Best Practices Previous Years

Best Practices & Innovations 2023

Sept. 27-29, 2023
Salt Lake City, Utah

Signature event for secondary and postsecondary CTE Administrators.

For additional information on the upcoming conference, please view the links below.

Schedule At-A-Glance

Breakout Sessions

Round Table Mini Sessions

Download Breakouts

Keynote Speakers

Dave Davlin
Sponsored by Microburst
“The Game-Winning 3”–Making It Count …In Business And In Life

Whether it comes in creating a better product, helping to relieve someone’s stress or pain, bringing someone laughter or joy or helping someone get more out of their life, success is always about serving. This being the case, the key to success in any business lies not only in the development of great products and services, but more importantly in the development of great people. In this insightful presentation, Dave Davlin shares three essentials developing a purpose-driven mentality to achieve a fulfilling career and balanced life. This presentation is an hour of interaction, humor participation mixed with a powerful message. It is a roller coaster ride of emotion that will find the audience engaged in hilarious laughter one moment and brought to tears the next. The audience will be challenged to make the most of every moment in order to develop themselves personally and professionally while creating value and making a difference in the lives of others.

Katherine Schweit
Sponsored by Navigate 360
The Violence Landscape

Slowing firearms violence in the United States begins with understanding more than just numbers and percentages. Here we’ll break down the violence landscape to better understand where and how these deaths are occurring. We’ll discuss our most violent shooters and what triggers them to act. And finally, we’ll explore some of the most promising prevention efforts underway and how to harden your target and protect those in charge when other efforts fail.

Corey Flournoy
Sponsored by Schoolinks
Making Real Change and Transformation through DEI

Many conversations and initiatives connected to diversity, equity and inclusion lead to transactional changes, if any, that fail to make the needed progress required to shift the culture of an organization or system. Corey Flournoy brings 30+ plus years of experience working in DEI with global corporations, non-profit organizations and educational institutions that has shaped his philosophies and practices to make transformative, lasting change for individuals and organizations. During this session, Corey will share his story of being the first Black and urban president of the National FFA Organization that has led him to develop valuable lessons that can help build individual cultural competencies and empathy and expand the support, appeal, and engagement of diverse students within career and technical education — ultimately leading more qualified candidates to careers in the growing fields of DEI.

Keynote Speakers

Dr. Jill Siler
Opening General Session Speaker

Dr. Jill Siler served as the Superintendent of Gunter ISD for nearly ten years and now serves as the Deputy Executive Director for Professional Learning for the Texas Association of School Administrators (TASA). Jill grew up in Rochester & Buffalo, NY and completed her undergraduate work at the University of Pittsburgh where she was a collegiate swimmer. She was a teacher and coach in Pflugerville ISD and began her administrative career in Marble Falls ISD. In 2004, Jill went to Lake Travis ISD where she served as a campus and district leader for 8 years. During that time, she completed her doctorate at the University of Texas.

In her first months as a superintendent, Jill faced financial crisis along with many other challenges that leadership brings. In 2015, her school board was named a TASA Honor Board as one of the top 5 school boards in the state and one of her campuses was named a 2017 National Blue Ribbon School. Jill served as the Chair of the Future-Ready Superintendent Leadership Network (FRSLN) Design Team where innovative leaders across Texas gather to learn, share and grow together.

Jill has a passion for helping others reach their goals and is the leader of Texas’ Aspiring Superintendent Academy and leads Texas’ First Time Superintendents Academy. Jill speaks at leadership and teacher conferences across the country. In 2020, Jill released her first book, Thrive Through The Five: Practical Truths to Powerfully Lead through Challenging Times, which was the #1 Bestselling New Release for Education Administration books and has hit the Top 10 Education Leadership books multiple times since its release. In 2021, Thrive Through the Five was honored with four Eric Hoffer Awards including Reference Category Winner and Montaigne Medal finalist.

Special thanks to Microburst for sponsoring the Opening General Session

Dr. John Mulcahy
Thursday, Sept. 29 Lunch Keynote Speaker

John is passionate about telling the story of the value and importance of CTE. His presentations include a strong helping of educational statistics mixed with humor and inspiration. Audiences love the fact that he provides them with the facts they need to “make the case” for expanding access and opportunity in CTE. He makes a strong case for ensuring that all learners in America have access to quality CTE programs.

Special thanks to MBA Research for sponsoring the Lunch Session.

Keynote Speakers

Josh Davies
Josh Davies is passionate about helping others make a difference in their lives, jobs, and community. Through his work as a speaker and trainer, he has engaged and encouraged professionals across North America, the Middle East, and Asia. His engaging and connecting speaking style combined with relevant content make him an in-demand speaker, giving more than 75 keynote presentations and workshops to education, workforce, and corporate events annually. For the 2008 Democratic National Convention, Josh led the training for all 10,000 volunteers and more than 4,000 local service professionals for the event. Training Magazine named him as one of the top 10 trainers under 40 in America and the Denver Business Journal tapped him as one of Denver’s 40 Under 40.

Davies is currently the CEO of The Center for Work Ethic Development, an organization committed to developing workplace skills in the global workforce. Partnering with organizations in 49 states and 6 countries, they equip trainers and teachers to build the workforce of the 21st Century. A graduate of American University, Josh has been awarded the Mile High Energy Award by Visit Denver, and an honorary Doctorate of Foodservice by the North American Food Equipment Manufacturers Association for his contributions to the industry. He finished serving his second term on the Executive Board of the Colorado Workforce Development Council, where he chaired the State Education and Training Steering Committee. He also led the P-Tech Selection Committee for Colorado and served on the board of the Colorado Opportunity Scholarship Initiative. In addition to his work in the public sector, Josh also served on the Board of Directors for the National Association of Workforce Development Professionals, was President of the Council of Hotel and Restaurant Trainers (CHART) and co-chaired the Colorado State Youth Council.

Rachael Mann
Rachael Mann is passionate about all things related to education, technology, and CTE. She is an “edufuturist” who believes in the importance of shaping the educational philosophies and spaces of today by looking toward the innovations of tomorrow. Rachael is a frequent keynote speaker at conferences and events across the country, and she speaks and writes about disruptive technology, education and careers. She is the author of The CTSO Competition Companion, The Spaces You Will Go, and coauthor of Martians in Your Classroom, an educational title about integrating STEM into the classroom utilizing space-related initiatives.

Rachael holds an MA in educational leadership and has 14 years of classroom teaching experience as a career and technical education instructor. Rachael’s experience includes her work as the Network to Transform Teaching State Director, the Professional Learning Director of STEM, and the Arizona State Director for Educators Rising. She is a founding member of the Council on the Future of Education, the director of member engagement for NCLA, and vice-president of New and Related Services for ACTE.

From professional growth to motivational talks to workshops, Rachael loves to inspire audiences to think bigger and dream beyond.

Joyce Malyn-Smith
Joyce Malyn-Smith is a national expert on STEM career development and workforce education. She leads a body of work that explores how to enhance STEM learning and support people in using their STEM skills, knowledge, and dispositions to pursue productive and rewarding careers. Her projects develop industry/education connections in computational thinking, big data, artificial intelligence (AI), and other advanced technologies.

Malyn-Smith’s research focuses on the future of work and its implications for lifelong learning. She investigates the dispositions humans will need as they partner with machines in problem solving, what it means to be human in the age of AI, and the foundational skills K–20 students need to prepare for work at the Human-Technology Frontier.

Malyn-Smith collaborates with community colleges to advance knowledge of the expertise needed in emerging occupations and in occupations that are changing dramatically due to new technologies. She also develops standards-based tools and resources to ensure schools align their programs and curricula with changing industry demand.

Keynote Speakers

Peyton Holland

Peyton Holland has dedicated his career to helping bridge education, industry, and communities together so that our schools and colleges are preparing the next generation for leadership in the workforce.

Peyton currently serves as the Executive Director of the National Technical Honor Society, a national non-profit dedicated to celebrating and empowering students in all areas of Career and Technical Education. For nearly a decade prior, he served as the Executive Director of SkillsUSA North Carolina, a non-profit leading efforts to prepare students for the workforce through the development personal, workplace and technical skills.

Peyton has been a proud member of ACTE throughout his career and has served on the NC ACTE Board of Directors. He has also served on variety of other state and national boards and committees including: NC Construction Education Advisory Committee, NC Farm Bureau Young Famers and Ranchers Committee, Chatham County Board of Adjustments, SkillsUSA Sate Director’s Association Board, and NCCER Workforce Development Committee.

Peyton has been speaking professionally since the age of 18, when he started his leadership development company. From Fortune 500 companies to small-town rural schools, Peyton has helped thousands of people craft a vision for their future and develop the tools they need to make that vision a reality.

Having grown up in rural North Carolina, Peyton learned the value of hard work and skill early in life. The lessons he learned on the farm and at the family sawmill were formative.

That foundation, combined with the experiences he gained traveling internationally, acquiring a Master’s Degree in Business Administration (Aix-Marseille Graduate School of Management) and a Master’s Degree Global Innovation Management (N.C. State University), allows Peyton to bring truly unique perspective to the conversation of education, workforce development, and economic growth.

Ken Shelton

Ken currently holds an M.A. in Education with a specialization in Educational Technology as well as New Media Design and Production. He has worked as an Educator for over 20 years and most recently taught technology at the Middle School level. As a part of his active involvement within the Educational Technology community, Ken is an Apple Distinguished Educator and a Google Certified Innovator. Ken has worked extensively at the policy level advising several State Departments of Education, Ministries of Education, and was named to the California State Superintendent’s Education Technology Task Force. Ken regularly gives keynotes, presentations, advises, and leads workshops, covering a wide variety of Educational Technology, Equity and Inclusion, Multimedia Literacy, Cultural Relevance, Visual Storytelling, and Instructional Design topics. Ken is the ISTE Digital Equity PLN 2018 Excellence Award winner.