2026 K-ACTE Career Tech Summit

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.   

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.

Including culture in health care is a teaching mindset that creates a positive and inclusive learning environment that includes students' culture allowing them to lean into their learning. You will receive lessons and visuals to take back to your classroom. 

Learn about HOSA as an international and state level organization, how to start a chapter, learn how HOSA can impact and benefit your health science classroom, and more! 

Session Overview
 
 This interactive presentation will introduce participants to the University of Kansas School of Health Professions and the U-CHaMP program. The session is designed to increase awareness of health professions degree programs, highlight career pathways in healthcare, and actively engage participants through a hands-on career exploration activity.
 
 Participants will gain a better understanding of the variety of health professions careers available, the educational pathways required, and how U-CHaMP supports students pursuing careers in healthcare.
 

 Learning Objectives
 
 By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
 1. Describe the mission and goals of U-CHaMP and its role in supporting students interested in health professions.
 2. Identify degree programs offered through the KU School of Health Professions.
 3. Connect healthcare careers to real-world patient cases, job responsibilities, and required education.
 4. Actively explore health professions careers through an interactive matching activity.
 

 Presentation Format & Time Breakdown
 
 1. Welcome & Introduction (5 minutes)
 • Presenter introduction
 • Overview of session objectives

 
 2. Overview of U-CHaMP (10 minutes)
 • Mission and purpose of U-CHaMP
• How U-CHaMP prepares students for professional health programs
 
 3. KU School of Health Professions Overview (10 minutes)
 • Overview of the School of Health Professions
 • Introduction to select degree programs and career outcomes
 

 4. Interactive Career Exploration Activity (10–12 minutes)
 Participants will work individually or in small groups using a set of five cards:
 • Card 1: Healthcare career
 • Card 2: Job description
 • Card 3: Patient case
 • Card 4: Diagnosis
 • Card 5: Interesting fact about the career
• Card 6: Degree required
 
 Participants will match the cards correctly, encouraging critical thinking and discussion around how healthcare professionals work with patients and within care teams.
 
 5. Wrap-Up & Q&A (3–5 minutes)
 • Group discussion and reflections
 • Questions and next steps for students interested in health professions

This session provides an overview of recent updates to STEM and Health Science pathways, including alignment to industry needs and emerging occupations. Participants will learn about key revisions, rationale, and general pathway information.

Advisory boards are required for most CTE programs—but too often they function as compliance checkboxes rather than strategic workforce partners. This session will explore how secondary and postsecondary CTE leaders can transform advisory boards from routine meetings into meaningful collaborations that drive program innovation, strengthen workforce alignment, and create direct student opportunities.
 
Drawing from practical experience in rural community college CTE leadership and high school level CTE programs, participants will learn how to recruit the right members, structure high-impact meetings, leverage labor market data, and turn advisory conversations into actionable outcomes. The session will provide ready-to-use strategies, templates, and implementation ideas that can be adapted to both high school and community college programs.
 
If your advisory board feels stagnant—or if you're ready to elevate it to the next level—this session will provide practical, replicable tools to make it happen.
 

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.