FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 1, 2018

Media Contacts:
Jarrod Nagurka, ACTE
jnagurka@acteonline.org
703-683-9312

Katie Fitzgerald, Advance CTE
kfitzgerald@careertech.org
301-588-9630

ACTE, Advance CTE Statement Upon Signing of FY19 Spending Package

Alexandria, VA – Recently, President Donald Trump signed H.R. 6157 (115), which includes the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill for Fiscal Year (FY) 2019.  The bill contains a $70 million increase in the federal investment in the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education (CTE) Act’s Basic State Grants. The following statement can be attributed to Kimberly Green, Executive Director of Advance CTE and LeAnn Wilson, Executive Director of ACTE.

“We appreciate efforts to increase the federal investment in CTE. This important investment will boost state and local leaders’ efforts to provide high-quality CTE programs of study to learners across the country, preparing them for in-demand, living wage careers. This increase is a strong step forward in recognizing the importance of CTE in closing the skills gap for employers large and small across the nation. However, it still falls short of the pre-recession funding level for CTE programs.”

“Other notable increases in the bill include additional support for the Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grant authorized under Title IV-A of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), apprenticeship grants and a $100 increase in a student’s maximum Pell grant award.

“Because it takes systems and programs working together to fully support every learner’s success, we look forward to working with state and local leaders to coordinate these additional investments under the new Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V) to meet the needs of the 21st century American workforce.”

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About ACTE
The Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) is the nation’s largest not-for-profit association committed to the advancement of education that prepares youth and adults for successful careers. ACTE represents the community of CTE professionals, including educators, administrators, researchers, school counselors, guidance and career development professionals and others at all levels of education. ACTE is committed to excellence in providing advocacy, public awareness and access to resources, professional development and leadership opportunities.

About Advance CTE
Advance CTE: State Leaders Connecting Learning to Work is the longest-standing national non-profit that represents State Directors and state leaders responsible for secondary, postsecondary and adult Career Technical Education (CTE) across all 50 states and U.S. territories.  Advance CTE was formerly known as the National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium (NASDCTEc).

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sept. 19, 2018

Media Contact: Jarrod Nagurka
703-683-9312; jnagurka@acteonline.org

Maryland Students Wins ACTE National Student Trophy Design Contest
Juniors in Mount Hebron High School Win National Award, Prize for School

Alexandria, VA – Today, the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) announced Mount Hebron High School juniors Shreya Santhanagopalan and Rashi Kejriwal as the national student trophy design winners in its third annual student trophy design contest. Shreya and Rashi are juniors at Mount Hebron High School in Ellicott City, Maryland. They are taught by David Lucania, a technology education educator at Mt. Hebron. The contest was sponsored by ACTE and Stratasys, Ltd., a manufacturer of 3D printers and production systems.

Since 1954, ACTE has awarded those who have made exemplary contributions in the field of career and technical education (CTE). The student trophy design contest is a competition for students to design the 3D trophy to be used to award the national winners at the association’s annual VISION conference. This year’s conference will be held in San Antonio, Texas with roughly 4,000 educators, administrators and CTE industry stakeholders in attendance. Shreya and Rashi’s submission was selected by ACTE’s Board of Directors out of 438 entries from students all across the country. In addition to having their design used to create this year’s trophies, Shreya and Rashi will each receive a $500 scholarship and Mount Hebron High School will receive a free one-year lease of a 3D printer, courtesy of Stratasys, Ltd. ACTE will also provide Shreya and Rashi and Mr. Lucania with a trip to San Antonio to be honored at the awards banquet.

Rashi and Shreya are passionate and hardworking students interested in a career in the engineering field. They pursue their interest in engineering by engaging in competitions and participating in Project Lead the Way classes. Both students are also actively involved in clubs in their school, including the Society of Women in Engineering and STEM Engineering club. Rashi and Shreya also won the 2018 Project Lead the Way Engineering Design Competition at the national-level by submitting a research project. Their hobbies include traditional Indian dancing and math. They hope to inspire future generations to join the STEM field and encourage them to achieve their dreams.

“The Student Trophy Design Contest has successfully helped promote CTE classrooms all across the country for the next generation of American innovators, entrepreneurs, engineers, and more,” said ACTE Executive Director LeAnn Wilson. “Rashi and Shreya’s outstanding achievements, and their passion for CTE, are further evidence of the critical role high-quality CTE plays in maintaining and growing America’s role in the global economy. We are so proud of Rashi and Shreya and their accomplishments, and we are honored to have them as public ambassadors for all that today’s CTE has to offer.”

Jesse Roitenberg, Stratasys National Education Manager shared his thoughts on the contest over the years, “Stratasys is pleased to partner with ACTE to create this contest for the students. It is clear that the educators are doing an outstanding job immersing the students in Additive Manufacturing and Computer Aided Drafting.  The trophy entries we have judged over the past 3 years are phenomenally designed and could not be created by any other manufacturing process.”

Rashi, Shreya, ACTE and Stratasys are available for interviews upon request. Rashi and Shreya’s trophy design and photo of them with their teacher is included below.

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About ACTE: The Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) is the nation’s largest not-for-profit association committed to the advancement of education that prepares youth and adults for successful careers. ACTE represents the community of CTE professionals, including educators, administrators, researchers, school counselors, guidance and career development professionals and others at all levels of education. ACTE is committed to excellence in providing advocacy, public awareness and access to resources, professional development and leadership opportunities.

(L-R) Lucania, Santhanagopalan, Kejriwal

Winning 2018 Trophy Design

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 5, 2018

Media Contact: Jarrod Nagurka
jnagurka@acteonline.org; 703-683-9312

TIVA Unifies with National ACTE

Alexandria, VA – The Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) congratulates TIVA on its decision to formally unify with the national ACTE. TIVA is a Texas-based professional organization for career and technical educators.

Following the unification, TIVA members will benefit from both their state-based association and from membership in a national professional association. Among the many assets national membership provides, ACTE offers extensive professional development resources, federal public policy advocacy and leadership opportunities. The unification will also improve ACTE’s connection to CTE educators in Texas, and strengthen their voice in Washington.

“I am so pleased to join ACTE’s Board of Directors in welcoming TIVA to our unified ranks,” said ACTE Executive Director LeAnn Wilson. “Working together, ACTE and TIVA can build on our shared goals of strengthening CTE and ensuring that both educators and students have the tools to succeed.”

“TIVA has been advocating and supporting Texas CTE Trade & Industry secondary educators for 60 years,” said Diana Ferguson, TIVA Executive Director. “We could not be happier about unifying with ACTE. Through unification we have the opportunity to offer our members a stronger voice for CTE on Capitol Hill, access to resources, events, trainings, publications and leadership programs. This has been the goal of standing TIVA President Brenda Drawdy (of Killeen, TX, ISD) since her first VISION Conference, two years ago. We are looking forward to what the future holds.”

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About ACTE
The Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) is the nation’s largest not-for-profit association committed to the advancement of education that prepares youth and adults for successful careers. ACTE represents the community of CTE professionals, including educators, administrators, researchers, school counselors, guidance and career development professionals and others at all levels of education. ACTE is committed to excellence in providing advocacy, public awareness and access to resources, professional development and leadership opportunities.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 4, 2018

Media Contacts:
Jarrod Nagurka, ACTE
jnagurka@acteonline.org; 703-683-9312

Marc Schulman Named ACTE Champion for CTE

ALEXANDRIA, VA – The Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) and its Board of Directors is pleased to announce the ACTE Champion for CTE: Marc Schulman, the President of Eli’s Cheesecake Company in Chicago, Illinois. The ACTE Champion for CTE award recognizes education leaders, business and industry executives, celebrities and thought leaders who support and champion career and technical education (CTE) programs as a vital part of developing a prepared, adaptable and competitive workforce.

Over the past 20 years, Marc Schulman has been a tireless advocate for CTE at the local, state and national levels. Mr. Schulman currently serves as co-chair of the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences (CHSAS) Business Advisory Board, a position he has held since 2001. The CTE offerings at CHSAS focus on agricultural sciences and business. In his role, Mr. Schulman supports the quality and expansion of 21st century learning experiences for over 3,000 students. He leads initiatives to place juniors and seniors (340 students per year) in work-based learning experiences throughout Chicago and the surrounding counties.

Mr. Schulman has also worked to create partnerships between CHSAS and Wright College, one of the City Colleges of Chicago, and the College of Agricultural, Consumer & Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign.

His initiatives allow for students to participate in entrepreneurial experiences at Eli’s and beyond. He provides support for industry professionals to engage with students and help them develop career plans. Mr. Schulman regularly reaches out to local media to promote the positive aspects of CTE. He has been interviewed at conferences, on the radio and on TV about the beneficial impacts CTE has on student academic, skills-based and interpersonal growth and development. Mr. Schulman is also working to develop CTE-based programs partnering with Eli’s Cheesecake and its neighbor, Wright College. For the last 15 years, Eli’s Cheesecake has co-sponsored a summer entrepreneurship program with Wright for CHSAS students and  Eli’s has awarded scholarships for the past 5 years to CHSAS graduates in the memory of Aaron Easter (son of retired University of Illinois President Aaron Easter) and Marc’s father, Eli Schulman, and his best friend, Bobby Hatoff

Mr. Schulman will be recognized alongside other national ACTE award winners on Nov. 28, 2018, at the annual ACTE Awards Banquet during ACTE’s CareerTech VISION 2018 in San Antonio, Texas. VISION is ACTE’s signature event, with more than 4,000 CTE professionals from across the country in attendance. For more information on the Excellence Awards and the Awards Banquet, visit https://www.acteonline.org/awards.

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About ACTE
The Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) is the nation’s largest not-for-profit association committed to the advancement of education that prepares youth and adults for successful careers. ACTE represents the community of CTE professionals, including educators, administrators, researchers, school counselors, guidance and career development professionals and others at all levels of education. ACTE is committed to excellence in providing advocacy, public awareness and access to resources, professional development and leadership opportunities.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 15, 2018

Media Contacts:
ACTE: Jarrod Nagurka, jnagurka@acteonline.org
LifeJourney: info@lifejourney.us

“STEM Parent Program” Enables Families to Prepare Students for Jobs in the “New Collar” Economy

Parents Can Now Launch Year-Long Career Exploration Mobile App Experience for their Students Through Subscription Program

Alexandria, VA—The Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE), a leading not-for-profit for educators, today announced the STEM Parent Program letting families launch a career exploration experience to help their students prepare for jobs in the fast-growing “New Collar” skilled workforce in fields like manufacturing, technology, cyber and beyond.  Parents who subscribe will give their students access to STEM LifeJourney mentors through a year-long mobile app experience.

Learn more about ACTE’s STEM Parent Program by clicking here.

ACTE and LifeJourney, a career exploration and simulation company, are partnering on this new innovative experience to educate parents about new and emerging careers in today’s economy.  STEM Parent is an interactive web and mobile application that enables students to explore and test-drive some of the most in-demand STEM and New Collar technology jobs from leading organizations and government agencies such as Lockheed Martin, Tesla, Cisco, and BAE Systems.

“Educating tomorrow’s workforce about the endless career opportunities in the STEM economy, including in advanced manufacturing, technology, cyber and other New Collar business sectors, is critical for the long-term success of the American economy,” said LeAnn Wilson, ACTE’s Executive Director. “It is our mission to provide educational leadership in developing a competitive workforce, and parents are key in helping their children reach their fullest potential and achieve career success.  Leveraging a technology like LifeJourney’s will help us scale this mission,” she added.

ACTE’s STEM Parent is available to all parents and their students for an annual subscription. The technology consists of an interactive web application for students and a connected mobile app for parents called STEM Parent. Using the STEM Parent app, a parent’s high school or college-aged student is immersed in a multi-year interactive experience exploring and test-driving some of the most in-demand STEM careers. The connected STEM Parent mobile app for parents keeps families apprised of their child’s progress. ACTE STEM Parent is powered by LifeJourney, a technology for families to explore careers with leading industry mentors at internet scale.

In addition to the mobile app, ACTE’s STEM Parent program includes quarterly newsletters on the value and array of career and technical education opportunities and benefits, electronic access to ACTE’s premier publication, Techniques magazine, and other resources in development.

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About ACTE
The Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) is the nation’s largest not-for-profit association committed to the advancement of education that prepares youth and adults for successful careers. ACTE represents the community of CTE professionals, including educators, administrators, researchers, school counselors, guidance and career development professionals and others at all levels of education. ACTE is committed to excellence in providing advocacy, public awareness and access to resources, professional development and leadership opportunities.