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Winter Quarterly Newsletter

Howdy, Trade and Industrial members of ACTE!

In the midst of winter's embrace, I find myself reflecting on the heartwarming success of the VISION 2023 Conference, a gathering that not only brought diverse perspectives and innovative ideas but also forged connections that felt like the warmth of a crackling fireplace. The shared experiences and meaningful conversations from the conference have left an indelible mark on our community, filling our hearts with the inspiration and gratitude to journey on in 2024!

Please join me in celebrating this year’s 2023-24 Trade and Industrial Division award winners:

Teacher of the Year

Brandon Grace, Information Technology Teacher

Advance Technical Center in Lubbock, Texas

New Teacher of the Year

Angeleic Huth, Criminal Justice Teacher

Herndon Career Center in Raytown, Missouri

Lifetime Achievement

Diana Ferguson, Texas Industrial Vocational Association, Executive Director

Former Cosmetology Teacher, Killeen ISD Career Center in Killeen, TX

Again, I would like to thank Chelle Travis and the SkillsUSA team for their help with the ACTE Trade & Industrial Division Awards. Your volunteerism and support for these awards is what truly helps our educators shine. As we step into the new year, my excitement knows no bounds. I'm thrilled to share with you many upcoming opportunities throughout the year that will support your needs as a Trade and Industrial instructor, so look for my upcoming eblasts, in addition to the quarterly newsletters. Thank you for your commitment to our CTE students, to your CTE programs, and to the community and family that surround you and your schools. If you are interested in sharing news of your CTE program success, or if you are looking to volunteer your talents or your stories, please email me directly. 

Kindest regards,

Bart Taylor

VP, ACTE Trade and Industrial Education Division

Thank you to the Trade and Industrial Education Division’s quarterly newsletter sponsor!

Opportunities from our Trade & Industrial sponsors

Interplay Learning Webinar: Bridging the Gap: Harnessing 3D Simulations to Improve Student Success

Implementing cutting-edge technology like 3D simulation activities in CTE programs can help students better retain relevant knowledge and skills to prepare them for future careers. In this webinar, former Chief Innovation Officer for the U.S. Department of Labor and Senior Advisor for the Project on Workforce at Harvard, Chike Aguh, sits down with award-winning CTE instructor Ken Midgett and former CTE student Daphne Ziegenfus to discuss how they used 3D simulations to increase classroom engagement, provide real-world experiences, and ultimately, improve student outcomes.

Join to learn:

• The impact 3D simulations have in preparing students to successfully enter the workforce
• How other educators are using simulation-based learning activities to promote a more student-centered learning environment
• How to create an immersive learning environment for students to safely practice methods like troubleshooting and diagnostics

To register, please use the following link.

Seeking Educational Representative for the FAST Engagement Working Group

Are you passionate about promoting careers for your students? The Foundation for Advancing Security Talent (FAST) is seeking enthusiastic education representatives to join our Engagement Working Group. This is a unique opportunity to influence and advise on the development of educational resources and programs aimed at promoting the security industry in academic settings.

What We're Doing:

• Creating comprehensive educational resources for schools, with a focus on curriculums and instructor guidance.
• Developing a program to increase the visibility of the security industry in educational institutions, including facilitating guest presentations by industry professionals and creating resource kits loaded with industry insights and career guidance.

FAST’s mission is to connect talent with careers in the security industry, a rapidly growing technology-driven sector. This is a great opportunity to engage with leaders in the industry and lend your expertise to promote careers not just to your students, but to talent around the country. Interested parties should reach out to FAST Executive Director Aiden O’Brien for more information and to express interest.

American Welding Society

Fundamentals of Welding Curriculum

The AWS Fundamentals of Welding Curriculum is an entire turn-key welding curriculum containing print and digital educational resources and learning tools designed for welding instructors and students at the high-school and technical college level. While a separate program from SENSE the individual components of the curriculum package align with the governing standards of the above referenced SENSE program and were created and reviewed in tandem with SMEs and welding education professionals. For more information, please take a moment to review the content using the provided link.

Online Educational Library

The AWS Online Educational Library is a comprehensive collection of courses that contains over 100 hours and 228 modules of content specifically designed to meet the needs of the welding industry. With content derived from the suite of AWS Codes, Specifications and Recommended Practices the AWS Online Educational Library program is paired with an innovative, easy-to-use learning management system, whereby its versatile e-learning library complements existing real-time training programs, distance learning, blended learning, and flipped classroom models all while providing an industry recognized stackable credential per course as well as PDH’s and CEU’s for its users who successfully complete the program, on top of the pre and post quizzes within each and every one of the 228 modules of content. For more information, please take a moment to review the content using the following link.

Custom On Site Welding Training/Corporate Workforce Development

Please also note that on-site welding training taught by an on-site AWS instructor can be of help to your school as well as to the corporate employees in your surrounding community and that often times Workforce Development monies can be used towards the cost of these AWS instructor lead trainings. For more information about this opportunity and the course content/certification exams that we can facilitate on-site please take a moment to review the following link.

Goodheart-Willcox Publisher (G-W) 

G-W is interested in learning more about the manufacturing space—specifically identifying schools/programs that are teaching an “introduction to manufacturing” course. G-W is also interested in programs offering drone training. If you teach courses in either of these areas, please complete the corresponding survey(s) below. We would love to know more about you and your program, as well as engage you in future feedback opportunities.

Introduction to Manufacturing survey

Drones/Unmanned Aircraft survey

With each survey, one lucky respondent will be selected at random to receive a $150 Tango e-gift card. Should you wish to contact G-W directly, you can reach Acquisitions Editor, Erin Brennan.

From ACTE

ACTE Announces Board of Directors 2024 Election Results

ACTE's recent board of directors election was open to the Association’s membership of approximately 25,000 career and technical education (CTE) professionals. We are grateful to all of the candidates for their willingness to serve the Association. Congratulations to the winners:

• Dustin Davis-Austin, Region II Vice President-elect
• Martin Hanley, Region III Vice President-elect
• Karin Davis, Family and Consumer Sciences Education Division Vice President-elect
• LaDonna Selvidge, Health Science Education Division Vice President
• Richard Trinkwalder, New and Related Services Division Vice President-elect
• Jan Jardine, Work-based Learning Division Vice President

Further, given that one person applied to serve in each of the following positions, the board of directors voted to appoint:

• Shani Watkins, President-elect
• Craig Statucki, Region V Vice President
• Matthew Eddy, Agricultural Education Division Vice President

Celebrate CTE Month!

Generously sponsored by NAHB

Join us as we celebrate CTE Month^®, generously sponsored by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). Each year in February, we celebrate educators like you and spread awareness about the importance of CTE by sharing your success stories via #CTEMonth on social media, encouraging your students to participate in this year’s CTE Month-NASA HUNCH student video challenge, “Why Go to the Moon?,” gearing up with festive CTE Month merchandise at shopacte.com to show your support for CTE, and much more!

2024 Events

Hone Your CTE Advocacy Skills & Raise Awareness for CTE

With a featured event from the CTE Research Network

Come voice your opinion on CTE policy and programming, and share what your community needs, at ACTE’s National Policy Seminar, happening March 17–20 in Arlington, Virginia. Featured sessions will cover best practices for influencing federal policy and CTE advocacy and messaging. And on the last day of the event, March 20, the CTE Research Network will address topics that will help expand the evidence base for CTE.

Achieve 100 Award

Apply for the Achieve 100 Award 



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

ACTE Digital Badge