The Career and Technical Student Organization (CTSO) Fest is handled by Lambert’s CTSO, which connects students to potential careers through CTSO clubs. The festival helps pay for the clubs’ fees like meetings and competitive events. However, the event has many benefits for the participants as well. Students can spend time with friends, play minigames in friendly competitions and also find new opportunities.
Vivan Kotla, an Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) officer, explained his perspective on the impact and necessity of CTSO fest.
“The CTSO fest really acts as a way for us to show ourselves more directly to members and non members too,” Kotla said. “One of our main goals is just more membership as well.”
CTSO fest is one of the first outreach opportunities of the year. For the clubs involved in the event, it is vital for them to show their promise and benefits. By showcasing some of their opportunities during the event, clubs like FBLA showed the members the learning opportunities potential members could capitalize on.
The festival is important to Kotla for promoting diversity of interests from people in many different CTSO clubs.
“The number one reason is diversity,” Kotla explained. “If you just had an FBLA fest, you wouldn’t really be getting the whole school. We’re getting people who want to be in medicine from HOSA, engineering from TSA and robotics from FCCLA. It’s just a culmination of people’s different interests.”
There are not many events throughout the school year for students to connect with other students who have completely different interests. The high diversity of interests at CTSO fest helped students gain new perspectives on many different people. Its placement right before the football game on Thursday made the festival a fun time before the actual main event.
The CTSO Fest was held on Thursday, September 19, and students were able to connect with others and find clubs that they are passionate about. As one of the first events of the year, the CTSO Fest will continue to be important for members’ decisions about their participation in Lambert’s clubs.
