2024-25 CTE-Perkins Office Hours
Every Wednesday 7:00am - 4:00 pm
One of our CTE Staff will be available on Zoom during office hours. You can hop on for help with Montana Career Pathways, Course Codes, Carl Perkins, Reserve Grant, Fall Data Collection, End of Year Data Collection, and more.
This is a great time to connect with our CTE Specialists- no appointment needed- just click the link above!
Billings, MT, September 22-23, 2024 – Nearly two hundred members and advisers from all over the state attended the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) 2024 Fall Leadership Rally at the Billings Hotel and Convention Center in Billings, MT September 22-23, 2024.
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The Rally drew over 180 members, advisers, and supporters from across the state with opportunities for personal development, career exploration, and community service. The event was made possible through partnerships with the Montana Office of Public Instruction, the Montana Financial Education Coalition, Montana Beef Council, Montana Pork Producers,
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Olivelle, the Montana Department of Transportation, and Zero to Five Montana. Throughout the Rally, attendees participated in a variety of activities, including tracks for New Leaders, Chapter/District Leaders, and State Outreach Project Leaders. The keynote speaker was Crissy Lauterbach, of Contact Learning, who also trained the Chapter/District Officers at the Rally.
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Brooklyn Gross, of FCCLA’s Leadership Training Team, led the New Leader track, and Nicole Wanago, Ph.D., led the State Outreach Project track. Advisers in attendance learned of recent updates and networked to learn from each other during adviser round table presentations and panel discussions.
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The 2024-25 State Executive Council led many of the Rally general sessions, as well as presenting round table sessions to share the many FCCLA opportunities with members.
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Each year, Montana FCCLA selects an area of focus for their State Outreach Project (SOP). The 2024-25 SOP is Families First, a program designed to help youth understand strategies for building stronger families, and then develop outreach projects to share what they have learned within their communities.
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While at the Rally, attendees learned of opportunities for participation within the SOP, including chapter grants to support projects, funded by a grant from the Gianforte Family Foundation and state-level project awards, supported by Kampgrounds of America (KOA). A Platinum Sponsor of this year’s SOP is Zero to Five Montana, supporting the Families First curriculum for chapters. Beth Branam from Zero to Five, met with attendees to promote the employment opportunities currently available in the field of early childhood education.
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The group also heard from Teal Whitaker, the Statewide Outreach Coordinator for the Treasure State Foundation, regarding Montana FCCLA’s partnership with the Dolly Parton Imagination Library. Both groups are working collaboratively this year to increase the number of families enrolled in this program which promotes childhood literacy by sending free books to all Montana children under the age of five. A longtime partner with Montana FCCLA is the Montana Department of Transportation, which is again sponsoring the Vision Zero grant program, funding local traffic safety projects led by chapters.
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Sheila Cozzie shared program updates and encouraged all chapters to explore projects that can make a difference locally while keeping roads safer all across the state. Chapters in attendance also received the updated Montana FCCLA Guidebook to Vision Zero, a toolkit designed to support local chapters as they develop and implement outreach projects.
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Additional activities for conference attendees Included a game night, teambuilding and networking opportunities, and the development of leadership, communication, and collaboration skills, all necessary for success in the workplace. Many generous partnerships helped to support this conference.
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Montana Zero to Five was a Platinum-level SOP/Conference sponsor, and Gold-level sponsors included Olivelle, the Montana Financial Education Coalition. The Montana Beef Council provided support at the silver-level, and the Montana Pork Producers supported the rally at the bronze level. State Outreach Project partners include the Montana Department of Transportation, the Gianforte Family Foundation, and Kampgrounds of America (KOA).
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Those in attendance at SLC exemplified Rally’s conference theme, “Dream to Achieve” and shared how they utilize the skills, experiences, and knowledge gained through FCCLA to make a difference in their families, careers, and communities.
About FCCLA
Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) is a dynamic and effective student-led nation-based organization supporting youth
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on their journey to become the leaders of tomorrow and helping them address important personal, family, work, and societal issues through Family and Consumer Sciences education. FCCLA has over 240,000 members and more than 4,900 chapters from 47 state associations and Puerto Rico.
FCCLA: The Ultimate Leadership Experience is unique among youth organizations because its programs are planned and run by members. It is the only career and technical intracurricular student organization with a central focus on careers that support families. Participation in national FCCLA programs and chapter activities aids members in becoming strong leaders in their families, careers, and communities.
Business Professionals of America, Montana Association held their Fall Leadership Summit 2024 on October 6 and 7 at Fairmont Hot Springs.
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Two hundred thirty-six student members, 59 advisors, and 14 chaperones/guests from throughout Montana attended this year's conference. The theme of this year’s event was BPA: Lights, Camera, Action.
Conference highlights included members from business and industry who provided leadership development for the student members and offered engaging sessions for Montana BPA advisors in attendance.
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Workshops presenters included: Patrick Schultz, National BPA; Tiffany Youngren, OMH Agency; Marcie Reuer and Jake Lile, MSU; Dax Schieffer, Montana Council on Economic Education, Anna Sponheim and the Montana BPA State Officer Team.
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During the conference, students were encouraged to participate in Shark Tank BPA Edition. BPA Students who entered and how they placed:
First Place: Joliet High School: Cloee Blain, Adelynn Urenda, Jack Cline, and Adin Matthes 2nd place: Helena Capital: McKenzey Heppner, Brookly Haab, Ryan Fuller, and Josephine Casey
3rd Place: Superior High School: Brydon Drey, Abigail Wheeler, Gage Horn, and Trina Azure. Other presenters were from Plentywood (two) Roberts, Lambert, and Conrad High Schools.
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Shark Tank Judges were Beth Petro, Reach Higher Montana; James Easton, Montana Chamber of Commerce Foundation;
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Tiffany Youngren, OMH Agency; Marcie Reuer and Jake Lile, MSU; Patrick Schultz, National BPA; Heather Schultz, National BPA; Eric Swenson, UM Western and Anna Sponheim.
Scholarship money was awarded to winners.
BPA also held its annual Biz Bowl. This year’s winner was St. Regis High School BPA.
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Team members included: This year’s Fall Leadership Summit activities were sponsored in part by the Montana Financial Education Coalition MFEC and Reach Higher Montana.
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- expands personalized career & technical education opportunities for middle and high school students;
- reduces out-of-pocket costs for students and families in support of a student's post-secondary success;
- empowers students to actively engage in forming post-secondary success that aligns with their individual interests, passions, strengths, needs, and culture; and
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- authorizes elected school boards to use advanced opportunity aid to invest in Montana students by supporting individualized pathways for career and post-secondary.
The submission window for FY 2026 new applications and annual reports will open Monday, December 2, 2024, at 8am.
On September 30, the Helena Chamber of Commerce, Helena School District, and different local construction businesses created an environment for students to get hands-on experience in construction fields.
Diggers Days was an all-day event for around 150 high school students in Helena and East Helena. The students are divided into groups and spend an hour at each station. Stations include driving heavy machinery, laying pavers, and framing.
Grant Application Period
August 15th, 2024 - February 1st, 2025
Reviews will occur as applications are submitted until all money is awarded
- Foster innovation through the identification and promotion of promising and proven career and technical education programs, practices, and strategies, which may include programs, practices, and strategies that prepare individuals for nontraditional fields; or
- To create career awareness, recruit students to a CTE Secondary Program of Study or promote the development, implementation, and adoption of programs of study or career pathways aligned with state-identified high-skill, high-wage, or in-demand occupations or industries in the middle grades.
Eligibility
High School Awards: High school districts that receive less than $15,000 in Perkins funding Schools must have completed the Perkins Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment (CLNA) and E-Grant application for 2024-2025 Grant cycle.
Middle School Awards: Middle School programs will need to apply through their high school district to submit the application. Grants of up to $5,000 each will be available to secondary Perkins-eligible school districts to support CTE work in the middle grades (5-8). Schools must have completed the Perkins Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment (CLNA) and E-Grant application for the 2024-2025 Grant cycle.
LEAs who have been in good standing with their local application funds for two years prior to the current application year. This includes adhering to grant application and reporting deadlines, submitting accurate data reports, and appropriate fiscal supporting documents, adherence to all Perkins V and Civil Rights monitoring.
For more information, please click here.
For questions, please contact:
OPI CTE Unit General Questions
Shannon Boswell, Career Technical and Adult Education Director
Eric Tilleman, Agriculture Education Specialist
Jamie Corley, Health Sciences Education Specialist
Kaitlin Trutzel, Industrial Technology Education Specialist
Vacant, Business Education Specialist
Gayla Randel, Family & Consumer Sciences Education Specialist
The OPI is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to people with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation, require an alternate format, or have questions concerning accessibility, contact the OPI ADA Coordinator, 406-444-3161, opiada@mt.gov, Relay Service: 711.
As you may have noticed there have not been any 2024-2025 Montana Career Pathway Approvals sent to schools or posted on our website currently. This is a result of a few factors, one being the data from Infinite Campus has been delayed in getting to our CTE Specialists to conduct their approval process and two we are looking to revamp the process to be more in alignment with current school year offerings. There will be more information and updates on this as we get through the approval process
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