Connections
Growing Growing Growing Tomorrow'sTomorrow'sTomorrow's Leaders Leaders Leaders
Fall 2022
CTE
PreparingStudentsforFutureCollegeandCareerSuccess
Johnny Key Secretary
Department of Education
LeadershipTeam Career & Technical Education
Dr. Ivy Pfeffer Deputy Commissioner Department of Education Ross White DirectorDivision of Career and Technical Education
Dr. Sonja WrightMcMurray Sr. Associate Director Division of Career and TechnicalEducation
Tim Johnston
Mission
To prepare students for future college and career success.
Vision
The Arkansas Department of Education is committed to transforming Arkansas to lead the nation in student-focused education so that every child graduates ready for college, career, and community engagement. In our 21st century economy, the lines between college, technical education, and career have been blurred To succeed on any of these paths, our students need more complex academic skills, including creative problem solving, synthesis, and design; they need interpersonal and teamwork skills; and they need a work ethic and flexibility to thrive in an economic and technological future where change and innovation will be constant
AssociateDirector Division of Career and Technical Education
CoreValues
This vision for excellent, student-centered CTE has five key goals that are aligned with the goals in Arkansas’ ESSA plan that was approved by the U.S. Department of Education in January 2018:
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Growing Tomorrow’s Leaders WITHOUT LIMITS as we are quickly approaching the end of the fall semester it is exciting to see what work we continue to do across the state for our future leaders. In this issue you will see the success of Fall Leadership Conferences, National Conferences, Student Spotlights, Grants Awarded, and Teachers making an impact on a national scale!
Growing our leaders as we know requires great educators that will push our students and the limits of their learning. This issue focuses on three Arkansas CTE Educators who are teaching and leading WITHOUT LIMITS!
Mrs. Taylor Donnelly, Agriculture Education instructor at Sheridan High School was named one of 20 high school skilled trades teachers in 15 states named as a winner of the Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Prize for Teaching Excellence Ms Donnelly received $50,000 with $35,000 being awarded to her classroom and $15,000 to her personally. There were 768 applications from all 50 states submitted and reviewed.
Mrs. Jenny Marroquin, Family and Consumer Science instructor at Siloam Springs High School is the Region IV finalist for the Association of Career and Technical Educators (ACTE) New Teacher of the Year. Mrs. Marroquin competed on the state and regional level before being selected as the ACTE Region IV New Teacher of the Year representing over 8,000 career and technical educators within region IV. The ACTE National New Teacher of the Year will be named on Wednesday, November 30, 2022 in Las Vegas, NV.
Mrs. Leslee Tell, Family Consumer Science instructor at Conway High School. Mrs. Tell received the Fulbright U.S. Distinguished Teaching Award to Vietnam for the Fulbright Teacher Exchanges project: More than Home-Ec: Science Projects and Clubs in the Field of Family and Consumer.
As we complete one semester and prepare for the next, we continue to Grow Tomorrow’s Leaders WITHOUT LIMITS much like these three AR CTE Educators are doing inside and outside of the classroom! Enjoy the remainder of the semester and Happy Holidays!
DIRECTOR'S LETTER RossWhite,Director DivisionofCareerandTechnicalEducation ArkansasDepartmentofEducation MARK YOUR CALENDARS - IMPORTANT UPCOMING DATES November January DECA MONTH 11/7-11 HOSA Week 11/14-20 National Apprenticeship Week 2 State Start Up Award Announcement December Happy
Holidays! November 15, 2022
22-23 CTSO State Event Calendar February CTE MONTH 2/1 CTE Day at the
Capitol
OctoberProclaimedArkansasCollegeApplicationMonth ARWorkKeysToolkitNowAvailable! 3 Did you know that one of the reasons students do not apply for college is because they never receive information or support during the application process? Governor Asa Hutchinson proclaimed October as Arkansas College Application Month to encourage all students to utilize the resources available to them as they seek to learn more about opportunities for education and training beyond high school! Find the Governor's full proclamation here. DCTE's Special Populations office worked diligently to prepare Career Coaches across the state to assist all students interested in pursuing a post-secondary education pathway. #WhyApplyDay DCTE Employees participated in #WhyApplyDay in conjunction with High Schools all over the state sharing why students should apply to college! Interested in how to get involved, please visit here for more information. The Arkansas Department of Education is pleased to provide an ACT WorkKeys Toolkit to assist schools in promoting the career readiness assessment portion of our state assessment system. It is essential that ALL high school educators are knowledgeable on the benefits of the ACT WorkKeys for ALL Arkansas Graduates. This toolkit provides educators the resources needed to educate students, parents, and fellow educators on the assessment, benefits, and credentials. For more information, find the full Commissioner Memo here. Click to Access the WorkKeys ToolKit!
Total Grants Awarded $1,564,284.48 Total Funds Awarded Innovation Grants 48 Total Grants Awarded $72,511.64 Total Funds Awarded Non-Traditional Grants 5 53InnovationandNon-TraditionalGrantsAwardedFall2022 Arkansas CTE Students Earn National Esports Champion Title For a full list of Grant Recipients click here. The Don Tyson School of Innovation eSports program has tied for 10th place nationally with six other schools and has placed 3rd nationally for League of Legends! Congratulations to these students and their advisor for the success of their CTE program at the National Level.
5thAnnualCTSODayatthe ArkansasStateFair
4,500+Students inAttendance
135 Schools Participated
On October 20th, students from all nine career and technical student organizations (CTSOs) attended the 5th annual CTSO Day at the Fair. With over 4,500 students from 135 schools, it was a great chance to network with others from all over the state. Students listened to officers from each CTSO present and heard greetings from Secretary of Education Johnny Key and Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Cynthia Edwards. The event provided breakout sessions with various profession als to help students learn about careers connected to the State Fair that relate to their CTSO. There was also a team-building scavenger hunt for students to learn more about the State Fair. Students ended the day with the opportunity to experience the fair and all it has to offer! We hope to see you next year!!
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Congratulations Mrs. Leslee Tell, Conway High School Family and Consumer Sciences Teacher, for being selected to travel around the world with 20 others with the Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching Program!! To learn more about Mrs. Leslee and the incredible opportunity she’ll have to bring first-hand experience back to her classroom, click here.
Jenny Marroquin, Family and Consumer Science Teacher of Siloam Springs High School, was recently named ACTE Region IV New Teacher of the Year! She is a graduate of Siloam Springs and has been teaching at her alma mater for five years. She is an active adviser in her local and state FCCLA organization. DCTE is incredibly proud to be represented on the National level and wishes Mrs. Marroquin the best of luck as a finalist. A national winner will be selected on November 30th at the ACTE Award Gala. For more information, click here.
Taylor Donnelly, a high school agricultural mechanics teacher from Sheridan School District has been named a winner of the 2022 Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Prize for Teaching Excellent, winning $15,000 for herself and $35,000 for her program. We are incredibly proud to have Mrs. Donnelly represent excellence in Arkansas Career and Techincal Education. Congratulations!! To learn more about Harbor Freight's Tools for Schools program click here.
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SuccessStories SuccessStories SuccessStories Student Student Student
Magnolia High School Senior, Maggie McDonald, began her own business with the help of her dad, ag teacher, and business teacher. During the peak of Covid-19 when the testing facility her family farm used was closed, she began testing blood samples of livestock from across the state to determine livestock pregnancy. Maggie partnered with 777 Reproduction Center in Magnolia to continue her work.
Maggie is a student in Ms. Jodie Waters WorBase Learning class. The knowledge and skills Maggie gained through CTE and Work-Based Learning helped her to start and build her own business across the state. Maggie is continuing to grow her business by becoming licensed to run more tests and working with the State Veterinarian at the Arkansas Livestock and Poultry Commission to receive new certficiations.
Maggie showcases what it means to find the need in your local community and pursue the opportunity full force to help those around you and to build your future. Way to go, Maggie!
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MaggieMcDonald,MagnoliaHighSchool, M2GeneticsandTesting,LLC.
CTSOFallLeadershipConferences
This Fall, CTSOs were in full swing providing opportunities for their members to network with members across the state and to deepen their content knowledge and leadership skills. You'll find a few of those events showcased below!
DECAFallLeadership Conferences
TSAFallLeadership Conference
DECA had over 500 members attend their two FLCs in Downtown Springdale and Hot Springs National Park!
Students learned about post-secondary opportunities and DECA Traditions via workshops and college tours!
Students were also awarded for their rankings in the fall series of Competitive Events.
TSA met at Hendrix College in Conway to bring their members together to learn all about different leadership skills and then have hands-on workshops to solidify learning. Members networked with over 175 TSA members from across the state.
HOSAFallLeadership Conference
HOSA Members gathered at Arkansas State University where State Officers presented workshops over Teamwork and Branding and Pitching as it relates to the Health Occupation Industry. They also had an opportunity to tour the New York Insitute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine (NYITCOM) to learn about the program in depth.
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26-28th was the 95th National FFA Convention and Expo in Indianapolis, Indiana. Over 500 members from 53 chapters represented Arkansas on the National level at the event. Arkansas had two chapters place in the top 10 in the country. Additionally, 21 Arkansas Students were recognized for their commitment to their Supervised Agriculture Experience with the FFA American Degree. Congratulations!
AllisonC WewouldliketowelcomeAllisonCartertotheDivison.Shejoinsusasthe TechnologyStudentAssociation(TSA)StateAdvisorandSTEMOfficeProgram Advisor.AllisoncomestousfromSiloamSpringsHighSchoolwhereshetaught amultitudeofSTEMcoursesandadvisedTSAmembersforoversixyears We areexcitedtoseethegrowthshebringstotheDivision.Welcometotheteam!
Welcome to DCTE! HELPUSWELCOMEOURNEWESTSTAFFMEMBER 9 Nationa FFA Convention Indianapolis, Indiana
October
American Degree Recipients are pictured above.
Springdale Har-Ber FFA Poultry Evaluation team placed 7th in the nation.
Cossatot River FFA Forestry Evaluation team placed 8th in the nation.
@ArkansasDCTE
