Research Paper on:
Benefits of Career and Technical Student Organizations

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
workplace. Phenomenal technological advanced, combined with ever-increasing global competition, mean that knowing the "Three Rs," while essential and important, simply isnt enough any more. Nor are the work-study programs, or  "internships" that became so popular during the 1980s and 1990s. These days, students require help from established organizations, as well as the surrounding business community, in order to have a  fighting chance to survive and thrive in todays society. It is in this atmosphere that the Career and Technical Student Organizations -  known as CTSOs - have stepped in to pick up the slack and to offer tools above and beyond the strict educational basics required for graduation. CTSOs, which are a  viable and integral part of Career and Technical Education (CTE) components that are fast becoming viable elements in many schools around the United States, can help provide the missing link  between a students scholastic career and his or her success once he or she has left the formal education world. An Overview of CTSOs  CTSOs, in their basic sense, exist to support todays educational curriculum by providing a ". . . unique program of career and leadership development, motivation and recognition exclusively  for middle/junior high and secondary students enrolled . . . in career and technical programs" (Glass, 2002). Far from being exclusionary "clubs,"  CTSOs can actually be integrated into career and technical curriculum and the classroom by an instructor (Glass, 2002). As CTSOs are an actual curriculum integration (making them more than social  clubs), CTSOs can be used effectively as extensions of classroom and or laboratory programs (by providing real-world learning); and as organizations that develop activities so students can obtain personal and