Pendleton High School
2025 CTE Month Spotlight

Meet Bailey Sitts, Engineering Instructor at Pendleton High School

What do you teach? 
I teach the engineering pathway at PHS including Intro to Engineering Design, Digital Design and Production, Robotics and Aerospace.

In your classes, what is the CTE focus for the 24-25 school year? 
My focus is to work further within the Oregon Employability Skills curriculum and to further our Career Technical Student Organization connection through TSA by having more focus on my own involvement and student competition attendance.

How do you think CTE work in your school is making a difference for students? 
It is teaching students that all of the basics they have learned so far have a connection to real life. CTE is a wonderful bridge between basic education and technical skills that shows students how to apply what they’ve learned already to more specific and real circumstances while they explore their strengths and abilities before entering trade schools, the job market, military or college. CTE at PHS is making a difference by showing students they can do anything and that no job, school or skill is out of their reach.

What is something people may not know about CTE in schools? 
As a CTE teacher, I hear that our classes are “just electives” all too frequently; CTE is more than just an elective. CTE in schools is a necessary connection between professionals in the field, community, and students that is intended to build community connections and bring industry standard knowledge into the classroom for students.

Most CTE teachers are brought in from industry to teach what they know and bring a higher level work ethic and expectation into the classroom that more closely mirrors a workplace than a traditional classroom.

An emergency at a school is something that school leaders are always dreading and preparing for at the same time. To prepare, they have regular drills. In Oregon, the state requires schools to hold two Lockdown drills each year. A Lockdown happens when a threat is inside or near a school building and is used to secure individual rooms and keep occupants quiet and in place. In a Lockdown, everyone in the building goes to a secure room and it’s “Locks, Lights, Out of Sight” which means the door is locked, lights are turned off and occupants of the room stay away from doors and window.

On Wednesday, January 15th, Pendleton High School had a drill that was a little different – they had informed teachers and staff there would be a drill that day but didn’t say what time. School leaders had the drill during a passing time when most students were in the hallways. This requires students to remember they should find an open classroom or other room and get in it, even if it’s not one of their regular classrooms or their teacher. Teachers are tasked with gathering as many students near their classroom as possible, then locking the door and remaining quiet with the students.

About 14 law enforcement officers from the Pendleton Police Department and Oregon State Police were at PHS to participate in the Lockdown drill.

About one minute before the drill started, Principal Pat Dutcher sent a text alert to PHS parents that the drill was about to happen. At the start of the drill, Dutcher and Curt Thompson, Assistant Principal, monitored the large number of cameras around the PHS campus. Thompson said he was pleasantly surprised to see on the cameras that there were not many students outside, in halls or in other common areas. Officer Lance Zaugg, School Resource Officer for Pendleton School District, said he encountered a small group of students during the drill who didn’t know what to do, so he ushered them into the school library.

“Our drill today went much better than we anticipated, and most of our students knew what to do. I am also pleased how well our staff did today getting kids into classrooms quickly and remaining there,” Dutcher said.

Dutcher, Thompson and law enforcement officers then went around the building, unlocking doors, turning on lights and confirming to students it was a drill.

Lieutenant Tony Nelson from the Pendleton Police Department said both PHS leaders and his PPD officers wanted to know what the student response would be to a less controlled environment today. “We were very pleased with how everyone did, especially adults in the school scooping up kids into classrooms and getting them somewhere safe,” Nelson said.

Assistant Principal Thompson said the goal of every safety drill is to learn as much as possible, which is what happened today. Principal Dutcher said he hopes that parents of PHS students will discuss the drill with them and reflect on ways students can help contribute to school safety.