Advance CTE State Director « Advance CTE Blog

Welcome Dr. Quincie Moore as the new State Director of Career and Technical Education for South Carolina

March 20th, 2023

The South Carolina Department of Education recently named Dr. Quinicie Moore as the State Director for Career and Technical Education (CATE).

During her 37-year career as an educator, Dr. Quincie Moore taught both math and computer science, helping to bridge the connection between math and technology for her students. “I was a [Career and Technical Education] CATE teacher and I didn’t even know it,” Quincie said. After getting her Masters in Business Administration, Quincie moved into school administration, first as an assistant principal, followed by a middle and high school principal across multiple districts. Quincie advanced to Assistant Superintendent of Instruction and then returned to her home district as the Superintendent.

Quincie retired from her position as Superintendent and took on a new position as the Director of Early Learning and Literacy with the South Carolina Department of Education. In this position, Quincie moved the district vocational center, then referred to as “The Vo,” to a rural technical community college campus and rebranded it as the “Institute of Innovation” to better inform the community about what CTE offers for learners.

Quincie’s passion for CTE is fueled by her desire to make sure every learner fully understands and is exposed to all the opportunities available to them. As part of this mission, Quincie aims for her team to help school districts get learners “college and career ready, not or.” With the South Carolina Profile of a Graduate dedicated to learners having world-class knowledge, world-class skills, and life and career characteristics such as integrity, global perspective and perseverance, Quincie stated, “[We are] getting kids ready for a career, not a job.”

Quincie gives credit to her significant time and various roles in school districts for preparing her for the position of State Director. “As superintendent, I had business advisory councils in my home county and I thought I knew the community.” However, Quincie realized that she only knew the big companies and not the smaller ones doing incredible work. “If I didn’t know about them, families aren’t being exposed either.” As a result, Quincie is focused on helping districts ensure that their CTE programs match their area’s economic needs while simultaneously expanding learners’ opportunities.

Over the next year, Quincie is excited to expand on South Carolina’s work with the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and will delve into creating standards and courses for AI. South Carolina has been very intentional in their approach and diligence in AI and Computer Science as they hope to best prepare learners for the careers of the future. Quincie will also continue to work with SREB on credential quality and rankings to expand South Carolina’s stackable credentials. Quincie looks forward to rolling out a new and required elective course on personal finance this coming fall, as it’s “a great opportunity” for the secondary students of South Carolina.

When asked what challenges Quincie sees in the year ahead, she cited overcoming the lingering impact the coronavirus pandemic has had on learners, families and educators, as well as recruiting and retaining high-quality CTE teachers as the most pressing.

Outside of work, Quincie loves to stay active, playing tennis, walking and swimming; she is an avid fan of music and the television show Yellowstone.

Jodi Langellotti, Communications Associate

Tags: South Carolina, State CTE Director, State Director
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Congratulations to Karl Ohrn, Minnesota’s New State CTE Director!

January 30th, 2023

The Minnesota State Board of Trustees recently named Karl Ohrn as the Systems Director of Career Technical Education for Minnesota State and the State Director for Career and Technical Education.

After struggling academically as an undergraduate at a liberal arts college and unsure of his future, Karl Ohrn joined the United States Air Force, ultimately serving 30 years. It was in the Air Force that Karl had his first exposure to Career Technical Education (CTE).

“I went through a course in logistics in the Air Force, and it made so much sense […] everything was focused toward performing a certain job or skill set. It all became very meaningful and useful and purposeful.” Karl’s experience with CTE through the Air Force made him feel more confident in his academic abilities and future. He shared, “[The] CTE environment really made more sense.”

Karl’s Air Force career provided him diverse experiences, ranging from medical logistics to a CTE program evaluator through the Community College of the Air Force to the Director of a Noncommissioned Officer’s (NCO) Academy. Karl retired from the Air Force in 2013 and became an Academic Coordinator with Northland Community and Technical College, where he evaluated CTE programs for their quality and viability. It was through his role at Northland that Karl first became involved with the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 (Perkins IV).

Karl became a Perkins Consortium Coordinator at the postsecondary level where he worked with and got to know the state-level staff in Minnesota. In 2018 Karl was asked to become the Associate State Director of CTE and was appointed Interim State Director of CTE in 2021 after his predecessor retired. Karl was officially appointed Minnesota State Director of CTE in December 2022.

This year, Karl’s focus is determining whether Minnesota will update or create a new Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V) state plan; he is excited to get all of the stakeholders involved and hopeful for a successful outcome. Now that his position is permanent, Karl is also looking forward to strengthening connections among his state CTE team members and increasing professional development offerings.

Karl earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Slippery Rock University and a master’s degree in strategic leadership from the University of Mary. He also completed an associate of applied science degree with the Community College of the Air Force in logistics management and technical instruction. In addition to his passion for CTE, Karl has extensive experience and knowledge of the consortium model and the integration of military personnel with civilian CTE.

When asked why he is passionate about CTE, Karl responded, “We’ve all seen students fail, whether [they are] in high school or college. You have to help people find their passion and sometimes what becomes their passion isn’t what it was when they started.”

Jodi Langellotti, Communications Associate

Tags: Advance CTE State Director, CTE Leadership, Getting to Know, Minnesota, State Director
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Welcome Milo McMinn as the New State CTE Director in New Mexico!

January 24th, 2023

The New Mexico Public Education Department recently named Milo McMinn as its new Director of College and Career Readiness.

Milo path to finding his career passion began with experiences that we hope for all Career Technical Education (CTE) learners —- career exploration, robust high school CTE classes and work-based learning that led to a decades-long passion for education and providing more opportunities for students.

With an initial interest in law enforcement in high school, Milo did a police chief ride-along in 10th grade “and immediately realized that Law Enforcement was not for me,” he explained. In high school, he took family and consumer science classes and then had the opportunity to intern in a kindergarten classroom, where he discovered his passion for teaching. After receiving his Bachelor of Science in Education and Master of Arts in Curriculum and Instruction through New Mexico State University, he returned to his hometown of Grants, New Mexico to teach American History and coach high school football and tennis.

An offer to serve as a district data analysis coordinator for the Central Consolidated School
district in Shiprock exposed him to the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the
21st Century Act (Perkins V) funding and career pathways. That role led him to take on further leadership roles as founding principal and creator of Bond Wilson Technical Center, an Early College Academy CTE Center that worked to provide dual credit access for students with Navajo Technical University and local industry partners. Milo is passionate about building and expanding career pathways, industry relationships and programs of study across the state. Milo is particularly proud of his work in creating programs and experiences for districts in the state that have large Native populations and hopes to expand program offerings and funding streams to impact rural indigenous communities.

Through Milo’s new role as the State CTE Director, he hopes to expand and support CTE instructors and local leaders to help them leverage CTE to “do cool stuff for kids and create opportunities for engaging and relevant curricula.” His experience as a local administrator will be leveraged to remove barriers for more local education agencies (LEAs) and Native institutions to apply for Perkins V funding. Central to achieving both of these priorities is building more meaningful and trusting stakeholder engagement outside of the state plan process.

Finally, Milo strives for the ‘Land of Enchantment’ to lead the way on workforce and education and workforce innovation through CTE. One potential avenue is through his local and now state management of the Innovation Zone Grant, which funds professional development, guidance and technical assistance, and grant dollars to “re-imagine the high school experience” to include expanded work-based learning, project-based learning and CTE.

Outside of his role as State Director, Milo loves to play tennis with friends and family and be outdoors in New Mexico’s beautiful forests where he loves to camp and hunt each fall. Milo has two sons, an eighth grader, a fourth grader and two twin girls on the way expected in May. He jokes that he is very invested in New Mexico public education “as in four years he will have a senior in high school, a middle schooler, and two little girls in Pre-K.”

Please join us in welcoming Milo to his new role, and to Advance CTE!

Stacy Whitehouse, Communications Manager

Tags: Advance CTE State Director, CTE Leadership, Getting to Know, New Mexico, State CTE Director
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Welcome Jon Wickert as the New State CTE Director in Delaware!

September 19th, 2022

The Delaware Department of Education recently named Jon Wickert as its new Director, Career and Technical Education (CTE) and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Initiatives. His path to state CTE leadership reflects the power of career exploration and social capital that will sustain ‘The First State’s’ strong record of innovation and transformation of CTE systems.

Jon’s wide-ranging career began working with justice-connected youth in outdoor programs for the Maryland Forest Service. After a year in procurement in the nuclear power industry, he pursued his passion for ecotourism and water-based recreation by launching and operating a kayaking business. However, Jon missed working with learners and returned to the classroom as a high school social studies teacher. This led to his introduction to CTE through his support of Career Technical Student Organization (CTSO) competitions, volunteerism with Junior Achievement of Delaware, and supporting professional learning communities that allowed him to reconnect with his knowledge of natural systems and entrepreneurship.

Jon’s desire to expand his impact led him to the Delaware State Park System, where he led public and private programs, nature centers and exhibits, the visitor and customer experiences. strategy. During this time, he remained connected to CTE through curriculum review and STEM program development. He joined the Delaware CTE team three years ago where he led postsecondary system development, work-based learning, and registered apprenticeship initiatives.

Jon has been a very active member of Advance CTE prior to his promotion to State Director, participating in the Postsecondary Data Initiative, contributing to Advance CTE’s research on area technical centers and developing an environmental literacy framework through the Bay Watershed Education Training (BWET) initiative. He emphasized the immense value of Advance CTE’s support in helping him to “connect the dots” in his work and connect to leaders in other states.

Jon is most enthusiastic about continuing current work to equitably update the statewide programs of study, which will focus on centering program requirements with labor market information and wage data, identifying metrics for credential recognition and alignment course mapping with Advanced Placement, dual enrollment courses, and other early postsecondary opportunities. Not surprisingly, Jon’s list of other priorities was quite extensive – internal role realignment, middle grade CTE standard development and a statewide framework for Credit for Prior Learning, among others- , and his enthusiasm for all of them is apparent. Jon is committed to ensuring each Delawean has access to high quality education that centers individual identity within a recession-resistant career, is efficient and affordable, and results in a wealth-generating wage.

Jon encourages fellow new State Directors to be patient with themselves, especially with new work, and use it as an opportunity to facilitate collaboration: “You don’t need to have the answer right now. Start slowly so you can go faster later — this is an opportunity for more voices to be heard.”

Jon earned a Doctorate of Education in curriculum, instruction and assessment from Walden University. He earned both a master’s degree in education and a bachelor’s degree in social science and secondary education from Frostburg University. Jon and his wife, Sinead, have a 10 year old son named Sean. They love hiking, camping, kayaking, and enjoying the outdoors as much as possible. Please join us in welcoming Jon to Advance CTE!

Stacy Whitehouse, Senior Associate Communications and State Engagement

Tags: Advance CTE State Director, Area Technical Centers, Credit for Prior Learning, Delaware, Early Postsecondary Opportunities, Equity and Access, Middle Grades CTE, postsecondary cte
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Welcome Dr. David Eshelman as the New State CTE Director in Virginia

March 15th, 2022

Advance CTE joins the Virginia Department of Education in welcoming Dr. David Eshelman as the new State Career Technical Education (CTE) Director. David has 12 years of experience as a local school division CTE director and has spent the most recent four years at the state agency. He held the role of Director, Workforce Development through the development of the state’s Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V) State Plan.

Advance CTE staff met with David as he shared his pathway to becoming the State Director, as well as his initial priorities for CTE in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Advance CTE: Which of your professional experiences has most prepared you for your role as the State Director?

David: Although I have held a previous role at the agency prior to becoming the State Director, it was the years spent as a CTE classroom educator and at the administrative level at local comprehensive high schools and career centers that fully equipped me to serve learners and their families now as the State Director. I come to this role with 32 years spent in education, but my state team, among others and myself, are most excited to see how we leverage my experiences spent alongside learners to grow CTE in Virginia.

Advance CTE: What excites you most about being the State Director in Virginia?

David: I am most excited about work underway in Virginia to expand access to work-based learning (WBL) opportunities. As State Director, I am mobilizing funding for a virtual WBL network that complements the Virginia Career Works project and will ensure each learner, no matter what their zip code is, has opportunities for this type of learning. That truly excites me.

Advance CTE: As you are settling into your new position, what initial priorities have you identified?

David: In our state and at the department we have identified a need to build leadership capacity and support our CTE educators who are at the local level and who may even have the aspiration of moving to the state agency or into a regional chair role. There’s nothing like working at the state department, and I want to prepare our next generation for leadership. My priorities in this effort are to offer our own WBL opportunities like summer externships at the agency, opening up opportunities for learning to all, and building a knowledge base by position.

Advance CTE: You have experienced leveraging social capital through your career progression, in what ways do you hope to create such opportunities for educators and learners in your state?

David: I do not want institutional knowledge to leave our agency when staff retire or transition to other positions. With my priorities of developing state CTE leaders, I hope to exercise social capital to ensure all new local CTE directors in the state have mentors or at least a professional network of peers to mobilize when they have a need or are looking for support.

While leading this work, however, I am also looking forward to nurturing my own social capital through the opportunities Advance CTE provides to new State Directors, such as the New State Director Institute.

Advance CTE: Fast forward and we are now celebrating your one-year anniversary as State Director. What is one challenge you’d like to have overcome by that milestone?

David: We are currently, as I imagine many are, going through changes in our state leadership. What I hope to have accomplished by next year is to increase internal office efficiency and workflow automation for the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education in Virginia. I also want to be sure we develop substantial methods of communication where all parties involved are receiving the information and data needed to make informed decisions that serve our learner populations, particularly focusing on the rural areas in the state and the learner gaps in our programs there.

Advance CTE: If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?

David: This is a tough question, but I will have to keep it close to home and go with Virginia Ham!

Welcome, David! Advance CTE is thrilled to support David as he strives to ensure each learner in Virginia has access to and the means to succeed in any high-quality CTE program or experience that leads to success in their career of choice.

Click here to learn more about the state CTE system in Virginia.
View resources that feature best practices in Virginia here.

Follow David on Twitter and LinkedIn

Brittany Cannady, Senior Associate for Digital Media

Tags: Virginia
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Welcome Jennell Ives as the New State CTE Director in Oregon

November 8th, 2021

Advance CTE commits to investing in formal leadership development for our members. The New State Director Institute (NSDI) uses a cohort model to welcome and support first-year State Career Technical Education (CTE) Directors. Each cohort is connected with mentors and other national leaders; provided leadership tools and resources; and offered instructional workshops designed to assist them as they develop and implement their state-wide visions for CTE. This and upcoming blogs in the Getting to Know blog series will introduce you to the Fall 2021 NSDI cohort!

This summer, Oregon welcomed Jennell Ives as the new Director of the Secondary Postsecondary Transitions Team. In this position, located in the Oregon Department of Education, Jennell is also the designated State CTE Director. She is a leader and innovator with a relentless commitment to improving the educational experiences of learners. She has a passion for building direct connections between learning during school and the lives and futures of Oregon’s youth. Jennell has been with the Oregon Department of Education for 11 years and served the agency in various capacities: Health Science Specialist, Accelerated & Personalized Learning Specialist, leading the Standards and Instructional Supports team, launching High School Success, and Perkins Grant lead & Career and Technical Education Investments. Prior to moving to Oregon, she was director of Global Education at the Wildlife Conservation Society based in New York.

Jennell’s priorities for the state are deeply rooted in Without Limits: A Shared Vision for the Future of Career Technical Education (CTE Without Limits) and increasing equity and access for each learner. With the implementation of Oregon’s Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V) state plan and CTE Without Limits, Jennell and her team will focus on:

Building state-wide CTE programs of study;
Establishing flexible learning opportunities for learners that extend access across school districts;
Increasing opportunities in CTE for learners with disabilities;
Prioritizing funding approaches to support and sustain professional development in rural CTE; and
Expanding career guidance for learners to start in elementary/middle school and extends through work-based learning and postsecondary opportunities.

Jennell anticipates the biggest challenges for this role to be CTE teacher recruitment and retention (which have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic), expanding the involvement of stakeholders in shaping CTE in Oregon and communicating the value of CTE to learners and their families.

However, these challenges come with much opportunity! Jennell is most excited about the opportunity to engage with employers and the workforce industry to create CTE statewide programs of study and the opportunity to build regional networks for teachers to be supported delivering such programs of study.

We asked Jennell to share one thing she would wish to be an expert in at the snap of her fingers. While we were expecting to hear about having gold medal talent in an Olympic sport, Jennell answered in true leadership fashion with the wish to communicate and build strong relationships and networks. She is rolling up her sleeves and is ready to do the “slow and hard work” to ensure the career preparation ecosystem in Oregon meets the needs of each learner.

Please join us in welcoming Jennell to Advance CTE!

Learn more about the work happening in Oregon by viewing their CTE state profile and the state resource page in the Learning that Works Resource Center.

Brittany Cannady, Senior Associate Digital Media

Tags: Oregon, Perkins V, State CTE Director
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Welcome Stephen Schatz as the New State CTE Director in Hawai’i

November 4th, 2021

Welcome Stephen Schatz as the new State CTE Director in Hawai’i. The University of Hawai’i, which serves as the state’s Perkins eligible agency, houses the team Stephen leads – the Hawai’i P-20 Partnerships for Education. He comes to this role with educational experience that spans from the early grades through postsecondary; He has served as a 3rd grade teacher, a school principal and administrator, and the Deputy Superintendent for the state. Stephen was a stakeholder in the writing of Hawai’i’s Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V) state plan. As Stephen assumes the roles of leading the CTE state team, he will also guide the Hawai ‘i Data eXchange Partnership (Hawai‘i DXP), an inter‐agency team responsible for the statewide longitudinal data system to inform policy and decisionmaking for the improvement of educational outcomes in Hawai‘i.

Uniquely, Hawai’i only has one school district and one higher education system and recently the state’s CTE office merged with the Hawai’i P-20 Partnerships for Education office. Stephen is looking forward to leveraging the islands’ educational landscape, recent governance shift, and his new leadership position as State Director to empower learners from preschool and beyond through fully aligned pathways that connect secondary and postsecondary education with the needs of employers. . Understanding the geographic needs of each community and identifying career interests and passions for learners across the islands, especially in rural and remote areas, while increasing their access to equitable programs of study is of high importance for Stephen and his work to implement a statewide vision for the future of CTE.

Hawai’i is known as a top tourist destination, and the effects of the current global pandemic has challenged and reshaped the makeup of the state’s industry and workforce needs. However, Stephen sees the change in local labor market needs as an opportunity to diversify the state’s economy and allow CTE programs to intentionally contribute to the talent pipeline. Key to this work is increasing interest from business and industry to collaborate with the P-20 system and finding new avenues for business engagement that are fueled by authentic self-interest over pure philanthropy.

When away from the office, you can catch Stephen surfing the island waves or at home in the kitchen cooking his favorite stews.

Please join us in welcoming Stephen to Advance CTE!

Learn more about the work in Hawai’i by viewing their CTE state profile and the state resource page in the Learning that Works Resource Center.

Brittany Cannady, Senior Associate Digital Media

Tags: Hawaii, Perkins V, State CTE Director
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Welcoming Jimmy Hull to Advance CTE

September 22nd, 2020

Jimmy Hull began his career in education as a classroom teacher in Alabama. Since then, Jimmy has served in numerous roles including high school principal and the president of the Association of Career and Technical Education Alabama. As of July 2020, Jimmy now serves as the Assistant State Superintendent of Education in the Career and Technical Education/ Workforce Development Division for the Alabama State Department of Education.

Jimmy has entered into his new position at an interesting if not difficult time, balancing the start of a new and unusual school year under mandated social distancing, while also implementing the first year of his state’s new plan for the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V). Alongside these challenges, there are still multiple priorities on Jimmy’s list. As a former educator, it is clear that a passion lies in heartfelt teacher preparation and training, recruiting and sustaining quality teachers for Career Technical Education (CTE) classrooms. He has plans to develop and implement a teacher prep program that would align with a teacher’s first three years of teaching.

Core components of Alabama’s state Perkins plan is the commitment to breaking barriers of entry and access to CTE programs for identified student populations; building transitions for a seamless progression from high school to postsecondary education and finally to the workforce; and increasing postsecondary attainment for learners. The plan was driven by key stakeholders including a strong partnership with the Governor’s office. Jimmy also identified other key areas of growth for Alabama including career exploration in the middle and elementary grades, innovative ways to offer apprenticeship opportunities, and a working partnership with the state’s community colleges.

Jimmy believes strongly in CTE’s vital role in economic development in his state and in the nation and has plans to begin fulfilling this role by ensuring that every voice is heard by meeting with schools’ administrative teams and formulating new strategic goals for the future ahead.

Welcome Jimmy!

Brittany Cannady, Digital Media Associate

Tags: Alabama, Perkins V, State CTE Director
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Welcoming Paul McConnell to Advance CTE

August 18th, 2020

Paul McConnell is a lifelong Rhode Islander and has worked at the Rhode Island Department of Education & Secondary Education (RIDE) for eight years. Paul became the new CTE Coordinator in late March 2020, in the early days of the challenges presented by the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic: off-limits labs and classrooms, budget uncertainty and the rapid transition to remote learning.

Paul is approaching these challenges head-on and with big picture thinking, considering opportunities for structural changes and thinking critically about the lessons his state is currently learning in terms of which students are thriving, and which are not able to due to the digital divide and lack of access for some learners.

Challenges aside and looking ahead, Paul is excited to determine equitable ways to implement the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V) in his state, and to consider ways to better serve both learners and communities. For example, Paul is grappling with the fact that Rhode Island’s traditional school-aged population is in a decline, however the same number of school facilities have remained open and in use.

No matter the changes necessary to CTE in RI, learners and stakeholders have a true voice. The state has set a meaningful precedent in stakeholder engagement as per Rhode Island’s CTE Board of Trustees standards: CTE learners have given input into their needs, and recently thanks to that feedback, some CTE centers have changed the timing of classes to better accommodate the learners they serve. Paul plans to continue to engage this group to find out where learner interest lies and how to respond to that with high-quality CTE.

When he’s not pondering grand questions at work, Paul is boating and swimming in the Atlantic Ocean most months of the year.

Welcome Paul!

Sara Gassman, Senior Associate, Member Engagement & Professional Learning

Tags: rhode island
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Welcoming Elizabeth Bennett to Massachusetts

August 10th, 2020

Elizabeth Bennett has been working in Career Technical Education (CTE) for twenty years in Massachusetts and, as of early April 2020, is now serving as the state’s Associate Commissioner for College, Career and Technical Education. Most recently, Elizabeth was Director of Grants, Workforce Development and Community Outreach at the Greater Lawrence Technical School outside of Boston, MA, developing programming with local employers for under- and unemployed community members, people returning from prison, and out of school youth. The school boasted a long waitlist for these notably successful programs.

Recently, Elizabeth completed studies in Urban Justice and Sustainability at Tufts University, spending time thinking critically about access to CTE programs in her state and piloting an innovative “After Dark” program, where learners would arrive at the Greater Lawrence Technical School for CTE instruction between 2:30 and 5, providing access to CTE to those who may not be available during traditional school hours. Based on this successful pilot, Elizabeth earned grant funding and expanded the After Dark program state-wide.

These days, Elizabeth is looking forward to the state’s implementation of the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V) , after having worked on Perkins at the local level, and having written Perkins grants at the local level in her previous jobs. She also looks forward to elevating high quality CTE programs in MA.

As Elizabeth was an English major and taught English literature early in her career, we asked her what fictional world she might like to be magically transported to. Her answer? England during Shakespearean times to act in one of his plays. Welcome, Elizabeth to the State CTE Director community!