Keep April 2010 Date in Mind
By Kathy Andrews, Past President, AACTE

The 2010 Association of Career & Technical Education Region V conference is being hosted by our state association. The dates are April 28 to May 1, and it will be held at the Downtown Hilton in Anchorage. A state professional development conference is scheduled for this coming fall as usual (November 19-22, 2008). During the 09-10 school year, however, AACTE is planning to have its professional development in conjunction with the 2010 Regional Conference. Planning is already underway for this conference. We will send more information your way as it unfolds. Save the date—April 28-May 1, 2010.

To read the complete May 6, 2008 AACTE newsletter click here.

Alaska welding industries donate equipment, certifications for advanced training program.
From May 19, 2008 Career Tech Update - a publication of the Association of Career & Technical Education

Alaska's Journal of Commerce (5/18, Horton) reported that "recent graduates in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District," who had "received hands-on training in their high-school welding classes," found that they could not gain employment because "most businesses are looking for more experience than [what] basic high-school welding classes offer." As a result, Shell Ewing, owner of Weld Air Alaska Inc. and chairman of the borough's technical education advisory board, spoke to industry officials and found out that employers were "having trouble finding employees to run NR232 wire, which is both difficult to learn,...and requires specific equipment to operate." According to the Journal, Ewing received equipment donations from several industry partners for the expensive "Lincoln Electric LN-25 wire feeders." In return, "the resumes of" nine "certified students would be offered to industry partners two weeks before sending them elsewhere, giving the partners first chance to hire." Tim Schachle, one of the graduating seniors, said, "This is training you can't get anywhere else, especially for free."

Columnist: Family and consumer science classes may aid in shift to healthy lifestyle.
From May 20, 2008 Career Tech Update - a publication of the Association of Career & Technical Education

On the front-page of the Washington Post (5/20, HE1) Health section, Sally Squires writes in the Lean Plate Club column that it is "time for...a school-based approach to cooking to make a comeback in the face of the obesity epidemic and the need for greater nutritional knowledge and practical skills." Squires maintains, "That's the goal of family and consumer sciences, once known as home ec." Squires points out that "the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences (AAFCS) says that 5.5 million middle school and high school students annually take life-skills courses that" range from "financial literacy" to "healthful nutrition, culinary arts, and food preparation." Furthermore, "[s]hifting toward healthier eating habits is a key goal of family and consumer science classes." Squires concluded that "[b]y learning how to cook cheaply and healthfully," students "can help fight the battle of the bulge -- and put great-tasting, healthful food on the table for the rest of their lives."

Career & Technology Education Advisory Council - Mission and Goals
Mission Statement: Enhance academic development through vocational education. Assist the Anchorage School District to provide both academic and vocational programs that promote and recognize the unique needs of ASD students and clearly define educational paths to employment and/or post secondary training and education.