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Winter Quarterly News Update

Howdy, Trade and Industrial Members of ACTE!

As the winter season sets in, I’m inspired to reflect on the remarkable achievements of the past year. One of the standout moments was ACTE's CareerTech VISION conference—a gathering filled with insightful perspectives, cutting-edge ideas, and the camaraderie that strengthens our Trade and Industrial Education (T&I) Division community. The meaningful conversations and shared experiences from this event have energized our collective mission, setting a strong foundation for the year ahead.

It’s my pleasure to recognize and celebrate the exceptional educators who were honored as the 2024–25 T&I Division award winners:

New Teacher of the Year

Sidney Cates, Welding Instructor

Red River Technology Center, Oklahoma

Teacher of the Year

Angeleic Huth, Law Enforcement and Police Science Instructor

Herndon Career Center, Missouri

Lifetime Achievement Award

Ronald Haefner, Automotive Instructor, Master Certification Instructor NC3

Columbus Public Schools, Nebraska

I extend my gratitude to Chelle Travis and the SkillsUSA team for their invaluable support in helping with our ACTE T&I Division Awards. Your dedication and hard work ensure our educators receive the recognition they deserve, and your efforts illuminate the critical role they play in shaping future generations.

2025 marks the year where we will begin our search for the next ACTE T&I Division President. Nomination applications will be open April 1–June 15 and will be located here: ACTE Board of Directors Elections. For more details and information about the eligibility requirements, please follow this link: Guidelines and Eligibility Requirements for ACTE Vice President Candidates.

As we move forward into 2025, I’m eager to share a wealth of opportunities designed to support and elevate our T&I educators. Keep an eye out for my upcoming email updates and quarterly newsletters, where I’ll detail professional development resources, collaboration opportunities, and success stories from within our community. Your unwavering commitment to career and technical education (CTE) programs, students, and the broader community is truly inspiring. If you have stories of your CTE program’s success or wish to contribute your time and expertise, I encourage you to reach out to me directly at btaylor@tamu.edu.

Let’s continue to build on our successes and make 2025 a year of growth, innovation, and impact for T&I education.

Kindest regards,

Bart Taylor

VP, ACTE Trade and Industrial Education Division

Opportunities from our Trade & Industrial Sponsors

Join Kaylenn McCabe, with a guest appearance from your very own T&I President Bart Taylor, for a FREE nationwide webinar for parents is going to kick off the year with the next event on Jan. 21. Register here. This unique webinar is designed to reach parents and students after school, after dinner, and when you have a moment to “sit and talk”. Starting out with a 30-minute keynote featuring skilled trades enthusiast and industry leader, Kayleen McCabe from the McCabe Foundation, this webinar introduces the audience to the many pathways to careers such as military, technical school, apprenticeships, and other local training programs. 

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. Watch our video highlighting some of curriculum’s core components.

Cyber-attacks on businesses, manufacturers, cities, school districts, emergency services and infrastructure are on the rise. Prepare your organization by attending the 2025 TEEX Cyber Readiness Summit. The event’s theme will be “Driving a healthy, prosperous, resilient community,” and keynote and session topics will cover all components of the NIST Cybersecurity Framework: Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond and Recover.

April 1–3

Embassy Suites by Hilton San Marcos Hotel Conference Center

San Marcos, Texas

For more information about the Cyber Readiness Summit click the button below.

The U.S. Department of Education has launched the Power Your Future Challenge — the second challenge in its annual CTE Momentum series to prepare high school students for rewarding careers and increase access to career and technical education. The Department invites teams to submit action plans that will advance the use of clean energy in local schools and communities.

To get started on the challenge, teachers and community partners can explore the available resources to learn more about clean energy and how teams can develop action plans to impact their communities. Potential entrants can also preview the submission form. Submissions are due by Nov. 19. Up to 10 winning teams will receive an equal share of the $50,000 prize pool.

To learn more about the challenge, watch the Sept. 10 virtual information session session and sign up to receive the latest challenge information via email.

From ACTE

ACTE Announces Board of Directors 2025 Election Results

ACTE recently held its board of directors’ election, which was open to the Association’s membership of approximately 28,000 CTE professionals. 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)

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.

Raise Awareness for CTE at NPS 

Join CTE professionals from across the nation to voice your vision on policy and programming. Attend ACTE’s National Policy Seminar (NPS), happening March 16–19 in Arlington, Virginia.  

• Engage on key federal education policy priorities. 
• Influence federal policies related to CTE advocacy and messaging. 
• Participate in Capitol Hill visits. 
• Hear from featured keynote speaker Melanie Zanona, senior congressional reporter for Punchbowl News.

Register by Feb. 16 to secure early bird rates. 

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.