Hey Trade and Industry Teachers – welcome back!
Hope you had a great summer and are ready to jump into another awesome year of building, making, and creating with your students. Thanks for all you do to help kids learn real skills that matter—make it a great year!
I wanted to share again the research about class sizes and their impact on safety. Go to the online site for the International Journal of Technology and Design Education for more details.
This newsletter contains new and updated MDE resources, professional development opportunities, career exploration events, scholarships and grants, and much more. Check it out!
Take care and have a great start to the year!
Tim Barrett
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Annual Trade and Industry Teacher Survey
Every year, we conduct a survey to help to gauge the state of secondary Trade and Industry education programs and identify future professional development/learning opportunities in Minnesota. We are asking for your feedback on how things are going and the most pressing needs for professional development not available or already being supported in your locale.
The following survey should not take more than 7-10 minutes to complete, but your answers will help us determine future professional development offerings. Please complete the Minnesota Trade and Industry Fall Survey 2025. Respond by Friday September 26, 2025.
Minnesota Safety Guidance Resource Updated
The Minnesota Schools Safety Resource: Instructor Materials and the Minnesota Schools Safety Resource: Student Materials were updated with additional tools and equipment for this school year. Check it out!
The Minnesota Schools Safety Resource: Student Materials is now posted along with the Minnesota Career and Technical Education (CTE) Safety Manual on the Safety Guidance for CTE page.
The Minnesota Schools Safety Resource: Instructor Materials is available to all Minnesota Career and Technical Education (CTE) teachers on request. To request the complete resource, please contact the CTE team at mde.cte@state.mn.us.
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Don’t Forget License Renewal!
Is your CTE license or Out of Field Permission (OFP) up for renewal for this new school year? Get the information you need from the license agency, the Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board (PELSB).
For questions on –
—check the PELSB website.
Inventory of Funded Programs to Support Education Workforce
An online resource, "Diversifying the Teacher Workforce: Inventory of Funded Programs," was created by Minnesota Department of Education (MDE), the Office of Higher Education (OHE) and the Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board (PELSB) to provide a high-level overview of funded programs that could be utilized locally to support and diversify the CTE educator workforce. This resource is a living document that will be edited and revised as appropriate.
Annual Program Approval Reviews
Trade and Industry programs in three Perkins consortia—Riverland, Rochester ZED, and Southeast—are up for Program Approval renewal in 2025. All programs are approved in a five-year cycle. However, if your district is considering submitting an application for a new Trade and Industry program, you will want to do so before the November 1, 2025 deadline.
Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) is currently receiving renewal application documents. If you were not able to attend one of the Program Approval training sessions held last spring, contact Tim Barrett to arrange for an individual meeting to discuss the process and documentation needed.
MDE has a Program Amendment process for submitting any program changes which occur during the years when your program is not due for program approval renewal. The process allows you to note changes in your program teaching staff, CTE courses offered, and/or the person to serve as the contact for program information. Use this process if any of these changes take place in your program. You will find two options to submit an amendment on the CTE Program Approval webpage.
Special Trade and Industry Newsletters Posted
An updated version of the scholarship newsletter is posted on the Trade and Industry webpage.
That newsletter as well as the Summer Opportunities newsletter are posted under the Trade and Industry Newsletter Archive.
MDE Guidance Page for Artificial Intelligence (AI)
The Minnesota Department Of Education (MDE) has put together guidance and suggest resources around Artificial Intelligence (AI). There is general information about what is AI and how it works, its history and importance, some considerations about using AI in education, and resources to learn more. You can access the guidance page on the MDE website here.
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Based on International Journal of Technology and Design Education article
New CTE Teacher Program
The CTE Teacher Induction Program (TIP) was developed as a professional development opportunity for early-career teachers in career and technical education to support their development, efficacy, success, resilience, and retention. Application is limited. Check out the New Teacher page at the Minnesota Department Of Education (MDE) website for more information.
Trade and Industry Professional Development
A number of professional development opportunities are available this year for Trade and Industry teachers. Check out the ones that can best help you and your program. Also, feel free to suggest further topics for discussion. Send any ideas to Tim Barrett (tim.barrett@state.mn.us)
Grill Tim - Trade and Industry Question-and-Answer Sessions
This fall, there are specific Q and A sessions about the most pressing topics for Trade and Industry.
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Perkins Funding and Equipment Requests - September 23, 2025
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Program Approval - September 29, 2025
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CTE Licenses - October 7, 2025
All sessions will take place from 3 to 4 p.m. Additional Topics may be added throughout the year.
Can’t attend? Contact Tim Barrett to set up meeting to discuss topics.
You can find more information and how to register or join these events through the Trade and Industry Professional Development Calendar on the Trade and Industry webpage.
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Trade and Industry Scholarships
For a list of available Trade and Industry scholarships, please check out the archived special newsletter Trade and Industry Scholarships on the Trade and Industry webpage.
Drone License Scholarship
The Elevate Scholarship is an industry-wide initiative to help students gain a remote pilot license. The scholarship provides direct financial assistance to students pursuing relevant programs at trade schools, universities, and even select high school programs with industry backing. Go to the Elevate website for more information and to apply.
Minnesota FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) Team Grants
Looking for funding for your For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) Tech Challenge team? Check out the grants available on the High Tech Kids Team Funding page. There is also Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) Funding! If your FTC team has at least one high school participant, check out the Minnesota FTC Team DEED Grants. There are grants for new/rookie teams as well as ways that current teams can earn money.
ZOOMS STEM Design Challenge from the Minnesota Zoo
If you are a grade 3-12 teacher looking for ways to engage your students in authentic integrated STEM, join the ZOOMS STEM Design Challenge! Participation is free!
Registered teachers will receive access to a free Zoo training (virtual or in person), design challenge supporting curriculum resources for both in person and digital learning, and ongoing implementation support throughout the school year from Zoo education staff. Deadline to register is Friday, November 14, 2025.
In Person Training at the Minnesota Zoo
Thursday, September 25, 2025 from 9 a.m.-3 p.m.
To register, go to the Minnesota Zoo website.
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StellarXplorers STEM Program
The StellarXplorers National Space Design Competition is a fun, hands-on competition that is inspiring our nation’s youth to explore education and careers in space, aviation, and other STEM disciplines. To learn more about how to get involved, visit the StellarXplorers website. Send any questions to info@stellarxplorers.org.
Women in Trucking Foundation Fall Scholarships
The Women In Trucking Foundation is now accepting applications for the Fall 2025 scholarship cycle. Any female who will be attending a training facility for the purpose of advancing their career in the areas of safety, driving, technical, or leadership in the trucking industry is eligible to apply for a scholarship. The application deadline for the Fall cycle is September 16, 2025. For more information and to apply, visit their scholarships web page.
Youth Skills Training (YST) Program
YST supports education and employer partnerships to provide students with related classroom instruction, safety training, industry-recognized credentials and paid work experiences in high-growth and in-demand occupations.
If your school or business is interested in creating a YST program and paid work experiences for 16- and 17-year-old student learners, visit the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry website and contact YST program staff to get started.
NASA TechRise Student Challenge
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) TechRise Student Challenge empowers teams in grades six through 12 to design, build, and launch experiments on NASA-supported test flights. Guided by an educator, student teams affiliated with U.S. public, private, and charter schools can submit ideas for experiments to test on a high-altitude balloon flight with exposure to Earth’s atmosphere and views of our planet. Sixty winning teams will be selected to receive $1,500 to build their experiment, technical support from Future Engineers, and an assigned spot for their experiment on a high-altitude balloon flight. No experience is needed. Entries are due by November 1, 2025.
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MDE Trade and Industry Page
Check out the webpage at the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) for Trade and Industry for the most recent information about the various topics concerning CTE program areas of construction, manufacturing, transportation and communications technology.
The Minnesota Century Program Videos
The Minnesota Century program is the result of The Rural Career and Technical Education Consortium Grant that was awarded to 38 northwestern Minnesota school districts in 2020. The funding supported the purchase of computer numerical control (CNC) equipment and continues to support instructor training and professional development for computer-aided drafting (CAD) and design software. One of the resources developed was a series of videos around a Nightstand Project which introduce students to all the basics of woodworking. You can check out the videos and more at the program website.
IT Exploration (ITX) Computer Science curriculum
IT Exploration is a curriculum built to support teachers by providing them with a free introductory Information Technology curriculum. In partnership with STEM Fuse, IT Exploration is supported and placed in their Educate platform. By using STEM Fuse and their Educate platform, teachers have access to all the curriculum and are free to use it however necessary. The best part is that teachers can easily integrate the curriculum into their preferred platforms, such as Canva and Google Classroom.
For more information about IT Exploration, visit the Minnesota State IT Center of Excellence website. Contact Janice Aanenson with any questions.
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Aerospace Classroom Resources for Teachers
The Aerospace.org team has developed STEM resources for teaching space in the classroom including slide packages, video, student worksheets and lesson plans on a variety of topics. You can download resources from their Teacher Resource page.
Empowering Educators to Teach Cybersecurity
CYBER.ORG's goal is to empower educators as they prepare the next generation to succeed in the cyber workforce of tomorrow. They provide no cost cybersecurity resources for K-12 educators looking to bring foundational and technical cybersecurity knowledge and skills to students in the U.S. The CYBER.ORG Range is a no-cost, safe, virtual environment to practice cybersecurity skills that nicely compliments our content. They also have a Cyber.Org Kahoot webpage with different cybersecurity-focused games.
AI and the Workforce
AI and You, a nonprofit organization educating marginalized communities about artificial intelligence, has added a new “AI and The Workforce” section to their website. This innovative space is dedicated to exploring how artificial intelligence is reshaping the landscape of employment, skills, and career development.
Check Out These Additional Career Exploration or Curriculum Resources:
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Want to let folks know about a great project or new program or initiative? Know of a great resource or professional development opportunity you would like to share? Have a burning question that needs answering?
Let me know about it so I can include it in an upcoming newsletter. If you have images that go with the information, please send it along to Tim Barrett (tim.barrett@state.mn.us).
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Professional Organizations:
- International Technology and Engineering Education Association (ITEEA) – Find more information at the ITEEA website.
- Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) – Learn more at the ACTE website.
Minnesota-Based Partner Organizations:
- Midwest Teachers of Transportation and Industrial Areas (MTTIA) – Sign up to join at the MTTIA website.
- Minnesota Technology and Engineering Education Association (MTEEA) – Get more information at the MTEEA website.
- Minnesota chapter of the Computer Science Teacher Association (CSTA MN) – Get more information at the CSTA MN website.
- SkillsUSA Minnesota – For more information, visit the Minnesota chapter of SkillsUSA at the SkillsUSA Minnesota website.
- Minnesota Association of Career and Technical Administrators (MACTA) – Check out how MACTA helps support CTE on the MACTA website.
Minnesota State’s Centers of Excellence
Explore the Minnesota State Centers of Excellence.
Labor Market Infographics
This page has links to a number of helpful infographics that provide key data to parents concerning the value of CTE career pathways.
RealTime Talent Minnesota Career and Technical Education Pathway Reports
These labor market reports and corresponding presentations provide future trends in workforce needs by regions of Minnesota.
Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) Regional Labor Market Profiles
Downloadable information about jobs/careers most needed per state region.
Career Program Advisory Committee Handbook
This handbook was developed to help build and sustain a strong and active advisory committee.
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