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Winter Quarterly News Update

Greetings Region IV,

Happy New Year!

A new year always brings much excitement and anticipation for the year ahead. There is much to be excited about within ACTE this coming year and many ways for you to be involved as a member. Before we move on, I hope this past holiday season was one of rest, reflection and quality time spent with your loved ones. Now, take time to dive into the most recent Region IV happenings, successes and upcoming opportunities available to each ACTE Region IV member.

Sincerely,

Michael Culwell

ACTE Region IV Vice President

Region IV News

ACTE's CareerTech VISION was held in San Antonio, Texas this past December, and like always, it was a fantastic event for members. Record attendance, excellent professional development and a great opportunity to recognize the high quality CTE educators from across the nation. Wyatt Gerth from Bartlesville, Oklahoma was recognized as the ACTE New Teacher of the Year and Nickolas Lebo from Austin, Texas was recognized as the ACTE Teacher of the Year. Region IV was well represented by these two winners as well as all of the Region IV nominees up for awards this year. Award winners for all categories can be viewed at the following link: ACTE Excellence Awards .

ACTE recently held its board of directors’ election, which was open to the Association’s membership of approximately 28,000 CTE professionals. Michael Ogas from New Mexico, was elected as the Region IV Vice-President Elect, and will replace me on the Board of Directors in July 2026. We sincerely thank all of the candidates for their dedication and willingness to serve the Association.

Congratulations to the newly elected board members:

• Brandon Russell, President-Elect
• Jonathan Walker, Business Education Division Vice President
• Michael Herrera, Region I Vice President-Elect
• Michael Ogas, Region IV Vice President-Elect
• Robert Torres, President (appointed by the ACTE board of directors)
• Lavyne Rada, Agricultural Education Division Vice President (appointed by the ACTE board of directors)

The ACTE Region IV Conference to be held in Oklahoma City this April 23-25. The planning committee is currently organizing a phenomenal event for Region IV members. Registration opens Jan. 15 and call for presentations open through Jan. 31. The planning committee is specifically looking for breakout sessions in the areas of Inclusion, Access, Equity and Diversity (IAED) and teacher recruitment and retention. If presenting one of these topics or any topic that would benefit CTE educators interest you, we highly encourage you to submit a proposal to present. Full conference info, registration and call for proposals can be found below.

The application for the 2025 cohort of Region IV Fellows is now open through Jan. 31. If learning more about ACTE, getting involved in Region IV activities and acquiring a strong network of other highly motivated CTE professional is something you are looking for, I would highly encourage you to apply by using the link below.

For the last several years the Region IV Policy Committee has budgeted and awarded up to five ACTE National Policy Seminar (NPS) registration scholarships for each state within the region. If attending the ACTE National Policy Seminar is on your bucket list, I would encourage you to reach out to your state’s executive director for more information. This year NPS will be held at the Crystal City Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Virginia, March 16-19. Early bird registration ends Feb. 16! NPS is a great opportunity to engage on key federal education policy priorities, influence federal policies related to CTE advocacy and messaging, participate in Capitol Hill visits and hear form featured keynote speaker Melanie Zanona, senior congressional reporter for Punchbowl News.

From ACTE

Celebrate CTE Month!

Generously sponsored by NAHB

Each year in February, we celebrate professionals like you and educate the public about the importance of career and technical education (CTE). Here are some ways to get involved!

• Share our CTE social media messages by following ACTE @actecareertech and @actecareertech1 on Instagram, and then share your own success stories on social media with #CTEMonth.
• Download graphic resources, including the CTE Month logo, available in English and in Spanish, for use with any of your print and digital outreach.
•  Gear up with festive CTE Month merchandise. 

Submit Your Session Proposals for VISION 2025!

Join your peers at ACTE’s largest annual conference of the year for CTE professionals! ACTE’s CareerTech VISION 2025 will take place Dec. 10–13 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee. We are seeking session proposals that address high-quality secondary and postsecondary CTE and showcase program innovations, stories of successful collaborations and the most pressing issues facing CTE professionals today. The deadline to submit session proposals is March 15.

Join Us at Our Annual WBL Conference  

Happening April 2–4 at the Hyatt Bellevue on Seattle’s Eastside in Bellevue, Washington: the ACTE Work-Based Learning (WBL) Conference 2025! ACTE’s fastest growing event offers focused professional development for WBL professionals in secondary and postsecondary CTE programs and institutions.  

Key topics 

• Partnership engagement and relationship management 
• Equitable access to WBL opportunities 
• Compliance with insurance and worker’s compensation-related laws and regulations   
• Internships, job shadows and apprenticeships 
• New and innovative WBL initiatives
• WBL advocacy and learning how to market and grow your program 

CTE Educators: Encourage Your Students to Enter ACTE’s Student Design Contests!

This year, ACTE is delighted to host three student design and video contests:

• CTE Month-NASA HUNCH Student Video Challenge: The theme for this year is “What is Artemis?” Encourage your students to create and submit videos, two minutes or less in length, by April 1.
• Student Merch Design Contest: In honor of ACTE’s 100th anniversary in 2026, we invite students to submit original artwork for a chance to be featured on our official centennial merchandise! Entries are due by May 1.
• Student Trophy Design Contest: Have your students design the 3D-printed trophies for ACTE’s prestigious Excellence Awards. Submissions are due by May 1.

Encourage your students to showcase their creativity and talent in these exciting contests!

Apply for the Achieve 100 Award  

ACTE's Achieve 100 Award is presented to schools and institutions that achieve 100% membership among their CTE staff and faculty. This is a distinguished award that showcases an organization's dedication and commitment to career and technical education. Applications are due Feb. 1.