Dr. Alisha Hyslop, ACTE's chief policy, research and content officer and LeAnn Curry, executive director of ACTE discuss CTE.
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February 12, 2025
ACTE Executive Director LeAnn Curry and Dr. Alisha Hyslop share how CTE programs are evolving to meet the demands of today’s economy—offering students hands-on learning, industry partnerships, and diverse career pathways in fields like engineering, cybersecurity, and AI.
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February is Career and Technical Education (CTE) month!
The month celebrates CTE programs around the globe that prepare students to be successful in college or the workforce. CTE classes also teach skills that help students become engaged, innovative and positive members of their community, like teamwork and problem-solving.
This past December, more than 5,000 CTE professionals from around the world convened in San Antonio, Texas, for the annual Association for Career & Technical Education (ACTE) CareerTech VISION conference.
In this Educator Voice, LeAnn Curry, executive director of ACTE, explains what CTE is and shares how business and industry partners work together with CTE programs to offer an ever-growing variety of career paths for students.
"Equipment, training, everything that's part of a core CTE program — it evolves to the needs of those labor markets," Curry said.
READ MORE: Pushing past home economics stereotypes, these FCS teachers prepare students for a modern workforce
Dr. Alisha Hyslop, ACTE's chief policy, research and content officer, also discusses how CTE is evolving to meet the needs of today's economy and help students develop important skills.
"We now offer programming across many more content areas," said Hyslop. "Everything from hospitality to engineering to cyber security to electric vehicles to AR and VR, AI, all of the emerging career areas are part of our CTE umbrella."
To learn how you can participate in PBS News Hour Classroom's Invention Educator Network, sign up here. Classroom's invention education program brings teachers from various subjects and grade levels together to discuss all things invention & innovation. Check out our Invention Education collection, including lessons by CTE educators.
Produced by Victoria Pasquantonio and Gianfranco Beran, News Hour Classroom's freelance production assistant.
Republished with permission from PBS NewsHour Classroom.
This curated career exploration collection offers lessons on potential careers, pathways into those careers, how to create a career portfolio, gap year opportunities, positive changes that individuals have made through their chosen careers, and more.
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