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President’s Message
George Bishop
2022–2023 Virginia ACTE President
July 1, 2022
Dear Colleagues: July 1, 2022, begins a new term for your Virginia Association for Career and Technical Education Board of Directors, and it is my honor and privilege to assume the office of President one more time. The coming months are going to be extremely busy and important as the Association works in conjunction with the Virginia Association of Career and Technical Education Administrators and the Association for Career and Technical Education to conduct the Region II ACTE conference in Virginia Beach. Virginia is the host state for this year’s joint conference conducted by VACTEA, Virginia ACTE, and ACTE. VACTEA members will come in a day ahead of Region II, starting on October 4, 2022. Region II will kick off on Wednesday, October 5th, and the joint conference will end on October 7th. This is a fully in-person conference and Virginia and ACTE needs your participation. Region II encompasses the states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia, along with the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. I am asking each of you to join me in Virginia Beach to prove to the nation that, in both thought and deed, Virginia is the education leader!
This past year, under Laura Smith’s leadership, we were able to conduct a successful Professional Development and Leadership Seminar in Richmond. As is our custom, the PD & LS will occur in January 2023, and conference planning is underway. As important as the ACTE Region II conference will be, the PD & LS in January 2023 is also especially important and extremely necessary. We will be reaching out to Virginia’s state senators and delegates to keep Career and Technical Education at the forefront of education efforts and funding in the Commonwealth. The PD & LS will provide you with the tools necessary to approach your elected officials at the local, state, and national levels with confidence. Additionally, the seminar will supply multiple opportunities for you to hone your skills and experience dynamic presentations sure to generate thought provoking discussions. The Virginia ACTE Board of Directors appreciate and need your aid with this endeavor, so please reach out and volunteer to aid in any way you can.
As you know, the members of the Virginia Association for Career and Technical Education are volunteer educators and administrators who dedicate themselves to keeping the CTE engine running. To that end, the Association has worked diligently for years to gain legislative support so that VERSO – Virginia’s Educational Resource System Online – was functional and up to date. The CTE Resource Center’s new website format is exactly what we envisioned when undertaking the goal of obtaining funding to complete the project. Every resident of Virginia can find something of interest on the website (https://www.cteresource.org/), and I encourage you to navigate the site and provide Mr. Kevin Reilly with feedback.
I would be remiss if I did not mention two people who are not only stalwarts in the education arena but are also near and dear to my own heart. Dr. Brenda Long who served Virginia as an educator and administrator and who has been a mentor to me for the past decade, retired; and, as I hope you are aware, the Virginia ACTE Board hired Ms. Darla Miller to assume the role of Executive Director on August 1, 2022. Dr. Long continued to help the Association, and, despite the trials and tribulations of the COVID years, a successful transition occurred. To both ladies, I owe a personal debt of gratitude for their friendship, their professionalism, and their commitment to serving the educators and students of the Commonwealth of Virginia. I trust you will reach out to them both to offer your gratitude and support for their leadership.
Your leadership is paramount in guiding new educators and new administrators to membership in the Virginia Association for Career and Technical Education and their own division associations. We have not stressed enough the importance of joining our CTE professional associations, but I believe this will be the year we overcome our hesitation and begin the journey to inform our newly minted educators about that professional responsibility. Not only must we hold ourselves and colleagues accountable, but we must also provide our students with educators who lead by example. We must affiliate with our Career and Technical Student Organizations to provide opportunities for our students to experience the regional, state, and national CTSO competitions and conferences, and to live the ideal to which we as Career and Technical Educators aspire: Learning by Doing!
Again, to the Virginia Association for Career and Technical Education Board of Directors and to the Virginia ACTE members, it is an honor and privilege to serve as your President for the July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023, term of office.
Thank you.
George Bishop