Posts Tagged ‘Sponsors’

Advance CTE 2023 Fall Meeting Sponsor Blog: Diamond Sponsor, Lincoln Electric – Bridge the Gap Between Education and Industry for the Future Workforce

Thursday, October 12th, 2023

The need for skilled trade workers continues to be in critical demand and industries across the globe are scrambling to find ways to quickly and effectively fill these jobs. The welding industry is no stranger to these challenges. According to the American Welding Society, 360,000 welders are projected to be needed by 2027 with 90,000 needed annually (aws.org). 

How do we continue progress in this country without the skilled tradespeople to do the job? It is ever more imperative that industry leaders and business owners need to work collaboratively with education institutions to ensure the training learners receive is in step with what the industry needs.  While there are many paths to filling these jobs, from providing on-the-job training, upskilling current workers or adding automation to the production line, communication between Education facilities and industry must be ongoing to respond to constantly changing needs.

But where to start? How do we bring industry leaders and educators together to work collaboratively to develop a comprehensive training program and get the right skilled workers out into the workforce?  

Since 1917, Lincoln Electric has been instrumental in the development of welding education and training. Over the years our team has grown with the same mission to advance education, training and awareness of the need for skilled welders. With our strong industry partner relationships and a team of education curriculum and training professionals, we developed the Lincoln Electric Education Partner Schools (LEEPS) welding program with the emphasis to build the bridge between industry and educators as well as create meaningful curriculum that will support the continuously changing workforce needs.  

When state Career Technical Education (CTE) leaders include the LEEPS certification program on their industry-recognized credentials list (IRC) for secondary, post-secondary and/or workforce development lists, it allows the schools in that state to receive funding for every learner who earns an IRC certification. In Ohio, 20 organizations have LEEPS certifications on their IRC list. One school, Utica Shale Academy has certified 234 students in 2022 alone, which has helped offset expenses for the year.

In partnership with the National Coalition of Certification Centers (NC3), the LEEPS welding certification program provides curriculum and learning management resources for learners and welders to earn standard-based certifications.  These certifications are portable and stackable, which means welders can build their own skill base for specific job requirements by combining the skills and certifications they need for immediate employment. The LEEPS program creates standardization with the Train-the-Trainer program. All instructors receive the same training, tests, grading rubrics, and curriculum materials to earn certification in a welding class or process. Instructors then take that training back to their school and are now able to certify their learners. This in turn ensures that the training is consistent across the country and provides reliable, standardized certifications to employers they recognize when looking for prospective job applicants. The importance of standardized certifications also allows job applicants the flexibility to move across a specific industry or into a new one for employment across the country.  

The LEEPS program offers a way to integrate certifications into an existing education institute with ease. It combines traditional in-the-booth training along with virtual welding training meant to introduce and reinforce skills needed in the booth. As the industry changes, the needs of curriculum and certification change as well. The program adapts to the needs of the industry annually and works to provide the latest curriculum and certification to meet the needs of the industry.   

We are in a race against time to fill critical jobs in the skilled trades. As industry looks for innovative ways to fill jobs, education facilities have to expand their commitment to support them.  Integrating programs like LEEPS with CTE at the local and state levels, expanding course offerings in automation and integrating virtual and other technologies into their program will not only help accelerate the training to get workers in the field but also ensure the training they receive meets industry standards and needs.  

For more information about our education programs, please visit the Education Section of our website https://www.lincolnelectric.com/en/education.

Victoria Valore, Marketing Manager, Education, Solutions, and Applications, Lincoln Electric

By Layla Alagic in Advance CTE Fall Meeting
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Advance CTE 2023 Fall Meeting Sponsor Blog: Diamond Sponsor, Certiport – Earn College Credits with Industry Certifications

Wednesday, October 11th, 2023

When learners earn an industry certification, they’re not just earning a credential for their resume. They’re also potentially saving money on higher education. It’s no secret that pursuing higher education in the United States comes at a high cost to learners. According to EducationData.org, the average federal student loan debt is $36,510 per borrower, and students with private student loans have debt averaging $54,921 per borrower. Any chance learners can get to earn college credit while in high school is a great move. That’s where ACE CREDIT comes in.

Career Technical Education (CTE) programs across the country are embedding industry-recognized credentials in their programs of study as a measure of program quality and to ensure that learning is validated, recognized, and portable. Certiport offers exams for a number of commonly state-approved certifications. In addition to providing state and local leaders with valuable information about program quality, our exams provide the added learner benefit of conferring ACE credit.

What is ACE CREDIT?

Founded in 1918, the American Council on Education (ACE) is the major coordinating body for all the nation’s higher education institutions, representing more than 1,600 college and university presidents and more than 200 related associations nationwide. It provides leadership on key higher education issues and influences public policy through advocacy.

ACE CREDIT connects workplace learning with colleges and universities by helping adults gain access to academic credit at colleges and universities for formal courses and examinations taken in the workplace or other settings outside traditional higher education. For more than 40 years, colleges and universities have trusted ACE CREDIT to provide reliable course equivalency information to facilitate their decisions to award academic credit. And now, learners who pass select Certiport exams can earn this valuable credit as well.

Which Certiport Exams Qualify for ACE CREDIT?

The American Council on Education’s College Credit Recommendation Service (ACE Learning Evaluations®) has evaluated and recommended college credit for multiple Certiport programs, including:

  1. Autodesk Certified User
  2. Adobe Certified Professional
  3. Communication Skills for Business
  4. Entrepreneurship and Small Business
  5. IC3 Digital Literacy
  6. Intuit
  7. IT Specialist
  8. Microsoft Certified Fundamentals
  9. Microsoft Office Specialist

You can find the full list here.

How Do Learners Obtain ACE College Credit?

Certiport’s partnership with ACE’s Transcript Service makes obtaining college credit simple.

First, learners should verify with their university/college admissions office that they grant credit for the specific certification.

Second, learners should send their transcript to their college or university via Credly’s Acclaim platform. Information on transcript services is available in the ACE Student Resource Center.

Interested in having your certified learners earn college credit? You can learn more here.

Hannah Davis, Certiport, a Pearson VUE business

By Layla Alagic in Advance CTE Fall Meeting
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Advance CTE 2023 Fall Meeting Sponsor Blog: Platinum Sponsor, CareerSafe – CareerSafe Offers Comprehensive Online and On-Demand Safety Training

Tuesday, October 10th, 2023

CareerSafe was founded in 2003 under the core belief that no job is worth a young worker’s life. CareerSafe has expanded their focus to include the whole worker. From safety and health training to employability skills and cybersecurity awareness, CareerSafe is focused on providing the foundational skills workers need to launch successful careers.

Starting with Safety

A first step of safety training can occur as soon as middle school or freshman year, with CareerSafe’s StartSafe program. A site-license specific training will provide five (5) hours of core content, as well as the opportunity to explore additional pathways. StartSafe is the perfect introduction to OSHA and workplace safety, covering topics such as:

OSHA 10-Hour Training 

The next obvious step in each learner’s safety training is OSHA 10-Hour Training in either General Industry or in Construction with several industry-specific pathways including: 

OSHA 10-Hour training is purchase per seat and registered through the U.S. Department of Labor, granting each student a recognized OSHA General or Construction Industry card. 

Cyber Safety Awareness

Technological advances have made the digital world an integral part of everyday life. Unfortunately, that means online risks for young people are also becoming more prevalent. The CareerSafe Cyber Safety Awareness Library contains courses with grade-level focused topics for 6th-12th grades and covers situations like cyberbullying, sexting, and the consequences of school threats. This is a site license program as well. 

Employability Skills

The final step on preparing learners for workplace readiness is the CareerSafe library of Employability skills. 

These courses are available per seat or by site license and they provide quality resources and techniques for building essential skills and strategies applicable in all professional fields. Topics include:

When you add in CareerSafe’s best-of-class customer service, innovative online curriculum, and effective teacher tools, there are numerous ways to educate your learners. 

By offering the whole suite of CareerSafe products, from StartSafe to OSHA 10-hour training, cyber security training to employability skills, the result is a well-rounded, educated young worker who is capable of staying safe in the workplace. 

Scaling Across Your State 

CareerSafe believes that all students deserve the right to a safe and fair workplace. What better way to prepare your students to remain safe in the workplace than to equip them with the knowledge and understanding of OSHA safety training while still in high school. Because our courses easily integrate within your teacher’s existing CTE curriculum and are created to align with the National Career Clusters Framework this opportunity allows for states to scale this course across all pathways for every student. We have Account Executives available across the country to walk you through how to get set up today. Let us help you set your students on a path to success. 

Sherry Pruitt, Executive Director of CareerSafe

[email protected]

careersafeonline.com

888-614-7233

By Layla Alagic in Advance CTE Fall Meeting
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Advance CTE 2023 Fall Meeting Sponsor Blog: Gold Sponsor, HBI – Construction Skills Training to Elevate CTE’s Impact

Thursday, October 5th, 2023

Those of us in Career Technical Education (CTE) often speak about preparing learners for careers in the real world. Well, here’s a real-world example of a sector where quite literally millions of careers are waiting to be fulfilled: construction. The number of open construction jobs averages between 300,000 and 400,000 every month. That’s an astonishing figure, especially considering how many good-paying positions await those who choose the field. Half of payroll workers in construction earn $50,460 annually, and the top 25 percent make at least $71,000. 

In the construction industry’s home building sector, employers in every state are paying top dollar for well-trained, entry-level workers. That is, if they can find any. One place they’re successfully identifying them is in high schools, community colleges and other institutions using a curriculum from the trade training nonprofit Home Builders Institute (HBI) called Pre-Apprentice Certificate Training (PACT). 

HBI’s PACT curriculum is designed to provide learners with essential skills vital for careers in construction. Upon completion, graduates receive a certification in up to nine construction trade specialties. The certification is recognized and validated by the nation’s building industry. PACT, which is hands-on, competency-based curriculum, is one of only three, national curriculums approved by the U.S. Department of Labor and several state departments of education.

Gage Trebilcock, left, 17, a senior at Stonington High School, explains his technical drawing in the Pipeline in Manufacturing class he’s enrolled in to Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, second from left, Monday, Oct. 3, 2024. Trebilcock is enrolled in the new pilot program with the Home Builders Institute of Washington, D.C., titled the Pre-Apprenticeship Certificate Training (PACT) program. The pilot program, only the second in the state, is designed to highlight how a local public school system can promote the construction trades. | Tim Martin, The Westerly Sun

 

Home builders are looking for smart, hard-working and ambitious team members. States are elevating CTE’s impact by helping to support the tools and services that train new workers. HBI’s PACT is part of broad efforts by many states to create regional training opportunities, adopt skills-based hiring practices and increase equity and job quality by promoting private sector employment opportunities for a diverse workforce. 

For example, in Rhode Island, the Residential Construction Workforce Partnership serves employers and educators in the state by recruiting and training people who want to join the industry as well as those seeking to upskill current employees. Since its inception, the group has used HBI’s PACT curriculum to great success.

State CTE leaders and economic development professionals understand the synergy between skills training, good jobs and economic strength. After all, wages in construction are higher than in other industries. The average hourly earnings in construction is approaching the $36 mark (in manufacturing, it’s $31.80. Transportation and utilities: $27.67. Overall, in the private sector: $33.20). That kind of solid personal income helps support the bottom line of any tax base.

More broadly, the shortage of affordable rental and for-sale homes is a challenge for every state. The U.S. faces a shortfall of 1.5 million homes, which as a matter of supply and demand, forces rents and house prices higher nationwide. Economists and housing professionals cite the skilled labor gap as a major contributor to the scarcity of affordable homes.

It’s simple. For those we together serve, gaining a valuable skill in residential construction promises limitless career opportunities. And supporting skills training makes economic sense for every state in the nation. 

Learn more about PACT Curriculum and Certification: PACT One Pager

To explore how PACT can be integrated into a state’s CTE initiatives, visit HBI.org and email [email protected].

Ed Brady, President and CEO, Home Builders Institute (HBI)

By Layla Alagic in Advance CTE Fall Meeting
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Advance CTE 2023 Fall Meeting Sponsor Blog: Diamond Sponsor, YouScience – The Power of Career-Connected Learning: How YouScience® Brightpath Leads the Way

Wednesday, October 4th, 2023

When you ask executives of both large and small companies all throughout the United States, “What is your number one problem that you’re facing as a business?” The answer is inevitably “employees!” They simply can’t find enough employees.

When you ask them whether the school system is producing enough employees, 90% of business leaders don’t believe that schools are producing students of the right caliber.

In an ever-evolving job market, equipping students with the right tools for success has become more critical than ever before. Career-connected learning is a powerful educational approach that bridges the gap between classroom knowledge and real-world application.

Preparing for Tomorrow’s World

The world of work is changing rapidly, with new industries emerging and existing ones transforming. Students need to be equipped with the skills and knowledge necessary to thrive in this dynamic environment. Career-connected learning helps them do just that by providing practical experiences and insights that prepare them for the future.

Relevance and Engagement

Traditional classroom learning can sometimes feel disconnected from the real world. Career-connected learning bridges this gap by making education relevant and engaging. When students can see the direct application of what they’re learning, they become more motivated and invested in their education. As a result, they are more likely to excel academically and develop a genuine passion for their chosen fields.

YouScience® Brightpath: Guiding the Way

One remarkable platform that facilitates career-connected learning is YouScience® Brightpath. This innovative tool helps students discover their unique strengths and interests, guiding them towards suitable career paths. By using a combination of aptitude assessments, career exploration, and certifications, Brightpath provides personalized insights that empower students to make informed educational and career decisions.

Unlocking Potential

Brightpath recognizes that every student is unique. It’s not a one-size-fits-all solution but rather a personalized journey toward discovering one’s potential. By identifying their inherent talents and interests, students can align their education and career choices more effectively, maximizing their chances of success and fulfillment.

Building Confidence

In a world where adaptability and innovation are key, career-connected learning is a crucial part of a student’s educational journey. It prepares them for the rapidly changing job landscape and instills a sense of purpose and passion in their studies. Brightpath takes this concept a step further, offering personalized guidance that empowers students to unlock their full potential and confidently pursue their dream careers. With career-connected learning and Brightpath, students are not just preparing for the future—they are actively shaping it, one well-informed decision at a time.

YouScience Brightpath is used in all 50 states and is offered as a statewide contract in several states. Implementing Brightpath at the state level provides several benefits to Career Technical Education (CTE) leaders and learners—it is easy to scale the program statewide with consistency and speed without adding headcount; results are data-driven through customized reports; and educators report improvements in CTE participation.

To learn more about YouScience Brightpath visit: https://www.youscience.com/brightpath/, and to schedule a 1:1 session to learn how this program can benefit your school, request a demo with one of our education experts.

By Layla Alagic in Advance CTE Fall Meeting
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Advance CTE 2023 Fall Meeting Sponsor Blog: Platinum Sponsor, Oracle – Oracle Academy’s Commitment to CTE Learner Success

Tuesday, October 3rd, 2023

As Oracle’s global philanthropic educational program (FREE), Oracle Academy is open to educators around the world to advance technology education, skills, innovation, diversity and inclusion. We offer academic institutions and their educators free teaching and learning resources ― including curriculum, cloud, software and educator professional development ― that help prepare millions of learners with hands-on practice and career-relevant skills.

In my role as Sr. Regional Director for North America, I have the opportunity to speak with education leaders at all levels ― learning, sharing ideas, celebrating successes and understanding challenges. In return, I share information on Oracle Academy learning resources that can be utilized to help elevate Career Technical Education (CTE) learner success and overcome those challenges.

For the last 25 years, Oracle Academy has provided teaching resources as a means to continue the good work of preparing learners with relevant industry skills. Below is a synopsis of a few new resources and tools that are available to current educators:

As Oracle Academy, we understand and value CTE state leaders as partners and welcome the opportunity to collaborate by developing a statewide Oracle Academy membership agreement as a means to support both sustainable and scalable CTE programs. In North America, we also can engage directly with K12 school districts to create Oracle Academy membership agreements to offer teaching and learning resources to support CTE learner success.

Learn more at academy.oracle.com

Denise Hobbs
Senior Regional Director, Oracle Academy North America
[email protected]

By Layla Alagic in Advance CTE Fall Meeting
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Advance CTE 2023 Fall Meeting Sponsor Blog: Diamond Sponsor, CompTIA – The DNA of a Winning CTE Program

Monday, October 2nd, 2023

Tech organizations are in a constant race to find skilled and qualified workers who can keep up with ever-evolving demands. Skills and confidence gaps can throw a wrench in the works, making it tough for companies to meet their needs and for individuals to reach their full potential. That’s why addressing and tackling these gaps requires a well-thought-out plan that sets everyone up for success.

Angel Piñeiro, vice president of strategic academic relationships at CompTIA, shares a case study about how a technology company solved a skills and confidence gap problem by building a diverse future workforce pipeline with the largest school district in the country.

The Problem

In 2013, a large public school district, encompassing 1.1 million students and 1,800 schools, put out a contract to support their entire infrastructure. At the time, Piñeiro was the senior vice president of a national technology firm that won the multi-million-dollar contract. The problem was that they had two months to accomplish the following:

•         Hire 200-230 professionals, including technicians, engineers, dispatchers and more

•         Provide personnel with security clearances

•         Integrate the school district’s service desk into their firm’s service desk

“We managed to do it, but I will never, ever be put in that situation again,” Piñeiro said. To avoid running into the same problem in the future, Piñeiro needed a program in place that would create a pipeline of skilled and certified workforce.

The Solution

Faced with the challenge of rapidly recruiting skilled IT professionals, the initial solution was to work with local training providers, talent recruitment companies and college graduates. However, Piñeiro’s team realized that these approaches were not only expensive but also lacked the scalability needed to meet the demands of large-scale contracts. They also needed a solution that was efficient and repeatable – it needed to work for everybody.

Then, it clicked.

“There are schools in the cities. There are schools in the suburbs. There are schools in the rural areas. There are schools everywhere. So why not work with the schools?” Piñeiro said. After determining the key stakeholders they needed to work with, Piñeiro’s team came up with the DNA of a successful CTE program.

Innovation

The company adopted a visionary approach to address a significant hiring issue prevalent in the information technology sector. By collaborating closely with public schools, it ensured the program would be scalable, repeatable, and sustainable. The company recognized the program as a return on investment that directly influenced its bottom line. Today, the program tackles the well-known challenges in suburban and rural areas where resources might be scarce.

For more information, reach out to the CompTIA Workforce Solutions Team, Angel Piñeiro at [email protected]

By Layla Alagic in Advance CTE Fall Meeting
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Advance CTE 2023 Fall Meeting Sponsor Blog: Diamond Sponsor, iCEV – 5 Steps Toward Building a Sustainable CTE Program

Friday, September 29th, 2023

As a State Career and Technical Education (CTE) leader, you know the value of CTE in preparing learners for a wide range of work opportunities. But to elevate CTE’s impact, it’s essential to use your expertise to build programs that grow and thrive.

Through our conversations with CTE champions, here are five top tips we’ve summarized that are crucial to building a sustainable CTE program.

After reviewing each strategy, you’ll be better able to pursue the Advance CTE vision of CTE Without Limits.

1. Articulate Your Purpose

Identify your purpose and goals for your state’s CTE programs from the beginning. Ensure your objectives are clearly defined so you can use them to make your decisions. Consistent focus on your core goals is essential to developing a viable program.

Once you’ve defined your goals clearly, share the program’s value with your stakeholders. Prospective learners will gain insight into how the program could benefit their future.

2. Choose Relevant Courses

A key benefit of CTE is developing skills directly applicable to real-world work. Offering the right pathways and courses to teach these skills is a huge piece of any successful program.

Stay in tune with in-demand skills across industries and which careers learners are interested in. By implementing diverse courses with transferable skills, you’ll go further in preparing the next generation of workers.

3. Pursue Professional Development

Implementing ongoing professional development opportunities keeps educators current on CTE objectives, industry knowledge, and teaching strategies.

Effective professional development can take many forms, but supporting CTE instructors with relevant and varied opportunities demonstrates your commitment to their success in the classroom.

4. Build Partnerships within the Community

Connecting with businesses in local communities can create many opportunities for learners, including internships or part-time employment.

Contact companies and express your interest in creating partnerships between their professionals and learners. Making business connections at the state level can boost opportunities for programs and learners throughout your state.

5. Evaluate Your Programs

Implementing CTE at the state level is a long-term commitment to a model that will grow and evolve in a changing world.

From the beginning, gather feedback from involved parties—educators, learners, families, and industry partners. Collecting feedback on the effectiveness of a program offers immense value to all of these stakeholders.

Utilize data to determine if your CTE program is meeting its objectives and to make informed decisions.

Finally, think about how to support learners through career and technical student organizations (CTSOs), expanded program offerings, and investments in technology. Making continual improvements statewide will lead to long-term success and sustainability.

Pursue CTE Without Limits in Your Program

When you use your expertise to build sustainable CTE programs, you can pursue the vision of CTE Without Limits and provide access to a diverse audience of learners.

But to provide a cohesive, flexible learning environment to better achieve these goals, many programs are relying on CTE data.

Visit the iCEV booth during the Advance CTE Fall Conference to learn more about how iCEV can support you in acquiring and using data to make decisions.

By Layla Alagic in Advance CTE Fall Meeting
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Microsoft IT Academy & CTE Community: Bridging the worlds of technology education and business

Monday, March 23rd, 2015

This blog series provides readers with insight on the valuable content that is being shared at the NASDCTEc Spring Meeting. Guest bloggers are partner organizations, supporters and other experts that will be present at the national gathering in Washington, DC in April. 

Demand for technology education is surging from both students and employers. Interest in technology programs is spiking IT Academy-stacked-largeamongst incoming college freshmen, according to academic surveys (source). Concurrently, the business world is facing a shortfall of tech-literate graduates, with a projected one million more jobs than qualified graduates by 2020; as well as reports that 77% of all jobs require some degree of technology skills (IDC Research).

Academic institutions face the critical challenge of responding to student and business demand for technology curriculum in a race to produce enough skilled workers to fill future jobs This is where Microsoft and the Career Technical Education community join forces to close the gap.

Microsoft IT Academy (ITA) brings academic institutions and their educators, students and staff classroom-ready digital curriculum and certifications covering three areas of study—Productivity, Computer Science, and IT infrastructure—providing essential technology skills to be successful in today’s evolving world.

Currently, there are 17 Microsoft IT Academy statewide partnerships in place, with several more in the works for the next academic year. Microsoft IT Academy and the CTE community are helping drive economic development by improving education outcomes for students and pathways for current workers to advance their careers. See our blog for recent success stories.

Microsoft certifications differentiate students in today’s competitive job market and broaden their employment opportunities. Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) exams prepare students to be more productive in school and business careers. For students considering IT careers, Microsoft Technology Associate (MTA) exams provide an entry-level opportunity to explore various technical careers. Both MOS and MTA certification validates a student’s knowledge of specific technology concepts and helps them stand out when submitting college and internship applications.

Bring Computer Science Into Any Classroom

Jobs requiring computer science skills outnumber trained graduates by 3-to-1, yet 90% of schools don’t teach it. Reverse the trend and prepare your students for success with the Microsoft IT Academy Computer Science curriculum. For more information on Microsoft IT Academy benefits visit: http://www.microsoft.com/education/itacademy/Pages/benefits.aspx

Microsoft IT Academy is a proud sponsor of the 2015 NASDCTEc Spring Meeting.  Amy Merrill and Lance Baldwin will be representing Microsoft Learning Experiences Group (LeX) and IT Academy at the conference. For the latest information on Microsoft IT Academy, follow us on social media!

Twitter: @MS_ITAcademy   |    Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/MicrosoftITAcademy

Contacts: Amy Merrill – MS Learning, Business Deployment Manager: [email protected]

Lance Baldwin – MS Learning, Senior Solutions Specialist: [email protected]

This blog was contributed by Microsoft IT Academy, diamond level sponsor at the 2015 Spring Meeting.

By admin in Advance CTE Spring Meeting, Meetings and Events, Resources
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