WA-ACTE 2026 Summer Conference

Give vocabulary the boost it deserves! This session features a collection of fun, effective, and hands-on vocabulary activities designed to help students internalize essential terms in personal finance, marketing, entrepreneurship, and more. Participants will experience individual tasks, partner activities, and team-based challenges that promote active learning, reinforce key concepts, and support long-term retention. Walk away with ready-to-use tools and ideas to make vocabulary instruction more engaging, collaborative, and impactful—no flashcards required.

In today’s consumer-driven world, students are constantly encouraged to spend but rarely taught how to make wise financial decisions. This interactive session equips middle school CTE teachers with ready-to-use activities that introduce essential money concepts through real-world scenarios which can be integrated into exploratory or life-skills courses. Participants will walk away with practical tools and strategies to help students build a strong foundation for financial responsibility long before their first paycheck.

What happened in Olympia this year, and where do we go next? Join us for an update on WA-ACTE’s legislative focus and recent policy outcomes impacting CTE. Following the brief overview, participants will engage in a feedback session to share local needs, identify policy barriers, and help establish WA-ACTE’s advocacy goals for the upcoming legislative session. Your input is vital in shaping our platform in Olympia!

Managing CTE goes beyond compliance—it empowers communities. By keeping students as the focal point, we seamlessly guide them from classroom to career. Discover how WA districts are strengthening their communities by: Validating skills with 60+ OSPI-approved IRCs valued by local and national employers. Automating Work-Based Learning (WBL) tracking, eSignatures, and employer matching. Connecting education to industry to build robust local talent pipelines. Using aptitude data to help students build high-integrity, purpose-driven pathways.

Want to boost CTE enrollment, align student talents with local workforce needs, build meaningful HSBPs alongside the state platform, and guide students from education to career? Discover how districts do just that by: Using performance-based aptitudes, not just self-reported surveys. Matching students to best-fit careers to drive CTE enrollment. Delivering 60+ OSPI-approved IRCs for Perkins and Grad Pathways Easily track Work-Based Learning. Connecting with local employers to build a thriving workforce. We’ll explore strategies that benefit everyone: empowering students, saving educators time, and providing local employers with certified, entry-ready talent. CTE Directors & Teachers, WBL Coordinators, School Counselors, HSBP/Graduation Pathway Coordinators, District Administrators, Post-Secondary Partners, Local Employers, Economic Development & Chamber Members, and any educator focused on building strong community talent pipelines.

Degrees alone are no longer enough to prepare students for today’s workforce. With 92% of U.S. jobs requiring mastery of digital skills—including Adobe Suite, Microsoft Office, Google Docs, cybersecurity, web development, and coding—it’s essential to equip students with tools that ensure their success and give them a competitive edge. Alarmingly, over one-third of college graduates enter the job market without these critical competencies. Join this session to explore how stackable, industry-recognized, and proficiency-based certifications can bridge this critical skills gap. Learn actionable strategies to empower learners to validate and demonstrate their expertise in essential digital competencies, setting them up for success in higher education and their careers. During the session, you will learn the role of digital skills in today’s workforce, discover the benefits of proficiency-based certifications and how they validate skill sets, and gain insights into implementing stackable, industry-recognized certifications in your educational program. You’ll walk away with practical tips for integrating certifications into your curriculum, plus resources and examples to help revolutionize college and career readiness in your classrooms. Don’t miss this opportunity to transform how you prepare students for the demands of the digital age! This will be of interest to K-12 teachers, school leaders, district leaders, education technology leaders, and career and technical education staff.

This session is for people exploring starting FBLA to veteran FBLA advisors. I will cover important dates, updates, and timelines for setting up a great 2026-27 FBLA year. I will also incorporate an Officer Training guideline that I use with my chapter officers as well as an event/activities schedule to help advisers make FBLA about more than competing, but a true leadership experience. Come to get some ideas as well as hopefully share ideas that will grow our FBLA team.

A powerful way to boost program recruitment and club involvement is by hosting STEM events and camps for middle and elementary students. This interactive session is designed as a “get one, share one” experience. I will share 10+ engaging, ready-to-use STEM activities for CS, IT, Cyber Security, and Robotics. Participants will be encouraged to contribute their own ideas. Expect a hands-on session—bring a computer, your creativity, and any STEM tools or activities you’re willing to share. Leave with practical ideas you can implement right away.

Financial literacy lessons don’t have to be dry and boring—discover the Fed’s free interactive resources for personal finance, including hands-on lessons, videos and online modules, podcasts, infographics and more. Participate in two hands-on lessons on entrepreneurship and saving and investing and learn where to access free curricula for teaching financial literacy topics. All attendees will receive a set of ten personal finance infographic posters.