Tech ed conference
The IACTE, Illinois Association of Career and Technical Education, held its 86th Annual Conference from February 17th to the 19th in East Peoria Illinois. Three members of the CT U PAVE Committee, at their own tax deductible expence, attended the conference: Peggy Strong, Lotty Blumenthal, and John Kugler. Over 400 other educators attended the conference.
One of the highlights was a pre-conference tour by bus of the Catepiller plant and facillities. The opening ceremony speakerf, Chris Czarnik, explained his "The Human Search Engine" which helps job searchers in their quest. The closing speaker, Carl Hobs, talked of "Bridging the gap between the regular classroom and " CTE. He stated that Career and Tech Ed needs more publicity about the way it merges CTE with the CORE curricullum.
23 exhibitors showed their products or programs to conference goers. Almost 50 breakout sessions were offered. One of the more interesting always are the sessions offered by the lobbyists from
Washington D.C. and Springfield. The Federal Congress now has a bi-partisan committee for CTE. The Springfield lobbyist indicated that the dispersment of Federal Funds such as Perkins may be affected by the State Stalemate. Some workshops dealt with the classroom certifications such as "Credentials for a digital world." Some dealt with programs as "Thyssenkrupp Youth Apprenticeship Program." Time was well spent at this conference.
