ACTE Announces North Dakota Professor as National Winner

November 29, 2018

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 28, 2018

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

ACTE Announces North Dakota Professor as National Winner

ALEXANDRIA, VA—Today, the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) announced K. Peder “Pete” Gjovik, professor at the Valley City State University in Valley City, North Dakota, as the 2019 ACTE Teacher Educator of the Year. This award recognizes teacher educators who have demonstrated innovation in teacher education, leadership in improving CTE, and commitment to preparing teachers to deliver high quality CTE programs.

Gjovik has focused his career on providing educational opportunities to students and teacher candidates in career and technical education fields including trade, industry, technical, health science, and technology and engineering education. He relies on previous experiences as a public school educator, a printing and graphics industry entrepreneur, and CTE professor at the two-year college level to guide decisions regarding traditional and alternative pathways to licensure for technical educators.

He currently serves as the department of technology chair and co-director of the Don Mugan CTE Leadership Center at Valley City State University. Gjovik uses a variety of methods to vet teacher candidates—including traditional face-to-face mentoring and field experiences, distance supervision and mentoring through interactive video technologies—and to inspire future generations of CTE educators.

To help alleviate the technical educator shortage, he also supports North Dakota’s Transition to Teaching and clinical practice programs.

Gjovik is one of five finalists for the 2019 national title. The national winner was announced at the ACTE Awards Banquet, a dinner and award presentation recognizing the best CTE educators in the country. The event took place on Wednesday evening, November 28, during ACTE’s CareerTech VISION 2018 in San Antonio, TX. The Awards Banquet was sponsored by Express Employment Professionals, the US Army, CareerSafe, Goodheart-Willcox and Stratasys. For more information about the ACTE Excellence Awards, visit our webpage.

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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.

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