The purpose of the CTE Letter of Intent Signing Day is to celebrate students who are entering the workforce after graduation. Many students and athletes have received accolades for achieving their goal of being accepted into the college of their choice. As part of the Enrolled or Enlisted or Employed Initiative, the leadership of Henrico CTE decided that students entering the world of work right out of high school also deserve recognition.
Henrico CTE has provided career training for these students and local businesses have recognized the benefits of hiring our students right out of high school and are excited to see them grow with their businesses over the coming years. The CTE Signing Day has brought our students, teachers and many of Virginia’s businesses together to fill the many great paying jobs that require certified skills. We hope in years to come our event will continue to grow and become an example of what is great about a CTE education.
Over the past year since our first event we have been contacted by school representatives from every state except Hawaii about how they can replicate our Henrico CTE Letter of Intent Signing Day. Our director, Mac Beaton, has been interviewed by most of our local news organizations and has also been interviewed by many national news outlets such as NBC’s Today, Fox News and CNN’s Headline News. He has also had radio, print, and internet-based interviews about our signing day.
Much of this attention occurred quickly after our first signing day when our Facebook post was shared to the TV personality Mike Rowe. Mike has been a huge advocate of young people going into the trades fields and commented that he hoped that we could become a model for the rest of the country. His comments on our post caused it to go viral. Over the following months that attention has put us under a national spotlight with people hoping that more can be done to honor students making the decision to move into the world of work after high school. It looks like Mike got his wish.
YouTube Video of 2023 event:
News stories from our 2022 event.
Henrico Schools hold this ceremony for students entering the workforce. Click here.
Henrico Citizen: Henrico CTE students commit to careers on signing day. Click here.
News and Facebook Stories from our 2019 event.
Style Magazine, August 27, 2019: Mac Beaton – director of career and technical education, Henrico County Public Schools. Click here
theFabricator.com: Growing popularity of career signing days goes nationwide. Click here
The Line: Virginia CTE Program Embraces Multiple Pathways To Success. Click here
forConstructionPros.com: Schools, Construction Industry Celebrate Skilled Trades Signing Day. Click here
Henrico Now: A Community Effort: Henrico Celebrates Workforce-Ready Students. Click here
Healthy Holistic Living: ‘Signing Day’ Recognizes High School Seniors Starting Jobs, Not College: Click here
Project Uptime: Signing Day Events Shine Attention on Trade-Bound Students: Click here
Richmond Mom’s Blog: The Non-College Dream: Click here
A story from NBC’s Today.com: Click here
RVA Hub, Westend: Click here
A story about us from Global News: Click here
WRVA Radio Interview: Click here
Henrico Citizen: Click here for story.
WTVR 6 Richmond: Click here for story.
Richmond Times Dispatch: Click here for story.
Henrico CTE Now Podcast about Signing Day: Click here for podcast.
Henrico County Public Schools Facebook Post: Click here
Click here for photos of our 2019 Signing Day event.
News and Facebook Stories from our 2018 event.
Henrico County Public Schools Facebook Post:
Facebook Share from Mike Rowe, host of Dirty Jobs:
Story From the Henrico Citizen: Click here for story.
Video from Henrico County Public Schools:
Video Story from WRIC 8. Click here for story. Click here for print story.
Story from WTVR 6. Click here for story.
Story from Today.com, Parents page. Click here for story.
Video from Henrico CTE:
Video from Fox News:
Click here for photos of the event.
Richmond Ford West posted an article on their website about the event. Click here to see it.
Article on a website called Epoch Times. Click here for stories.
Mike Rowe repeated a post from his Facebook page on his Blog. Click here.
Story on RVA Hub West End. Click here.
Article published on a website called Expert Exteriors. Click here.
Article published on the National Roofing Contractors Association website. Click here.
Story on an independent news site called NB News. Click here.
Article on the “Scary Mommy” website. Click here.
Article on the ParkBench.com website. Click here.
Article on the Mother Nature Network. Click here.