Dear ACTEAZ members,

The school year has kicked off celebrating with CTE educators and students gaining some much deserved recognition.  From all corners of the state, every day, these young people and the adults who are giving them the skills to move into a successful future are making a difference in the economic future of our state.  The day to day work of teaching and learning is challenging and never-ending, but at the very same time, it is also among the most rewarding work many of us have ever done.

Meeting student needs and helping them into a fulfilling career is why ACTEAZ exists.  We do that by providing the professional development CTE educators at all levels need in order to continually grow as their students’ greatest allies. ACTEAZ also helps to ignite that advocacy flame in each of us to build a loud, collaborative voice that informs our political leaders and greater communities about these successes to win their continued support.  That collaborative voice works all year, as we invite community and political leaders into our classrooms and labs to see our students at work, as we identify work sites that will provide invaluable job shadowing and internships for our students, and as we visit with our political leaders at both the state level and the national level to continue conversations that began last year and the year before that to build support and momentum for the work of Career and Technical Education.

Whatever your CTE needs are, working collaboratively will help us move towards meeting them.  Use our website to stay up to date on the many events and opportunities available and follow our social media sites for quick links or quick bits of news.

As we work through the changes that the funding restoration from last spring brought to our programs, both ACTEAZ and our summer conference partners at ADE are working hard to make sure that these changes are meaningful.  We invite you to come to the conferences that are hosted by ACTEAZ, ACOVA, and ADE for the professional development and advocacy updates that will keep you informed and inspired by the work being done all around the state.

Best wishes for a wonderful holiday season,

Julie Stockwell