Viva ACTE Las Vegas!

What do Ruby Payne, Raymond Simon, Emily Stover De Rocco and  Eric Weihenmayer, all have in common?  They were all key note presenters at the Annual Convention for ACTE in Las Vegas, Nevada, December 12-16, 2007.   We all know Ruby Payne famous for her book “Understanding the Framework of Poverty” and the information we all attained from workshops here at DMTC a few years ago.  Raymond Simon is the United States Deputy Secretary of Education and Emily Stover DeRocco is Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training, both shared their insights in the work they do in their respective departments.  The closing session key noter though was the best. Eric Weihenmeyer  a former middle school teacher and wrestling coach, the only blind man to reach summit of Mount Everest . Having lost his vision at age 13, he has become an accomplished mountain climber, paraglider and skier.   He shared his inspiration that drives him which in turn helped inspire educators to keep encouraging and supporting their students to succeed.

He was definitely one of the best speakers I have heard in a while and helped me realize how much we all take things for granted, especially our sight.  Along with that, the pressures, stresses we deal with in the classroom are all “small stuff” compared to what he has to deal with daily.

Several workshops including classroom teaching tips, new technology uses for the classroom, effective learning management, partnerships, integration were offered and very informative.

HOSA hosted a luncheon for the Health Science Instructors one day and SC’s very own Heather Coggins, represented as HOSA President.  She did an awesome job!  (See photo)

I was able to attend several ACTE meetings, including the Town Hall Meeting, Region  Business Meeting for Region 2 , and Assembly of Delegates as one of the representatives for SCACTE.  These gave me insight to the work the executive committee for ACTE does for their members and the importance of having a voice to represent our profession.  The biggest issues a lot of states are dealing with have to do with a drop in membership.    SC alone has a 50% drop in membership in the last 10 years.  If we continue to decline in membership, we could lose our representative voice in the state, national and political levels.  ACTE is the only professional organization for Career and Technology.    Compared to other professional organizations, the cost is reasonable. 

If you are not a member, please consider becoming a member.  If you were a past member, please consider renewing your membership.  If you are a current member, kudos to you. 

Membership forms are available on the SCACTE website.

Las Vegas is known as the “City of Gambling”  but I was fortunate to not lose my $ to the “one armed bandit”. There were slot machines as soon as you got off the gate at the airport, in grocery stores and every nook and cranny in the hotel.    The best tour of Las Vegas that I got was the M&M factory (chocoholic heaven)!  See photo.

The next Annual Convention for ACTE will be held in Charlotte, NC in December 2008.  Please consider attending, especially being so close to home.  You will gain a lot of helpful information, networking and experiences that will be very beneficial to your students as well as fellow co workers.