Benefits of Professional Memberships

I have been a member of different professional organizations throughout my 15 years in education and often questioned the value of those dollars. What exactly does that $125 get me? Is it worth it? You may ask yourself the same questions.

As President of the Alaska Association for Career & Technical Education (AK ACTE), I want to highlight the value of your professional membership. Alaska is a big state but a small state. In CTE, it’s even smaller.  Many of you work in isolation in your school or in your community, without a peer to bounce ideas around with or ask questions. This is one of the values of being a member of the AK ACTE. We are an organization that is focused on quality Career & Technical Education and providing you a network to learn and grow. As a member of the AK ACTE, you are also a member of the national ACTE. This means you have access to even more resources, professional development and networking!

In October, we will hold our annual Professional Development Conference at the Hotel Captain Cook in Anchorage, AK. This annual conference provides teachers, administrators and industry the opportunity to network and learn. Workshops, breakout sessions, keynotes, panels and educational tours focus on best practices in CTE. Every year attendees walk away with a bigger network and more tools in their instructional toolbelt. Incorporating feedback from our membership, we have developed one of the best conference lineups yet, and we hope you will attend!  Highlights include:

  • Full-Day, hands-on workshops (Sunday, Oct 13)
  • Keynote, Dr. Kevin Fleming, will talk about (Re)defining Success
  • Breakout sessions from CTE leaders will share best practices
  • Tours of AVTEC, UAA, Mat-Su School District and ASD provide an opportunity to see how other campuses are embedding CTE
  • CTE Learn portal will be revealed to membership

Lastly, but certainly what I would consider MOST important, is the opportunity to help shape the education conversation in Alaska. If you are involved in organizations like AK ACTE, you have an opportunity to engage in conversations with leaders from across the state about what our students need from a well-rounded education. CTE is critical to our state and we need you engaged and contributing to the conversation.

Being a member of AK ACTE, it didn’t take me long to experience the benefits of being involved in a professional organization and believe you will too. I look forward to serving you over the next year and hopefully I will see you in October!

Missy Fraze

Acting Director, CTE

Anchorage School District

President, Alaska ACTE