Interview with my Mentor

Christi is an administrator in a rural school district in Kentucky and previously taught Agriculture for 13 years. She was impacted by CTE early on in life and went into Ag Education right after finishing high school. She transitioned into administration after the birth of her children in order to reach more students by impacting teachers and to have more time for her own family. Christi also felt the need to get more involved with the ACTE organization at this point of her career.

When I asked her about what she would want anybody to know about CTE, she replied that “it offers something for everybody!” Students who come out of our programs have many options – to enter the workforce, to go on into post-secondary, to join the military… We serve any child, Christi said, from regular ed to special ed, the higher achievers with dual credit/dual enrollment opportunities as well as the child that goes directly into a career. CTE is the application of what our children have learned in ours as well as in other classes.

I also asked Christi about her experience with leadership opportunities within CTE. She replied that it is nice to get as involved as you want to be. It may sometimes be difficult to break into an organization’s structure but if you search for opportunities and make your interest to get involved known, you will find people who are willing to support you and who recognize where change needs to be made.

Christi and I are both looking forward to our mentorship year. We realized that we have a lot in common – from working as CTE administrators in our districts, to our experience with social media and our roles on Social Media committees in our respective state organizations. I am excited to work with Christi and to learn from her this year!