Alaska Association for
Alaska ACTE Professional Development Conference
Note from the President
President’s Letter
After two years of virtual conferences, the Alaska ACTE professional development conference is back in person again! We hope you will join us in person on Monday, October 17th and Tuesday October 18th at the Hotel Captain Cook in Anchorage for the two day conference. A consistent request of attendees is to have hands-on and interactive experiences so we have brought back our teaching and learning pre and post conference activities on Sunday October 16th and Wednesday October 19th. That is four days of connecting, learning and networking! Our kickoff keynote speaker is Mark Perna who will provide a dynamic presentation titled Unleashing Passion, Purpose, and Performance in Younger Generations. Breakout sessions, workshops, panel presentations and plenary sessions will fill the two days with many learning opportunities and there will be plenty of networking time as you peruse the many vendors that will be participating in the expo. The closing plenary session will feature a panel of three experts in workforce and economic development, research and analysis who will send you on your way ready to excite your students about the possibilities of great high paying jobs in Alaska for them!
This year we are focusing our topic areas on the following five career clusters: Architecture & Construction; Manufacturing; Education & Training; Government & Public Administration; and Hospitality & Tourism. We will rotate in future years to cover all sixteen career clusters. If you or someone you know would be interested in providing a breakout session on any of these topic areas, best practices, teaching and learning strategies, or leadership for educators and administrators, please submit a proposal by September 2 at this link.
The annual awards luncheon to honor excellence in Career and Technical Education (CTE) is back this year as well. Please nominate a deserving candidate for one of six awards by September 17th!
We look forward to seeing you in October to learn together and strengthen the delivery of CTE to support Alaska’s future!
Beki Toussaint, President
Alaska Association for Career and Technical Education
Registration
Registration fee includes your annual dues payment to the national and state associations.
Hotel Information
Attendees can book online, here, using code: ACTE22 to receive the Alaska ACTE Conference rate.
Award Nominations
DEADLINE EXTENDED TO OCTOBER 5
Each year the Alaska Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) Board of Directors recognizes the outstanding work of the CTE professionals in Alaska through the annual award nomination process. Nominated by their peers, the recipients will be announced and celebrated at the October 17 and 18, 2022, Alaska ACTE State Professional Development Conference.
Individuals, groups, or teams are eligible for recognition in the following six categories:
1. CTE Teacher of the Year
2. NEW CTE Teacher of the Year
3. CTE Leadership Award (may or may not be a professional educator)
4. Community Service Award (may or may not be a professional educator)
5. Career Guidance Award
6. Innovative Program Award (may or may not be a professional educator)
Keynote Speakers

MARK C. PERNA
Featured Plenary Speakers
NOLAN KLOUDA
As Executive Director, Nolan provides overall leadership for the University of Alaska Center for Economic Development (UA CED). He is a Certified Economic Developer (CEcD) through the International Economic Development Council, and holds a Master of Public Administration from the University of Kansas and a BA from Gustavus Adolphus College.
DAN ROBINSON
Dan Robinson is the Chief of Research and Analysis at the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, which produces many of the state’s key economic data sets and projections. He has an economics degree from Utah State University and a law degree from Cornell.
JON BITTNER
Jon Bittner is the State Director of the Alaska SBDC hosted by UAA. A lifelong Alaskan, Jon has served as a staffer in the Alaska Legislature, as the Vice President of the Anchorage Economic Development Corporation, and as the Deputy Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development. He has a degree in Geology from UAA and has a background in both environmental and exploration geology.
University Credit & CEU Hours Available
- University of Alaska Anchorage is offering the opportunity to earn one college for full participation in the conference – registration available at the conference at the UAA CTC exhibit booth
- Department of Education and Early Development is offering the opportunity to use PDC hours for a Continuing Education Unit (CEU) for the next Alaska teacher certificate renewal; a form must be completed (available at the conference) at the end of the conference to document at least 15 hours of conference related interaction. CEU certificates* can be used for 15 contact hours for Type M Certificates or 1 Continuing Education Unit (CEU) of Professional Development for Teacher Certificate renewal.
Exhibitors