Celebrate excellence in Career and Technical Education at the K-ACTE Awards Ceremony. This session honors outstanding educators, programs, and industry partners who have made significant contributions to the field. Join us to recognize the achievements of your peers, applaud their dedication, and be inspired by their exemplary work.
Fundraising doesn't have to be complicated. Do it right so that you only have to worry about it once per year. Mr. Larison will share ideas and strategies that have helped his students build a fundraiser that exceeds $70,000 per year in sales and allows the FFA Chapter to give back to the community on a regular basis.
Mr. Larison has taught Agricultural Education and has been an FFA Advisor for over 30 years, with the last 25 years at Riverton High School in Southeast Kansas.
Monday July 20, 2026 10:45am - 11:35am CDT RC 15711190 Quivira Rd, Overland Park, KS 66210
Take the guesswork out of SAE grant applications. In this hands-on session, Ag educators will break down the grant rubric, analyze sample applications, and identify what makes a proposal stand out. Participants will work collaboratively to strengthen ideas, align to scoring criteria, and draft key components of their own application. Leave with practical tools, clearer direction, and a stronger plan for submitting a competitive SAE grant.
ELA Program Manager, Kansas State Department of Education
Mary Lonker has spent 30 years in English Language Arts education, teaching both middle and high school students. She taught 8th grade English as well as over 20 years of high school English, including a decade in AP Language and Composition, and is certified to teach AP Seminar... Read More →
Monday July 20, 2026 1:00pm - 1:50pm CDT RC 18311190 Quivira Rd, Overland Park, KS 66210
NOTE: Participants are encouraged to wear closed toed shoes and bring a water bottle. Highly recommend participants drive to the Horticultural sciences building on campus (it's a good 20 minutes walk from the Reginier Center out to the farm).
Join us for a tour of Johnson County Community College's Open Petal Farm. Tour four acres of specialty crop production, managed under production systems that encourage the biological health of the soil, and fueld by the campus' on site composting project. Open Petal Farm serves as a living laboratory for students in the Sustainable Agriculture Certificate Program to gain practical skills in crop production systems, and soil health practices. Visit the farm website at: https://growinggrowers.org/host-farms/jccc-open-petal-farm/
Campus Farm and Outreach Manager, Johnson County Community College
Claire Zimmermann is the farm manager for Open Petal Farm and an instructor for the Sustainable Agriculture Certificate Program at JCCC. After studying agriculture at Truman State University, she has been working with Kansas City farmers, gardeners and students for over 10 years... Read More →
Monday July 20, 2026 2:00pm - 3:50pm CDT Open Petal FarmN Campus Dr, Overland Park, KS 66210
This session is to help instructor prepared students for completing the weld test connected to Excel in CTE. Attendees will receive some classroom instructions, then conduct the weld test using either GMAW or SMAW. This session is not designed to teach you how to weld but how to help instruct students so that they are prepared for taking the test. Attendees should leave with a good understanding on how to prep material prior to weld, understand hold points, measure and visually inspect welds, prepare material for bend test, conduct bend test, and how to inspect the bend coupons.
