CTE courses are Career and Technical Education courses. They're the classes like home ec, teen living, apparel, carpentry, automotive, etc.

Different schools have different things or they go by different names. For example: teen living. In my middle school it went by "Home Ec", but in my early high school career it went by teen living. When I was an upperclassman it changed to Principle of Family and Human Services. They were all technically different courses, but all had the basic idea. 

During my high school career, CTE courses were my favorite courses to take. I took about 11 of them all together. -I'll include a list of them at the bottom- My favorite teachers were the ones I had in those classes. I always had the best grades in my CTE classes, I never had to worry about failing. Why? Because those classes are geared to what we NEED to know and what we WANT to know. We're not learning something useless like what the quadratic formula is. These classes are meant for you to learn stuff that you'll need to know as you go off on your own. They teach trades that you might want to pursue. 

Within the classes you are getting prepared to be able to live on your own and support yourself. I've learned how to sew a button (as well as a pair of pants), balance a checkbook, prepare for a sucessful job interview, take care of a child, make nutritious meals, basic medical stuff, how to design a room, plus plenty more. 

I might not be fully prepared to do adulting in the future, but due to these wonderful classes and teachers I'm not completely clueless. 

Don't just take these courses to fill up your schedule or for an easy grade. Take them and actually pay attention and learn in them. You definetly won't regret it. 

Also, don't not take a course just because it's not what your gender (or friends) usually take. I know that parenting/child developement is typically a girl class and vocational courses are usually more guy courses. Don't pay attention to that, take those courses anyways if that's what you want. Guys will also take care of children if he has any, and girls will also have car issues. Take courses, learn all that you can and want to.

Realize how important these courses are and take them serious. Trust me, it's not going to be great when you're living on your own and realize that your microwave is your own thing in your kitchen you know how to use. Don't get caught with a trashy designed house because you never learned how to match the carpets to the drapes.

I know that opportunities aren't the same everywhere, and that's a tragic thing, but I've gained more than just knowledge from these courses. I'm CPR, OSHA, and ServSafe certified as well. These courses are there to be beneficial for you, take advantage of them.

Courses I've taken in my high school:

Teen Living

Interior Design

Career Managment 

Parenting and Child Development

Foods 1 and 2

Health Science 1 and 2

Apparel

Principle of Family and Human Sciences

Principles of Business

I can remember at least one thing I learned in all of them. I don't regret taking any of them. If anything, I regret not being able to take apparel 2 and the higher up course of parenting/child development.