC CTE Summer Skills Summit before spots fill up!

Project-Based Learning for CTE Curriculum - 6/23-6/24 bit.ly/4uaEEBi

Surveying & AutoCAD Workshop - 7/29-7/30 bit.ly/42Wa5Ef

STEAM Lab Design Process & Mass Prototyping - 6/15-6/16 bit.ly/4uC8tf2

Food Innovation Center: Culinary Workshop - 6/18 bit.ly/3PJZ4mo

Fundamentals of Multimedia for Educators - 7/13, 7/14, 7/15 bit.ly/4wJWVYq

Project Management Series: Fundamentals, Intermediate & AI in PM - 7/20, 7/27, 8/3 bit.ly/3RpMidk

Cybersecurity Workshop - 8/4, 8/5, 8/6 bit.ly/43vZNuz

Irrigation Systems: Installation, Components & Maintenance - 8/10, 8/12, 8/14 bit.ly/3RCcCko

05/21/2026

Project-Based Learning: Where Curriculum Meets the Real World

Are you struggling to create curriculum that engages students and focuses on real-world applications? Make learning stick and move beyond the textbook with this 2-day Project Based Learning session that will deliver a clear lesson plan of design to implement in your classroom!

Register Here to attend this free session and enrich your CTE curriculum: https://pdnetworks.soesd.k12.or.us/public/events/view-event/15940

This session is applicable to all programs of study and will be customized to your specific program
Presented by the Consortium for Public Education