Name: Invited In: A Scalable Model for Connecting High School CTE Students with Postsecondary Education
Start: 2026-09-17T16:30:00-0400
End: 2026-09-17T17:15:00-0400

Invited In: A Scalable Model for Connecting High School CTE Students with Postsecondary Education

Thursday September 17, 2026 4:30pm - 5:15pm EDT

Conference Theater

What would it take to bring high school CTE students into a college-level professional conference - without building a separate event from scratch? This session introduces a replicable model developed at Northern Arizona University, where 64 high school students from 7 Arizona CTE Education Professions programs were integrated into TARIAT, NAU's 26th annual teacher education conference for college students. In its inaugural year, high school students joined NAU education majors for keynotes featuring the 2026 Arizona Teacher of the Year and the 2025 National Teacher of the Year, then moved into their own purposefully designed track: hands-on faculty-led learning center rotations, intentionally mixed small-group lunches with NAU student ambassadors, a guided campus tour, and sessions for academic programs and financial aid. High school teachers networked separately with NAU faculty. All 7 schools committed to returning the following year.
This session is designed for postsecondary CTE faculty, coordinators, and administrators - especially those at community colleges - who want practical strategies for strengthening secondary-postsecondary pathways and building their recruitment pipeline. The model is not limited to teacher education: any CTE program connected to a student-facing professional event can adapt this framework, whether health science, culinary arts, automotive technology, or others.
Presenters share the full planning story - what worked, what they would change, and how to scale. But attendees won't just listen: they'll identify a potential host event from their own institution, then work in small groups to map model components to their own CTE context. Everyone leaves with a ready-to-use planning toolkit including a logistics checklist, customizable agenda template, student ambassador guidance, and a slide deck for building internal buy-in.

Speakers

Alison Conant

Associate Teaching Professor, Northern Arizona University

Dr. Alison Conant, NBCT, holds a doctoral degree in Curriculum and Instruction, emphasizing educating diverse populations and families through critical literacies. With over 20 years as an elementary school teacher in two states, she has traveled extensively, presenting timely educational... Read More →

Nicole Hampton

Associate Teaching Professor, Northern Arizona University

Nicole Hampton is an Associate Teaching Professor at Northern Arizona University's College of Education where she has taught for over 25 years in the Career and Technical Education bachelor’s and master’s programs and also served as the CTE area coordinator for the past 16 years... Read More →

PACE Presentation Slide Deck print speaker notes pdf

RESOURCE Presentation TARIAT pptx

RESOURCE ATA Presentation S26 pptx

RESOURCE CTE teachers Communication Templates docx

RESOURCE Faculty Communication Templates docx

RESOURCE Student Ambassador Communication Templates docx

RESOURCE Agendas 2026 docx

RESOURCE Conference in Conference Planning Toolkit docx

Thursday September 17, 2026 4:30pm - 5:15pm EDT
Conference Theater Hyatt Regency | 2799 Richmond Hwy, Arlington, VA

Concurrent Session