{"id":2967,"date":"2026-09-03T21:06:15","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T21:06:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.acteonline.org\/next-level\/?page_id=2967"},"modified":"2026-09-15T13:11:29","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T13:11:29","slug":"make-it-better-plans","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.acteonline.org\/nextlevelcte\/make-it-better-plans\/","title":{"rendered":"Make It Better Plans"},"content":{"rendered":"<section id=\"row-block_4c6ac57ece46684a163234a07b2448c9\" class=\"blog-banner v2 blue-bg \">\r\n      <div class=\"background-img\">\r\n      <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.acteonline.org\/nextlevelcte\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2026\/09\/inside-pages-banner.jpg\" alt=\"\">\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"content-area \">\r\n    <h1 class=\"width800\">Make It Better Plans<\/h1>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n<\/section>\r\n  \n\n  <style>\r\n    body blockquote::before {\r\n        background: #11ada2;\r\n    }\r\n  <\/style>\r\n  <section id=\"row-block_8b642d530cf8cb9fd5b9b4c125b3b480\" class=\"wysiwyg-2col \">\r\n  <div class=\"content-area\">\r\n        <div class=\"text-area full_width\">\r\n      <h2>Make-It-Better Plans: Ideas Into Action<\/h2>\n<p>As part of the ACTE NextLevel Postsecondary CTE Leaders Fellowship, Fellows identify a challenge or opportunity within postsecondary career and technical education and develop a Make-It-Better Plan designed to move an idea toward action.<\/p>\n<p>The stories below highlight the journey and impact of these projects\u2014from the challenge that inspired each Fellow\u2019s Make-It-Better Plan to the strategies they developed and the results that followed. Each story explores the impact of the work on the Fellow\u2019s institution, students, and broader CTE community; reflects on how the Fellowship contributed to the Fellow\u2019s professional and personal growth; and shares advice for future NextLevel Fellows.<\/p>\n<p>Together, these stories demonstrate how NextLevel Fellows are turning ideas into action, growing as leaders and creating meaningful change across postsecondary CTE.<\/p>\n<h4>2022 | Justin Erickson<\/h4>\n<p><strong>Manatee Technical College<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Reimagining Advanced Manufacturing Pathways<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Justin Erickson developed his Make-It-Better Plan to address declining enrollment in advanced manufacturing programs despite growing employer demand. His work focused on creating industry-aligned robotics and semiconductor pathways through competency-based learning, apprenticeships, employer partnerships, and modern training environments. The project evolved into the Silicon &amp; Steel Pivot framework, expanding pathways into high demand manufacturing careers and creating approaches that can be adapted by other colleges.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.acteonline.org\/next-level\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2026\/09\/ACTE_NextLevel_Make_it_Better_Erickson.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Explore the Plan &amp; Its Impact \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n<h4>2023 | Kari Lamoreaux<\/h4>\n<p><strong>Utah State University<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Connecting Technical Education to Business Degrees<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Kari Lamoreaux developed her Make-It-Better Plan to create stronger connections between technical education certificates and bachelor&#8217;s degree programs. Her project focused on redesigning a transferable Associate of Business degree so students could build upon their technical education without starting over. The redesigned pathway created greater flexibility for students, expanded transfer opportunities, and strengthened connections among technical education, degree programs, and industry.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.acteonline.org\/next-level\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2026\/09\/ACTE_NextLevel_Make_it_Better_Lamoreaux.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Explore the Plan &amp; Its Impact \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n<h4>2024 | Tonia Shook<\/h4>\n<p><strong>Fred K. Marchman Technical College<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Building Inclusive Career Pathways Through CTE<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Tonia Shook developed her Make-It-Better Plan to expand postsecondary career opportunities for students with intellectual disabilities. Her project focused on creating an inclusive transition program connecting students to career exploration, employability skills, industry credentials, existing CTE programs, and competitive employment. The work contributed to the launch of Phoenix RISE and created new pathways for students to access credentials, career preparation, and meaningful employment.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.acteonline.org\/next-level\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2026\/09\/ACTE_NextLevel_Make_it_Better_Shook.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Explore the Plan &amp; Its Impact \u2192.<\/a><\/p>\n<h4>2025 | Christian Zimmerman<\/h4>\n<p><strong>Florida Center for Students with Unique Abilities, University of Central Florida<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Expanding Postsecondary Opportunities for Students with Intellectual Disabilities<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Christian Zimmerman developed his Make-It-Better Plan to expand career-focused postsecondary opportunities for students with intellectual disabilities. His project focused on increasing comprehensive transition programs (CTPs) on career and technical education campuses by helping institutions build partnerships, develop programs, and access resources and technical assistance. What began as a focused project has grown into a broader effort to strengthen technical college capacity and expand pathways into CTE, credentials, and employment.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.acteonline.org\/next-level\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2026\/09\/ACTE_NextLevel_Make_it_Better_Zimmerman.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Explore the Plan &amp; Its Impact \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>What Will You Make Better?<\/h3>\n<p>Every Make-It-Better Plan begins with a challenge, an idea, and a leader ready to move change forward. Through the NextLevel Postsecondary CTE Fellowship, Fellows gain professional learning, mentorship, a national network, and opportunities to strengthen their leadership while developing solutions that can create lasting change within their institutions and across postsecondary CTE.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.acteonline.org\/nextlevelcte\/about\/\">Learn More About the NextLevel Fellowship \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n    <\/div>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/section>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2967","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Make It Better Plans - NextLevel<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.acteonline.org\/nextlevelcte\/make-it-better-plans\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Make It Better Plans - 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