2026 K-ACTE Career Tech Summit

HirePaths Founder and Manhattan mom Kristin Brighton will overview the latest national and state data behind why Kansas and the entire United States need to invest heavily in career exploration, starting with students as young as elementary school. She'll also share her personal story as a parent and entrepreneur and overview HirePaths, which offers free, Kansas-based career resources you can easily integrate into your district's classrooms.

Whether you are navigating Work-based Learning experiences for students in your CTE pathways for the first time or if you are a seasoned pro; this session will support looking at sharing best practices, resources, and partnerships as we create these meaningful learning opportunities for our students.

Looking to expand or launch health science pathways in your district? Kansas' Rural Health Transformation Plan is rolling out new funding to help rural high schools add courses and certifications, strengthen instructional capacity, and develop health care pre-apprenticeship models with local employers. Walk away with practical steps, funding details, and partnership strategies you can implement immediately.

What does it take to turn learners into job-ready professionals in today’s construction industry? This session breaks down the blueprint for success—covering curriculum design, experiential learning, employer collaboration, and program scalability—while highlighting how Kansas Career and Technical Education (CTE) pathways can be leveraged to strengthen program alignment and student outcomes. Walk away with actionable strategies to build or enhance a program that delivers skilled, confident, and workforce-ready graduates.

This presentation highlights how KSDE, the Kansas Department of Commerce, Workforce One, Washburn University, and TCALC collaborated to design and launch a youth teaching apprenticeship program. Attendees will learn how cross-agency alignment made it possible to create a sustainable pathway that connects high school students to postsecondary education and the teaching profession.

This session explores how electronic portfolios can transform the Individual Plan of Study into a dynamic, student-driven showcase of growth, achievement, and future readiness.


Discover how electronic portfolios help students document skills, reflect on progress, connect academic learning to career goals, and take ownership of their educational journey. Learn practical strategies for implementation, assessment alignment, and meaningful reflection that moves beyond compliance to true engagement.

Youth Registered Apprenticeship is a recognized Career Preparation Work-Based Learning activity for CTE in Kansas, providing students with meaningful earn-while-you-learn opportunities that can lead directly to full-time employment across industries such as construction, healthcare, education, and manufacturing. Attend this session to learn how the Apprenticeship system works and explore how districts across Kansas are implementing this model, leaving with a clearer understanding of how Youth Apprenticeship can be structured, supported, and expanded within your local context.

Career and Technical Education is at its best when students work on authentic, industry‑driven projects that mirror the real world. A Client‑Connected Project bridges the gap between classroom learning and workplace expectations by engaging students with real business and industry partners who serve as “clients” for meaningful, standards‑aligned work.
This session will guide educators, administrators, and work‑based learning coordinators through the full process of implementing a Client‑Connect model, from identifying and onboarding industry partners, to aligning projects with curriculum and pathway competencies, to managing classroom implementation and assessment. Participants will leave with strategies, resources, and an actionable plan to bring client‑based learning into their own CTE programs.

Discussion of organization ideas and overall expectations for work-based learning class. Presenters will use their knowledge of early childhood labs/WBL; however, any lab course could utilize this information. Organization of portfolios, schedules for lab, partnership with the YMCA/other organizations/colleges, benefits of in-house vs off campus, ideas for in-house/off campus and how it would look for different classes.

This session will spotlight Kansas’s pilot Youth Teacher Apprenticeship Program, implemented during the 2025–26 school year by Topeka Public Schools, Spring Hill Public Schools, and Liberal Public Schools. Designed as a “grow your own” strategy, the program blends paid, work-based learning within the teacher/training CTE pathway with intentional access to dual college credit, creating an early and sustainable pipeline for students interested in becoming educators.


Moderated by Joel Gillaspie of the Kansas State Department of Education, who oversees the program statewide, this panel discussion will feature district leaders Laura Nichols (Topeka), Leah Good (Spring Hill), and Tasha Ebeling (Liberal). Each panelist will share their district’s unique approach to designing and implementing the pilot, including partnerships, scheduling, student supports, and lessons learned during the first year of operation.


Attendees will gain practical insights into how districts of varying sizes and contexts are leveraging youth apprenticeships to strengthen educator pipelines, support student career exploration, and align CTE, higher education, and workforce goals in meaningful ways.

Students are asked to walk into locations they are not familiar with, work with people they don't know, and learn from those experiences.  At the end of this session, participants will get a gift from the KHSIA, as well as:


1.  Examine issues that students could encounter on the way to and from a work-based learning experience and how to mitigate those risks to them and your program.
2.  Examine issues within the work-based learning experience that a student may need to deal with and how to mitigate those risks.
3.  Explore how to improve a student's work-based learning experiences by addressing how to get the most out of their learning.  

Discover how artificial intelligence can elevate learning in the CTE classroom using the IAVES framework—Instruction, Assessment, Visibility, Engagement, and Support. This session showcases practical applications of AI in CTE classrooms, adaptive teaching tools, and AI‑powered project work to strengthen technical and academic skills. Participants will explore how AI enhances instructional planning, provides real‑time assessment insights, increases visibility into student progress, and boosts engagement through personalized learning. Attendees will leave with actionable strategies aligned to the IAVES model that can be implemented across any CTE pathway to better prepare students for an AI‑driven workforce. 

Industry-recognized credentials are becoming increasingly important in Career and Technical Education programs as schools work to better prepare students for employment after graduation. This session will explore the value of the OSHA 10-Hour safety credential as a foundational certification for students entering a wide range of career pathways.


Participants will learn how OSHA 10 helps students develop a strong understanding of workplace safety while also reinforcing professional habits that employers expect. The session will highlight how safety training supports workforce readiness, increases student confidence, and provides students with a credential that is recognized across multiple industries including construction, manufacturing, healthcare, and logistics.


Attendees will leave with practical ideas for implementing OSHA 10 within their programs and strategies for connecting safety training to broader workforce preparation goals.