Every February, the CTE community celebrates CTE Month® to raise awareness of the role that CTE has in readying learners for college and career success. CTE Month is also a time to recognize and celebrate the achievements and accomplishments of our CTE partners at the local, state and national level. CTE Month is supported by a variety of CTE groups and organized by the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE).

How Can I Raise Awareness for CTE Month?

While national CTE groups such as Advance CTE, ACTE, and Career and Technical Student Organizations will publicize CTE Month, this is also a chance to raise awareness of your own work and engage all of your stakeholders in the CTE conversation, from students to policymakers.

Below are listed activities from ACTE:

• Participate in the 2021-2022 CTE Month-NASA HUNCH Student Video Challenge: How Can Space Exploration Solve Climate Change?
• Host a school visit and invite members of your local community to learn about your school’s strong CTE programs firsthand
• Engage your policymakers and the media to encourage them to attend events and tell you CTE story, or use social media to do the same
• Work with business and industry leaders to ensure they understand the role CTE plays in readying their future workforce
• Purchase pens, pencils, lanyards and other CTE Month Merchandise to use at events or at your school
• Download our CTE Month logo for use with any print or digital outreach

Please note, the “CTE Month” or “Career and Technical Education Month” must be followed by the trademark sign (®) the first time it appears in a document or visual presentation.

Use the Right Messages

Despite our best efforts, we don’t always speak about CTE in the way that most resonates with students and parents/guardians. Be sure that you’re communicating with these two important audiences by checking out our research updated in 2021 on the messages that students and parents want to hear, Dos and Dont’s for using the messages, and a guide on how you can put this research into action. Use graphics in your social media with compelling research data.

Celebrate!

Recognize those in your community, whether it’s high-achieving CTE learners, exemplary educators, or impactful partners that have a positive influence in CTE by celebrating their accomplishments through awards programs.

Recognize CTE at the State Level

Engage policymakers in the conversation by encouraging them to designate February as CTE month. Use a sample proclamation created by ACTE.

Involve Your Partners

The Career Technical Education (CTE) community encompasses all the people that work to make your CTE program – whether it’s at the local, state or national level – great, including education, community, and business partners. Encourage them to advocate for CTE to their own networks, and invite partners to participate in celebratory events or site visits. Advance CTE’s Engaging Policymakers page provides a variety of resources and fact sheets.

Coordinate

Once you’ve got all partners on board, it’s crucial to coordinate messaging among all who will help to promote CTE during the month. Supply partners with sample social media posts, templates and website copy to be sure all partners are messaging under a common theme. This will ensure all stakeholders are using proven, learner-centered messaging. Consider creating a state-wide social media calendar and promotional toolkit, like South Carolina and North Dakota organized. Also, consider creating a CTE Month communications plan or advocacy plan for local districts and schools like Alabama and Arizona did in 2021.

Engage Employers

Contact local employers and businesses that aren’t yet familiar with your CTE program and invite them to school visits to showcase high-quality CTE in action or career fairs with already engaged employers. Use Advance CTE’s fact sheet that has key statistics and findings from the employer engagement research and this Core Messages document that provides top messages for employers about CTE’s impact with supporting data.

Join the Conversation

CTE Month is celebrated nationwide, including on social media. Join in on LinkedIn, upload photos of your events, feature student work, and engage in discussion with CTE advocates from across the country using the #CTEMonth hashtag. Be sure to tag us too!

Get the word out!

Let the local media know what’s happening and invite them to your planned awards ceremonies, career fairs or school visits highlighting innovative CTE. Get some tips on how to engage key audiences here. Also, let us know how you’re planning to celebrate the month by emailing Stacy Whitehouse at [email protected].