Quarterly News

Update

Greetings from the VP

Has the new school year felt different for you? In a positive way? For me, I continue to hear stories of excitement, and positive feelings about the start of the new school year. I still hear about the challenges of being an educator, but the good news is that we are surrounded by others in the CTE community who are willing to lend a helping hand, or offer support or insight to manage any challenges we may face. The network of fellow ACTE colleagues is powerful and essential to our success.

Speaking of success, this fall has already been filled with celebrations of CTE excellence! For example, six teachers from across Region III were recognized earlier this month through the Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Teaching Excellence award program. These prizes amounted to $350,000 awarded to teachers and schools in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin! The best part of this program is the recognition that is given to the skilled trades teachers who are working hard every day to train students to fill high-wage, high demand jobs. Congratulations to all these winners!

Grand Prize Winner

Jared Monroe, Automotive Technology, Columbia Area Career Center, Missouri

Prize Winners

Matt Blomquist, Construction, Taylorville High School, Illinois
Aaron Ervin, Welding, Pike Lincoln Technical Center, Missouri
Andrice Tucker, Automotive Service Technology, Central Nine Career Center, Indiana
Jim VanBladel, Automotive Technology, John Hersey High School, Illinois
Dan Van Boxtel, Automotive Technology, Kaukauna High School, Wisconsin

Above Left: Jared Monroe is surrounded by students, fellow teachers, administrators, his family, and members of the community at his surprise award announcement on Oct. 4.

Above Right: Martin Hanley (middle) accepts his award during the awards luncheon at the MoASSP/MCCTA Joint Fall Conference on Oct. 3. Carrie Risner (left), MCCTA President, and Jill Huntsman (right), MCCTA President Elect present Martin with his award.

Another award presented this fall was to Martin Hanley, a member of our Region III Policy Committee representing Missouri. Martin is the director at Pike-Lincoln Technical Center in Eolia, Missouri, and was recognized as the CTE Administrator of the Year by the Missouri Council of Career and Technical Administrators (MCCTA). Congratulations, Martin!

I am certain there are great stories of other special recognitions across Region III, and I look forward to hearing about them in Las Vegas at ACTE’s CareerTech Vision 2022. I know you are planning to attend this amazing conference, so I will look forward to seeing you there. You can BET it will be a great conference!

Dr. Brandon J. Russell

VP, ACTE Region III

Region III News

The State of CTE

Illinois - The 93rd Annual IACTE Conference will be held at the Bloomington Normal Marriott Hotel and Conference Center – February 16 – 17, 2023. The theme of the conference is: Connecting Passion to Opportunity! Earlier this month, IACTE Coordinated a successful Media Tour for CTE programs in Southern Illinois from Oct. 3rd - 6th. The tours covered seven different high schools and one community college in the southern part of the state. Tour participants included state legislators, local politicians, and the media. It was a great week of celebrating and highlighting CTE in Illinois. In another activity, IACTE is working with Illinois New and Related Services to help develop a new Work-based Learning subgroup. The goal is for this group to organize and grow into an IACTE affiliate.

Indiana - This fall, Indiana ACTE had its first in-person annual conference since the Pandemic from October 6-8 in Indianapolis. Over 400 conference goers attended over 50 session choices, visited Behind the Scenes with Elephants at the Indianapolis Zoo, and toured the kitchens at the Marriott East Conference Center and Hotel. Attendees also enjoyed an after-conference social with a live band. The conference also included a pre-conference workshop specifically for new CTE teachers. These new educators received support and instruction from seasoned teachers and state government officials. Check out the agenda here! In other news, the Legislative Committee is gearing up for the budget year sessions and meeting with state legislators.

Iowa – Iowa ACTE had 153 registered attendees at the Iowa ACTE Best Practices Conference on September 20. IFCSE joined the conference with 43 members attending both the IFCSE conference on September 19 and the IACTE conference on September 20. The state association had 21 exhibitors, in addition to seven CTSO and CTE division exhibitors. The keynote speaker was Aaron Putze, Iowa Soybean Association, and over 30 breakout sessions were available to attendees.

Minnesota – On September 24th and 25th, approximately 100 teachers in Minnesota were in attendance at the first of nine seminars developed to support new CTE teachers. The purpose of the Minnesota Career and Technical Educators Teach Induction Program (CTE TIP) is to function as a professional learning community for early career teachers in career and technical education and to support their development, efficacy, success, resilience, and retention. This program is an expansion of the AFNR TIP pilot program which has a 98% teacher retention rate. As an added bonus, on September 25th, participants had an opportunity to meet with the CTE consortia leaders from around the state. To learn more about this opportunity, check out the 2022 Minnesota ACTE TIP flier.

Missouri – Missouri ACTE is working hard at getting things ready for the Region III Conference to be held in the Branson-Springfield Area from June 13-15, 2023. Following the MoACTE Joint Summer Conference, held July 25-28, the state association reported that all of its divisions had an increase in membership over the COVID years! The conference was an amazing success, with Morris Morrison kicking things off with his dynamic style.

From ACTE

CareerTech VISION & Upcoming Webinars

There's Still Time to Register for VISION!

With robust in-person and virtual options

Join career and technical educators for our largest conference of the year at ACTE’s CareerTech VISION, happening this Nov. 30–Dec. 3 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Or you can choose to attend virtually for an immersive professional development opportunity.

The 2022 event will offer in-person attendees:

Inspirational keynote presentations focused on cultivating your leadership and professional development
CareerTech Expo, the largest and latest collection of CTE products and services
300+ concurrent sessions, covering timely topics in high-quality secondary and postsecondary CTE
Focused preconference workshops, tours and the ACTE Awards Gala on Nov. 30 (additional fees for workshops, tours and the Gala required)
Access to the virtual platform, including 55 on-demand sessions, for up tp 30 days post-event

Virtual attendees will receive:

Live-streamed opening and closing General Sessions, featuring keynote speakers and CTE leaders on our mainstage
Access to 55 live-streamed concurrent sessions, covering high-quality secondary and postsecondary CTE
All-new Expo robots giving virtual attendees the opportunity to visit booths remotely
Access to the virtual platform, including 55 on-demand sessions, for up to 30 days post-event

Learn more and register

Upcoming Webinars

We are excited to host several upcoming free webinars on a wide range of topics:

Curriculum Development & Design in Career & Technical Education, Oct. 27, 1:00 p.m. ET
Careers in Construction: Learning from Young Craft Professionals, Nov. 3, 3:00 p.m. ET
NextLevel Fellowship Program Info Session with Fellows, Nov. 10, 1:00 p.m. ET

Learn more and sign up to attend

Member Reminders

Renew Your Membership by Nov. 2 to Vote!

The 2023 ACTE board of directors’ election will be held this Dec. 2–Jan. 2! Please note these key dates:

Be sure your membership is current by Nov 2 to vote — renew now!
Voting will open during CareerTech VISION on Dec. 2 and run through Jan. 2
Winners will be announced in January 2023

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