John Miracola has been a teacher and administrator in the area of career, technical and adult education within the state of Florida for the past 25 years. Mr. Miracola holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Masters Degree in Marketing Education from Florida Atlantic University and state certification as Local Vocational Director from Florida International University. Mr. Miracola began his career as a marketing education teacher at Piper High School in 1977.

During the years John spent as a classroom teacher he became recognized as a leader in the field through active involvement and various leadership roles in local, state and national professional organizations serving marketing education teachers and students.

In 1985, Mr. Miracola was appointed as the first executive director of the Broward Regional Coordinating Council for Vocational and Adult General Education. In his role, he developed the Council into a fully functioning organization, recognized as a state model, to fulfill the statutory responsibilities across institutions for the effective delivery of vocational and adult general education programs. During his tenure as the Council's executive director he gained significant knowledge and experience of the vocational and adult education programs offered in Broward County at both the School District and at Broward Community College. John's next administrative position in the District was that of lead curriculum supervisor in the Vocational and Technology Education Department where he provided leadership and services to students and teachers in the Marketing, Diversified and Academy Programs.

At the beginning of the 1990-91 school year, Mr. Miracola was given the opportunity to head vocational and applied technology programs at a district level in St. Lucie County, Florida. Under John's leadership, the vocational and technical programs in St. Lucie County flourished as a result of his influence in obtaining a significant infusion of financial resources from the school board to upgrade equipment and transform traditional vocational courses into Tech Prep Academies that fully integrated technical and academic subjects. The United States Department of Education named St. Lucie County, as a part of the Quad-County Tech Prep Consortium, as the #1 Tech Prep Program in the Nation.

In 1996, John returned to Broward County and assumed his current position as the Director of Career, Technical and Adult/Community Education (CTACE). John's vision, and that of an outstanding group of curriculum specialists/administrators, resource teachers and support staff, is for the CTACE Department to be fully committed to the implementation of quality programs that ensure success for students of all ages. The Department's aim is to provide leadership and technical assistance to schools in the program areas of workforce education and lifelong learning through a coordinated delivery of services model that addresses the specific needs of CTACE customers, including students, teachers, school administrators, and the business community.

Today, the CTACE Department is recognized as an integral part of Broward County Public Schools for its focus on transitioning students of all ages from school to post secondary education and careers. John believes that his primary role, and that of his staff, is to support District priorities, with special emphasis on increasing student achievement, in order to help assure that all students acquire the competencies necessary for further education and meaningful employment. In this regard, he and his staff are dedicated to:
•providing quality services to schools;
•securing and distributing grant resources;
•developing new program offerings to serve the needs of the business community and emerging occupations;
•expanding services in the areas of staff and curriculum development;
•increasing services to the most disenfranchised students, including adults functioning at the lowest literacy levels, refugees, non-English speaking individuals, and the economically disadvantaged;
•providing services to help students achieve a high school diploma or GED;
•collecting and analyzing data for the continued improvement and alignment of career and technical education facilities and equipment;
•increasing collaborative efforts with business and industry; and
•expanding articulation agreements with Broward Community College and other post secondary institutions.

John Miracola looks forward to continuing his role to assist CTACE customers and believes we are working in an exciting era in which the bar of rigor in the instructional programs and the quality of the instruction will continue to be raised.