ACTE

Although the enrollment at Mesquite High School (MHS) in Gilbert, Arizona is a large and growing 3,200, Patricia Krstilee Beltram is able to give each of her students the individual attention they need to succeed. One student comments, “Ms. Beltram inspires me to set higher standards for myself, and to reach my potential.”

A business and marketing education instructor at MHS since 1999, Beltram has helped bring innovative and pioneering business and marketing courses to the high school. A testimony to her efforts, the MHS registrar reveals that over 90 percent of the student body was is or was enrolled in the Business/Marketing Department before graduating.

During her first year of teaching, Beltram developed a fully integrated business curriculum which became a model for new and veteran business teachers across the state. She was instrumental in developing two MHS Cooperative Education Programs the Marketing Internship Co-op and the Business Internship/Co-op with the first class of seniors in 2000-01. Both programs include training, establishing and supervising students at workstations, home visits, and employer visits. She also worked with Chandler-Gilbert Community College and East Valley Tech Prep Consortia to create dual enrollment credit, district-wide, for both programs.

When she’s not busy teaching at MHS, Beltram dedicates much of her time to her professional community. An active member of ACTE and Arizona ACTE, she has made several presentations and published works at local and national conferences. She has been a member of the Arizona ACTE Board since 2000 and was selected to serve as the Arizona ACTE president for 2004.

A colleague comments about Beltram, “She constantly demonstrates, her talent and ability to engage, teach and lead others across the state in worth while endeavors to achieve worthy goals.”

<Future Link>Learn more about Patricia Beltram who took top honors at last December’s ACTE Convention in Las Vegas.

At the University of Georgia in Athens, Karen H. Jones is known as a dedicated professor in the Department of Occupational Studies. There her teaching and research are integrated, focusing on career and technical educators who work with special populations. The central theme of her work is to improve the education of students who experience disabilities or disadvantages which cause them to be at-risk for failing or dropping out of school.

Jones has worked to secure various state and federal grants. Her successful grant writing has resulted in innovative programs which have impacted educators not only in the state of Georgia, but nationally and internationally. The funds also attract highly qualified graduate students by offering stipends for specific course work and have prepared several hundred graduate students who have taken jobs in Georgia and across the country. As part of her grants Jones has developed and produced seven teleconferences that reached over 14,000 participants in 37 states, Canada, Samoa, and Guam. She has presented and co-presented in 74 different sessions at international, national and state professional conferences.

In addition to the international audiences she attracts with her teleconferences, Jones was recruited as a trainer for Russian and American counselors who were preparing to conduct the first summer camp offered in Siberia for children with disabilities. The materials she created for that project have been used extensively to train new counselors. Her other works include 45 published or in press journal articles researching career and technical and special education.

Admired by her colleagues, one comments, “Though small in stature, Karen Jones is a woman of big heart, selfless and one who can be counted on to walk the extra mile in all areas of her life.” 

<future link>Learn more about Karen H. Jones who took top honors at last December’s ACTE Convention in Las Vegas.

As a teacher, advisor and coach, Debbie Oaks Moore of Glendale, Arizona has made a major impact at Sunrise Mountain High School in just a few short years. A marketing educator, she is the founder of the school’s marketing program and is responsible for overseeing its growth. Moore currently teaches four classes within the program, acts as the advisor for four student groups, oversees two student stores and coaches both girls and boys volleyball and track.

Since its inception, Moore has been a part of every aspect of the marketing program. The first year she began the program with just eight students. Those eight students started the first student run store on campus and the first DECA club. Today the program enrolls more than 250 students. In just five years Moore helped the high school add the Academy of Travel and Tourism, the first Family, Career, Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) and Skills USA chapters. She also sponsors the Sports Marketing Ambassadors and the Hospitality Club.

Moore has used her industry background to bring “real world” experiences into her classroom. She has been able to bring industry experts into the classroom as speakers and had them serve as mentors for job shadowing opportunities. She has written many project-based learning units that incorporate the community. The projects include integration of the programs Moore instructs, sponsors and coaches.

Although most of her volunteer work is merged into her work at the school, Moore manages finds time for her church and community fund raisers.

“Ms. Moore is an outstanding young teacher, she brings passion, and industry experience to the classroom and is very involved in her professional associations,” states a colleague.

<future link> Learn more about Debbie Moore who took top honors at last December’s ACTE Convention in Las Vegas.

Sharon Grace Kosek of St. Joseph, Missouri has a passion for career and technical education, her community and the success of her students. As the Business Coordinator and Administrative Office Systems instructor at the Hillyard Technical Center, Kosek has taught career and technical education in the St. Joseph School District for 23 years.

Within the Hillyard Technical Center, Kosek has served as the advisor for the Phi Beta Lambda (PBL) adult business student organization for the last five years. PBL students in the Administrative Offices Systems class have worked together with the officers of Skills USA, and the National FFA to form a President’s Council. The groups worked together to raise contributions of cash and food to the local America’s Second Harvest Food Bank. Through their combined effort they gained participation among the student body and managed to donate record amounts. For the same effort, the PBL students worked to prepare thousands of bulk mail pieces for the Food Bank’s annual fundraiser. The active PBL group and their sponsor also sponsor a school-wide Community Blood Center Drive each year. The group recruits donors by placing posters around the school, visiting classrooms giving brief speeches and by purchasing donuts and juice for the event with their funds.

When Kosek is not busy with PBL, she is volunteering time to the Cotillion for Achievement, serving as the Legislative Chairperson for St. Joseph Parent Teacher Association and the local food kitchen. She is currently active in a number of associations including ACTE, Missouri ACTE, and the National Business Education Association.

A community leader appreciates Kosek’s efforts, “Ms. Kosek is one of the most committed, generous, and energetic individuals I have ever met. Her willingness to sacrifice her time and talents for the benefit of others is beyond extraordinary.” 

<future link> Learn more about Sharon Kosek who took top honors at last December’s ACTE Convention in Las Vegas.

During his seventeen years of dedicated service, Scott Snelson has worked to enhance and promote career and technical education programs, not only in his hometown of Salt Lake City, Utah, but across the state and all over the country. Working as the State Specialist in Health Science Education, Career and Technical Education and the Project Director for the National Health Science Career Cluster, Snelson is directly involved with the development of several national CTE products, training events and partnerships. He is a visionary leader and an asset to teachers and students alike.

In his efforts to keep Utah on the cutting edge of health science curricula, he was one of the first state specialists to implement curricula on CD ROM and PowerPoint. Snelson has also worked to ensure that Utah has aligned its healthcare curriculum standards with every high school in the state. Many state leaders have used his work as a template for their own.

A member of ACTE for 15 years, Snelson works tirelessly to collaborate, network and serve the career and technical education community across the nation. He constantly promotes membership in ACTE and UACTE. Snelson encourages and provides necessary resources to instructors and school administration to attend both the Utah and ACTE Annual Conventions each year.

Snelson is admired by many of his students and coworkers for his dedication to the field of career and technical education. According to a member of the South Carolina Department of Education, “Scott’s accomplishments in the field of career and technical education have impacted the students of Utah as well has other health science students across the nation, earning him the respect of national leaders in within the field.”

Award of Merit 

For the past five years the University of Missouri-Rolla (UMR), in Rolla, Missouri has developed and implemented several projects with Rolla Technical Institute (RTI). Students as well as the faculty of UMR have worked closely on several projects with students and faculty of RTI. This partnership has greatly enriched the learning environment of RTI and has enabled the students to use state-of-the-art technologies and materials they wouldn’t have a chance to use otherwise. UMR has also made it financially possible for some members of the RTI faculty to attended professional development events around the country and pays them to work in the UMR labs during the summer. This ensures they are being kept up-to-date within the field.

For one of the partnership’s projects, RTI’s drafting/design, building trades, cabinetmaking and HVACR programs helped with the design and construction of UMR’s solar house for the 2002 Solar Decathlon held in Washington, D.C. They have already begun plans for the 2005 solar house. UMR students also visit RTI classes routinely to give demonstrations and talks about the latest in materials and tools.

To give some of the students their first experience with employment, UMR hires RTI students to work on different ongoing projects. For example, during the summer RTI students were hired to test three bridges to which strengthening material had been applied through a project in conjunction with the Missouri Department of Transportation.

The state of Missouri as well as other programs across the nation are taking notice of this partnership. A leader in the education community states, “We have seen this partnership continue to grow and become stronger with each passing year and we are certain that this will continue to be the case for many years to come. This truly unique educational and training opportunity should be recognized as an outstanding and innovative approach to career and technical education.” 

During the fall of 2000 a unique and innovative partnership began between CHRISTUS Spohn Health System and the Corpus Christi Independent School District in Corpus Christi, Texas. As a result of their partnership, The Health Science Academy at Foy H. Moody High School was created. Since its inception, CHRISTUS Spohn Health System has committed full time personnel, time and money to the Health Academy.

The four year program at Moody High combines traditional and challenging academics with “highly specialized” training in health science. In addition to classroom instruction, students within the Academy also spend time at the CHRISTUS Spohn Health facilities engaging in on-site activities. Students get to observe a variety of procedures to help them decide what area captures their interest the most in the medical field. In the final two years of the program, the students are able to participate in clinical rotations and internships with the opportunity to work part-time and earn scholarship money for college. CHRISTUS Spohn Health associates serve as mentors and educators to the students, offering them experience, enrichment and leadership training. The professional hospital staff often devote up to three weeks during the summer to counsel, plan, coordinate and develop instructional activities for the students enrolled in the academy. CHRISTUS Spohn Health also provides savings bond awards to all Health Science Academy students as they complete each year of the program.

In a testament to the academy’s success, the program has grown from 21 students to 221 students over the last several years. One Health Academy student states, “The Academy has given me some direction. It has helped me get focused at a younger age.”

An educational leader in the community comments, “The partnership between CHRISTUS Spohn and Moody High School has served as a focal point for reaching a high level of education in this area.” 

Outstanding Service Award

Debbi L. Popo of Millersport, Ohio is a tireless educator whose contributions to the field of career and technical education (CTE) are evident throughout her school and her community. As a marketing education instructor at Hamilton Township High School, Popo uses innovative teaching techniques that prepare her students academically as while stressing the importance of giving back to the community.

Each year Popo’s students serve as public relations representatives for various school and community functions. She also has the students involved in annual civic conscious projects ranging from canned food drives to bowling for muscular dystrophy. Popo has taught marketing for over 20 years at both the secondary and postsecondary levels, and mentored many student teachers along the way.

In addition to her classroom duties, Popo has helped develop curriculum, instructional materials, and aids for state and national distribution targeted at adult marketing education. Popo has published or edited approximately 80 works through the Instructional Materials Laboratory through the Ohio Department of Education at The Ohio State University and Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, to name a few.

Popo unselfishly devotes time to her community, the Marketing Education Association, the Marketing Education Foundation, DECA an Association of Marketing Students, ACTE and her Ohio professional organizations. Her DECA chapter appeared on the Jerry Lewis Telethon last September due to the amount of contributions raised for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

“Ms. Popo is a role model and inspiration to her students. She has captured the respect of not only her students but her peers as well,” states the Hamilton Township Principal. 

Judy Whitaker of Sandy, Utah, has been a Career Counselor at Taylorsville High School for the past 11 years. During her tenure she proves to be an outstanding example of service to students, staff, her professional organizations and the community. Much of what Judy Whitaker has accomplished throughout her career has been on her own time and as a service to ACTE and Utah ACTE.

Recognized through out the state for her leadership abilities, Whitaker has served as President of the Utah School Counselor Association, as President of Utah ACTE, and she served as both a member of the ACTE Policy Committee as well as the Awards Chair for the ACTE Guidance Division, to name a few. As president of Utah ACTE she led the organization through financial difficulties and a reorganization of state leadership. At Taylorsville High School she has helped develop and implement several innovative programs including, the student recognition program called “Warrior Way,” Concurrent Enrollment, the Academy of Travel and Tourism, and JROTC. The Concurrent Enrollment program has grown tremendously with Whitaker’s support. Currently over half of Taylorsville High School graduates leave high school with a college credit. Whitaker also makes time to share her passion for career and technical education with others through her numerous publications and presentations.

When she isn’t promoting and improving CTE, Whitaker is busy supporting her community through assisting with the Parent Teachers and Students Association and Boy and Girl Scouts of America. A member of ACTE for over 12 years, “Ms. Whitaker has remained committed to make CTE at her high school, CTE in Utah, CTE in the region and CTE in the nation all flourish,” comments a colleague. 

Dr. Wesley E. Budke of Columbus, Ohio has dedicated over 44 years of his professional career to the career and technical education community. After just eight years of teaching agriculture at the high school level, Budke was accepted into the doctoral program in Agricultural Education at The Ohio State University, where he has been a member of the faculty for nearly 32 years. Beginning with his graduate assistantship and continuing to this day, he has made lasting contributions to improve both secondary and postsecondary career and technical education.

Budke alone has provided both indirect and direct support for career and technical education programs locally, statewide, throughout the United States and all over the world. His most recent project was funded by the U.S. Department of Education through the National Center for Career and Technical Education. For four years Budke led his staff in identifying “best practices” that exemplary secondary and postsecondary career and technical education programs had in common, and promoted the implementation of those practices throughout the country. He also acted as the director of the National Center Clearinghouse for ten years, where he was responsible for building and maintaining the Resources in Vocational Education (RIVE) and Vocational Education Curriculum Materials (VECM).

Budke’s steady guidance and advice has prepared numerous non-degree, career and technical educators, who in turn provided educational and career opportunities for an untold number of students in career and technical programs all over the country. He has also been an active member of ACTE for 44 years.

A former student comments, “He is a role model for me and numerous others in career and technical education through his leadership and caring attitude towards all involved in our profession.” 

Secondary Programs
Warwick Area Career & Technical Center, Warwick, RI

Post-Secondary Programs-Generic
North Iowa Area Community College, Mason City, IA

Post-Secondary Programs-Manufacturer Affiliated
Sinclair Community College, Dayton, OH