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Virtual 1-hour sessions
Open to ALL Montana CTE Instructors
Career and Technical Education programs jump from managing live lab spaces, tracking certifications, mapping pathways, offering WBL opportunities, and grading many different projects, while providing individualized instruction; your plate is full.
Whether you are stepping into your very first Montana classroom or you are a 25-year veteran looking to refresh your toolkit, the MT CTE Best Practices Series is built for you.
These fast-paced, interactive, one-hour working sessions designed to help solve your classroom headaches, share digital resources, and connect you with peers across the state. In hopes to create a cohort of CTE teachers from different content focuses. Sign up for one, or join us for the whole series!
Webinars Dates & Topics
Sept 2nd, 2026 - CTE Blueprint: Lesson Planning, Unit Structure, & Your Support Network
Sept 17th, 2026 - Control the Chaos: Real-World Classroom Management Tips & Tricks
Sept 29th, 2026 - Rethinking the Gradebook: Purposeful CTE Assessments
Jan 26th, 2027- Rubric Remodel: Designing Performance-Based Grading: Authentic Assessment Design.
Feb 11th, 2027 - The Lab Safety Audit & Protocol Lab Liability & Safety Infrastructure.
March, 3rd, 2027 -The CTE Blueprint: Curriculum Crosswalks, Integration and Realignment.
Please complete all questions below and submit. A registration confirmation will be sent via email after your registration has been processed. Up to nine (5) OPI Renewal Units will be available for attendees if they attend all of the webinars.
Attendance at all webinars is not required but we would love to have you!
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Date: October 14th
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Location: Fairmont Hot Springs
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Time: 11 am - 5 pm
Event Description: The Montana CTE Best Practices In person event is a collaborative, statewide professional development event designed to empower Career and Technical Education instructors to enhance program quality, visibility, and intra-curricular depth. This day moves beyond passive listening into active creation.
Participants will learn directly from a peer-led panel of expert Montana educators sharing proven teaching methodologies and classroom adaptations. In localized working sessions.
Whether you are stepping into your very first Montana classroom or you are a 25-year veteran looking to refresh your toolkit, the MT CTE Best Practices In Person Event is built for you.
Please complete all questions below and submit. A registration confirmation will be sent via email after your registration has been processed. Up to nine (6) OPI Renewal Units will be available for attendees.
Event Schedule:
Welcome & Introductions
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MT CTE Professional Peer Panel - Veteran and mid-career Montana teachers discuss successful instructional shifts, their best-received lesson plans, and lessons learned the hard way
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Montana Career Pathway: School Specific Mapping & Planning - Utilizing OPI’s Approved Pathway guidelines, school teams look at their local course codes and community partnerships to draft or refine a unique, localized program of study.
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Hype your program: The CTE Marketing Lab - Bring your own laptop - A working lab where teachers leave with physical or digital deliverables (e.g., a Canva-based program brochure, a recruitment presentation for middle/high schoolers, or a press-release template a highlighting student projects or WBL).
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Breakout Sessions
- Breaking Down Perkins V & Local Grants
- Bridging the Gap: Localizing Dual Enrollment - Higher-Ed Articulation
- Catching Them Early: The Middle School Pipeline - Recruitment
Pipelines.
- Tech Tools & AI in the CTE Classroom - Modern Instructional
Technology
- Advisory Boards That Actually Work - Community Stakeholder
Engagement.
- The Resource Sharing/Collaboration - Collaborative Resource
Swapping.
Session & Workshop Debrief, Questions & Answers, and closing.
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Dates - October 15-16, 2026
Join Career and Technical Education professionals from across Montana for two days of connection, inspiration, and professional growth at the 2026 Montana ACTE Fall Institute.
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This year’s theme, 406 FUTURES: 40 Years of Empowering Montana Through CTE, celebrates four decades of impact while looking ahead to the future of CTE in our state. Together, we will honor our legacy, elevate our practice, and strengthen the pathways that prepare learners for success.
We are proud to welcome keynote speaker Scott Stone, a nationally recognized leader in agricultural education and CTE. With nearly 30 years of experience as an Agricultural Sciences instructor in Centralia, Missouri, Scott has served as president of both the National Association of Agricultural Educators and the Association for Career and Technical Education. His passion for supporting educators and advancing high-quality programs has made him a sought-after speaker at conferences and professional development events across the country.
Your Montana ACTE Board is already planning a dynamic lineup of engaging workshop sessions and tours designed to support educators at every level and across all CTE pathways.
Location - Fairmont Hot Springs1500 Fairmont Road, Fairmont, MT 59711
Reservations - 1-800-332-3272 Group ID 29663
Rates: Single $107 + fees; Double $122 + fees; Triple $137 + fees; Quad $152 = fees
Room Block Ends September 13, 2026
Additional Lodging Option
Location - The Forge Hotel 100 Union Avenue, Anaconda, MT
Reservations - 1-406-351-4889 - Group ID "Montana ACTE"
Rates: $149 + tax & fees
Room Block Ends September 13, 2026
This dynamic two-day event brings together key partners to strengthen the Montana healthcare talent pipeline through creative solutions and career-connected learning.
Don’t miss keynote speakers Lisa Walden of Good Company Consulting and Hollis Salway of Denver Health! They will discuss generational differences in the workplace and the power of engaging youth and young adults in talent pipelines.
We invite healthcare professionals and providers, higher education staff and faculty, secondary educators, and community partners to join.
Why should healthcare providers attend?
- Discover proven workforce solutions – Learn from healthcare leaders, peers, and partners across Montana about innovative work-based learning strategies that strengthen the healthcare workforce pipeline.
- Expand your talent development strategy – Hear from national and local experts who have successfully engaged youth and young adults in physical and behavioral health careers through effective workforce programs.
- Understand the return on investment – Explore practical approaches for designing high-impact experiences that deliver measurable value for your organization and community.
- Leave with a clear action plan – Gain clarity on legal requirements, Montana opportunities, and next steps for hosting learners and building successful workforce pathways.
What will secondary and post-secondary professionals gain from this conference?
- Build strong healthcare career pathways – Discover strategies to connect students to high-demand healthcare careers.
- Expand work-based learning opportunities – Learn practical approaches for integrating meaningful experiences that benefit students, employers, and your program.
- Stay current on health science workforce trends – Explore emerging industry needs and resources that prepare students for success. Secondary teachers can earn OPI renewal units.
- Build valuable partnerships – Connect with healthcare providers, educators, post-secondary partners, and industry leaders.
This conference is hosted by the Work-based Learning Collaborative in partnership with Montana Primary Care Association.
Districts should start entering Future Ready information for all graduating seniors - as well as for current year students in grades 9, 10, 11 and continuing in grade 12. Industry Recognized Credentials (IRCs) are entered as Assessments, add College Institution, Credit and Credit Type to Dual Credit Courses - and identify students eligible for Transcripted Credit on the Section Student Detail, and enter Concurrent Courses from college transcripts provided by students. There will be additional information on AP and IB Courses and associated test scores available soon! There is a validation report available to assist with Future Ready course reporting and more validations will be coming soon.
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AP Cybersecurity
This a yearlong high school course that introduces students to cybersecurity and aligns with an introductory college-level course. Students learn to identify threats, analyze vulnerabilities, assess risk, and apply defense-in-depth across physical, digital, and data domains, with AI woven throughout. You can view the full course overview here: https://codehs.com/course/ap_cyber/overview [codehs.com]
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AI Curriculum, Certifications, PD, and Tools
- We've built a huge suite of resources, training, and tools to support schools as they adjust to AI. These resources are specifically built for K-12 education with a privacy-first lens. Teachers have full control and visibility over student use. Read more here: https://codehs.com/ai [codehs.com]
 Map Key
Shannon Boswell (Purple) - Career Technical and Adult Education Director
Gayla Randel- South West (Orange) -Family and Consumer Sciences Specialist
Eric Tilleman - North Central (Green) - Agricultural Education Specialist
Tammie Ellington - South Central (Gray) - Health Science Specialist
Kaitlin Trutzel - North West (Blue) - Industrial Technology Education Specialist
Open- Eastern (Magenta) - Business Education Specialist
Montana Colleges & Universities (Gold Stars)
For questions, please contact:
OPI CTE Unit General Questions
Shannon Boswell, Career Technical and Adult Education Director
Eric Tilleman, Agriculture Education Specialist
Tammie Ellington, Health Sciences Education Specialist
Kaitlin Trutzel, Industrial Technology Education Specialist
Open , Business Education Specialist
Gayla Randel, Family & Consumer Sciences Education Specialist
Katie Madsen, Adult Education Director/ High School Equivalency Administrator
Emily Fuller, Adult Education Program 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.
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