News from AFT Career and Technical Education

Current Issue - January 2026

Welcome to our new AFT Career and Technical Education Newsletter! This space is dedicated to empowering AFT CTE educators with the latest events, innovative toolkits, and invaluable resources to enhance the teaching journey. Whether you're looking for professional development opportunities, new teaching strategies or the latest industry trends, you'll find them here. We promise to keep these newsletters short but informative

This month, we highlight Sara Casto as the AFT CTE educator of the month. Her amazing work as an agriculture teacher using the three-circle model— classroom, leadership and experiential learning—teaches students not just farm skills, but also life skills. Learn more about Casto’s work in the AFT Voices article “Future Farmers, Future Leaders.”

What’s happening with CTE:

On Jan. 21, AFT President Randi Weingarten participated in a news conference with governors and industry leaders to announce SmartStart, a skills-based high school curriculum framework that integrates academic learning with practical exposure to the technologies, tools and processes used in today’s industrial environments; it will prepare students both for entry-level roles and for continued education and training pathways. SmartStart aims to prepare 1 million young people for future-focused manufacturing and supply-chain jobs by 2035. For more information, contact Beth Antunez,

The AFT would like to highlight the achievements of these CTE teachers:

·Mike Brix, work-based learning instructor at Woodruff Center in Peoria, Ill., received a grant from the River City Construction Foundation to purchase equipment for his classroom.

·Paula Wathan, health teacher at Miami Valley Career Technology Center in Englewood, Ohio, was awarded the Treadwell Credit Union Golden Apple Award.

GW Design for Learning offers free monthly webinars to create learning experiences that are purposeful, inclusive and future-ready. It will provide lesson planning and curriculum design ideas for the CTE classroom. This month’s webinar is “Understanding by Design: Backward Planning for Meaningful Learning.” Register to attend here.

February is CTE Month! To help you prepare, check out these toolkits to use with students in your classroom: ACTE CTE Month Toolkit and Edge Factor Toolkit

Free CTE Tool—Tiggbee enables every student in your school district to connect with inspiring role models, guest speakers and businesses in career pathways. It provides weekly, five-minute videos and comprehensive activities for students highlighting an individual career. The tool is free for students and teachers; learn more about it here.

Switch Vehicles Inc. offers classroom products and training to help students learn hands-on electric vehicle (EV) education programs. The company also professional development and curriculum for teachers that focuses on blending project-based learning with real-world, STEM-based skills and industry-relevant experience. Explore EV resources for your school: Electric Vehicle for Education Official Training Resources.

Save the dates for SkillsUSA’s National Leadership and Skills Conference in Atlanta from June 1-5. This conference celebrates the accomplishments of individuals preparing for careers in trade, technical and skilled service occupations. Students will showcase their talents and skills on the national level.

Each month, we’re committed to recognizing the invaluable contributions of CTE educators. We would love to uplift an AFT CTE educator in this newsletter. Nominate someone here. Thank you for reading the AFT Career and Technical Education Newsletter. If you enjoyed this edition and would like to stay updated with our latest news and resources, please click here to subscribe. We appreciate your support and look forward to connecting with you again next month