Tanner Peterson is an Agriculture teacher for seventh graders through seniors at Tri-Valley School District in Colton, South Dakota—covering everything from animal science to trades to wildlife and fisheries, across two buildings every day. Five years ago, as a first-year teacher, he had plenty of content but no roadmap for it. "I was truly lost," he recalls.

iCEV changed that.

"The biggest thing that's changed the most since I started using iCEV is the fact that I feel more prepared for what I'm going to do for my next unit," Peterson says. "I have all these lessons to choose from, and I can go through and customize them in the order that I want to go through. I don't have to answer the question anymore at the end of every lesson: well, what do I do next?"

Having direction and flexibility now impact nearly every class on his schedule. His animal science students work toward a vet science certification. "It's really nice to get these kids certified in something that they can take with them," he says. In his shop classes, every student works toward a small engine certification, practical knowledge Peterson considers a life skill: "Every kid more than likely is one day going to be mowing their own lawn and have to fix their lawnmower." His agriculture processing students pursue an AMSA Meat Evaluation certification tied directly to the local custom butcher shops some of them go on to work for.

Peterson is building toward an ambitious goal: having every student he teaches earn a certification. The Tri-Valley district's wall of certifications has grown accordingly, from 15 to 20 two years ago, to roughly 50 last year, with another wall mount on order. "This past year I challenged myself that every kid should try to walk away certified in something ag-related," Peterson says, "because it could really help push them to the next level when they're applying for a job or going into the workforce right after high school."

That push is already paying off. One sophomore who earned an AMSA Meat Evaluation certification beat out five or six other applicants for a job at a local custom butcher shop. "They were selected because they already had that certification," Peterson says. "It set them apart." Students in his small engines class have come back with their own stories, fixing their own lawnmowers over the summer using what they learned in class. And with a local college offering a veterinary technician program, Peterson sees his animal science certification as a direct pipeline for students with their sights set on that field.

For Peterson, iCEV has simplified the work of teaching across so many subjects at once, from offering content that's ready to adapt for South Dakota classrooms, to a support team he says responds within minutes, to a straightforward upload into Google Classroom.

"When I was student teaching, I had a teacher who always said the best teachers are those who are really good at using other people's information and making it their own," Peterson says. "With iCEV, they have all this information, and it's a lot easier to take that and push it toward your school or subject area, rather than trying to create it all yourself."

About iCEV

Since 1984, iCEV has specialized in providing quality CTE curriculum and educational resources. iCEV is the most comprehensive online resource for CTE educators and students, offering curriculum for several major subject areas, including agricultural science, trade & industrial education, business & marketing, career exploration, family & consumer science, trade & health science, law enforcement and STEM education. iCEV also acts as a certification testing platform for industry certifications. Recognized companies and organizations utilize iCEV as the testing platform for their certifications. Additionally, iCEV offers Eduthings, a CTE data management platform that simplifies reporting for industry certifications, work-based learning, CTSO participation, and more. For more information, visit www.icevonline.com.

Every Kid Certified: One Teacher's Goal in South Dakota