Thirty-two students from Dutchess BOCES’ Career & Technical Institute were made members of the National Technical Honor Society during an induction ceremony on May 4.
The organization’s motto is “Success favors the prepared mind.” In order to qualify, students completed an application with a writing prompt, community service hours and recommendation letters from instructors and job supervisors, as well as have an overall Career Technical Education average of 93 or above.
“These efforts go above and beyond our expectations,” CTI School Counselor and National Technical Honor Society Advisor Deanna Pillius said. “We’re honored to have these students enrolled at CTI.”
CTI Principal Nick Millas congratulated students on their achievement and predicted they will be community leaders that BOCES can collaborate with in the future to provide state of the art programming.
“We’ve entered into a time of unprecedented low unemployment rates, which means the world is your oyster,” Millas said. “We look to our students to not only fill a large gap in the workforce, but also to provide leadership.”
Instructors read positive attributes about each nominee as they received their certificates, including second-year cosmetology student Jennifer VanAnden, who was described as a very dedicated student who will do well in any field. She was honored to be inducted and thanked CTI staff for their support.
“There’s a lot of support here from all the teachers and principals,” VanAnden said. “I felt very proud.”
First-year automotive technology student Carter Lewis, an exceptional student who works through difficult situations by using common sense, was happy to receive the nomination and credited his teachers for pushing him to achieve his goals.
“It’s a great accomplishment,” Lewis said. “I’m the only one in my class that got it.” 
