AFT logo (reads AFT: Education, Healthcare, Public Services)

News from AFT CTE | July 2026

Welcome to our 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.

CTE Highlights at the AFT Convention


 

 

Training Pittsburgh’s next generation of responders

At the AFT convention in July, instructor Matthew Patrick and rising senior Elijah share how an AFT innovation grant built the emergency response program at Westinghouse Academy in Pittsburgh—putting students into emergency medical technician careers straight out of high school with no college debt.

CTE Builds Essential Life Skills

AFT President Randi Weingarten and Yonkers Federation of Teachers President Samantha Rosado-Ciriello recognized the benefits of CTE for students from Robert Halmi Sr. Academy of Film and Television. They shared stories at the convention of not only acquiring useful skills and knowledge, but also learning more about themselves, discovering new dreams and getting inspired to make a difference in their communities and the world.

 AFT CTE Educator Highlight

 

AFT member Tim Caffe, a math teacher at RioTech, a CTE school in Rio Rancho, N.M., tailors his lesson plans to include math concepts that are applicable to the trades.  

 

Resources

Share My Lesson: Grant Funding 101 for Educators: Building Confidence to Seek School Grants

"Grant funding" might seem like a magical unicorn: a gift of money for your school, hard to find and catch, and requiring special technical skills. But is that really true? In this session, Partners for Rural Impact's Johna Rodgers and Amanda Paveglio discuss what grants are (and aren't), dispel some common myths about grants, and help you get grounded and confident to seek out grant funding for your school. Watch on demand now here.

 

 

NASA TechRise Student Challenge

The NASA TechRise Student Challenge, opening in September, empowers teams of students in grades 6-12 to design, build and launch experiments on flights aboard commercial suborbital vehicles. Guided by an educator, student teams affiliated with U.S. public, private and charter school can submit experiment ideas for flight testing. To learn more, visit the website here.

 

 

Department of Labor Announces Skills Training Grant Program

The Department of Labor has announced the availability of $40 million in grants for skills training programs. The funds will support partnerships between state workforce agencies and employers to develop training programs that align to high-demand industries, such as shipbuilding and advanced manufacturing. Applications are due Aug. 17. To learn more about the grants, visit the Labor Department website here.

 

 
 

CodeVenture  

CodeVenture offers free, game-based coding activities that help students build computational thinking, problem-solving and programming skills. Teachers can access ready-to-use coding challenges and introductory lessons that are engaging for beginners, making it an easy way to introduce computer science concepts into the classroom with minimal preparation.

                       

Upcoming Webinars

Sept. 15 • 5:45 – 7 p.m. EDT

  • National Association of Home Builders: Building CTE and Workforce Partnerships with Local Industry Associations. Register here.

Sept. 29 • 5:45 – 7 p.m. EDT

  • Partners for Rural Impact: Finding Funding That Fits: Choosing the Right Grants for Your School or Classroom

Oct. 13 • 5:45 – 7 p.m. EDT

  • Partners for Rural Impact: Pro Tips for School Grants: Strategies for Funding Your School or Classroom

 

 


 

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.