Diane Walker

CACTE Awards Committee Chair

661.575.1025

Do you know a seasoned CTE teacher who uses effective, innovative instruction in the classroom to benefit student achievement, is involved in the CTE community, and is a model for other colleagues?  Is there a newer CTE teacher at your site or in your district who exhibits instructional leadership?  Or is there a CTE teacher whom you know who inspires others to community and professional service in your area?  The CACTE Awards Committee is now accepting nominations for California CTE Teacher of the Year, New CTE Teacher of the Year, and CTE Teacher in Community Service awards. 

To be eligible for CTE Teacher of the Year, full-time teachers (teaching in non-baccalaureate programs) must have been ACTE members in good standing for at least five consecutive years, and for no less than three consecutive years for New Teacher of the Year and Teacher in Community Service categories.  For more details on the member award requirements, visit  http://www.acteonline.org/awards.aspx#Member. 

Send completed nomination materials to Diane Walker (dwalkavrop@gmail.com ) by no later than June 1, 2011.  Award winners will be recognized at a state conference, and will be considered for ACTE Region V awards.  Region winners compete for awards at the national ACTE level at the annual convention (St. Louis in November, 2012).  Please nominate a deserving teacher today!

All California Culinary/Hospitality teachers in the state have the opportunity to compete in two competitions each year.  To qualify, you must be a Pro Start teacher which is a curriculum that is from the National Restaurant Association.

The competitions are held alternately in Northern and Southern California. They consist of the culinary portion where the student teams prepare a starter, entrée and dessert in one hour. The management teams will focus on a restaurant concept and business plan. They will present to an industry panel and spectators. Both competitions prepare students for prepare the students for their next competition; the world of work! 

For more information you may contact Erin Mascho at emascho@calrest.org . 

Her office is in Sacramento at the California Restaurant association.

This year the National Policy Seminar's theme was "CTE: Today's Students = Tomorrow's Prepared Workforce."  CACTE President, Susie Johnson, Executive Director, Ross Arnold, and CACTE members Joi Jones, Gloria McGee, Hank Mollet, Kevin Tarbell, and Ryan Underwood walked the halls of congress and the senate to spread the good work of CTE in California and the need to protect Perkins and Tech Prep funding.  Information shared at visits included the CTE 2010 Longitudinal Study, an Edsource brief titled, "The Evolution of CTE in California," CAROCP's Accountability Research Study and Technical Report, the new CAROCP brochure, a hand-out on what it means to be "career-ready," ACTE's flyer on restoring funding for Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act, FY 2011 Appropriations Bill: Impact on Perkins Funding, a flyer listing six student leadership organizations with memberships pressing 100,000 students (FFA/Agriculture, FBLA/Business, DECA/Management, Finance and Entrepreneurship, Cal-HOSA/Health Careers, California Association FHA-HERO/Home Economics Careers and Technology, Skills USA California/Industrial and Technology Education) , Facts about CTE, and a few other CTE related news articles. 

The CACTE team paired up and visited as many of the 53 California congressional districts and senate offices as time allowed.  As there are many new seats in congress this year, CACTE members had their work cut out for them.  As one might guess, the CACTE team was passionate about their mission to talk about CTE in California, partnerships with business, industry, community colleges and universities, and the importance of receiving the necessary funding to keep California students college AND career ready. 

Invitations to visit California CTE courses were offered and encouraged.  As many important issues are considered on Capitol Hill, the CACTE team did an excellent job of ensuring their voices were heard and their concerns were understood.  Please join the CACTE's team efforts by ensuring your local members of congress understand today's CTE programs and funding needs.  Constituent contacts can really make a difference!  ACTE encourages personal visits, telephone calls, letters and emails to be an active part of every CTE member's efforts to strengthen a united message to keep CTE thriving across the country.   NPS helped us get the ball rolling; we need everyone to keep the work moving forward. 

Next year, if possible, try and attend the National Policy Seminar and join the CACTE team in Washington DC.  Together we will help our policy makers on Capitol Hill understand CTE and current issues we are facing. Working together, we can continue to make a positive difference in the lives of CTE students, their teachers and all those who work behind the scenes to make CTE the first choice in a student's college and career preparation plans.