The New Mexico Public Education Department recently named Milo McMinn as its new Director of College and Career Readiness.
Milo path to finding his career passion began with experiences that we hope for all Career Technical Education (CTE) learners —- career exploration, robust high school CTE classes and work-based learning that led to a decades-long passion for education and providing more opportunities for students.
With an initial interest in law enforcement in high school, Milo did a police chief ride-along in 10th grade “and immediately realized that Law Enforcement was not for me,” he explained. In high school, he took family and consumer science classes and then had the opportunity to intern in a kindergarten classroom, where he discovered his passion for teaching. After receiving his Bachelor of Science in Education and Master of Arts in Curriculum and Instruction through New Mexico State University, he returned to his hometown of Grants, New Mexico to teach American History and coach high school football and tennis.
An offer to serve as a district data analysis coordinator for the Central Consolidated School
district in Shiprock exposed him to the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the
21st Century Act (Perkins V) funding and career pathways. That role led him to take on further leadership roles as founding principal and creator of Bond Wilson Technical Center, an Early College Academy CTE Center that worked to provide dual credit access for students with Navajo Technical University and local industry partners. Milo is passionate about building and expanding career pathways, industry relationships and programs of study across the state. Milo is particularly proud of his work in creating programs and experiences for districts in the state that have large Native populations and hopes to expand program offerings and funding streams to impact rural indigenous communities.
Through Milo’s new role as the State CTE Director, he hopes to expand and support CTE instructors and local leaders to help them leverage CTE to “do cool stuff for kids and create opportunities for engaging and relevant curricula.” His experience as a local administrator will be leveraged to remove barriers for more local education agencies (LEAs) and Native institutions to apply for Perkins V funding. Central to achieving both of these priorities is building more meaningful and trusting stakeholder engagement outside of the state plan process.
Finally, Milo strives for the ‘Land of Enchantment’ to lead the way on workforce and education and workforce innovation through CTE. One potential avenue is through his local and now state management of the Innovation Zone Grant, which funds professional development, guidance and technical assistance, and grant dollars to “re-imagine the high school experience” to include expanded work-based learning, project-based learning and CTE.
Outside of his role as State Director, Milo loves to play tennis with friends and family and be outdoors in New Mexico’s beautiful forests where he loves to camp and hunt each fall. Milo has two sons, an eighth grader, a fourth grader and two twin girls on the way expected in May. He jokes that he is very invested in New Mexico public education “as in four years he will have a senior in high school, a middle schooler, and two little girls in Pre-K.”
Please join us in welcoming Milo to his new role, and to Advance CTE!
Stacy Whitehouse, Communications Manager
