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Vail CTE Vail CTE is Technical Skills, Industry Connection, Work Based Learning and Career Development.
🌲🧭Adventure Awaits in Career & Technical Education🏕️🗺️

🔧 Great CTE programs don’t happen in isolation. They’re built through industry connections!Andrada Polytechnic High Scho...
10/09/2026

🔧 Great CTE programs don’t happen in isolation. They’re built through industry connections!

Andrada Polytechnic High School recently brought together 60+ local industry partners for Industry Night, and this is what meaningful collaboration looks like! 🙌

Here’s what makes this event so impactful: it starts with teachers identifying a goal for their program. Maybe they want to expand their technical knowledge, create more hands-on experiences, or better understand current industry trends, challenges, and expectations. From there, they identify the people and companies who can help them get there.

Andrada’s Industry Night brought those connections to life! 🚀

🎓 CTE programs represented included:
🎧 Audio Production
⚙️ Engineering
🐾 Veterinary Assisting
🩺 Medical Assisting
💻 Cybersecurity
📸 Photography
🎬 Video Production
🚗 Automotive Technology
🔧 Auto Collision
💚 Behavioral Health
🏥 Sports Medicine

After a welcome from Principal Geoff Parks, industry partners joined their respective programs for tours and conversations about program goals, technical standards, professional expectations, and opportunities for growth. They shared expertise, exchanged ideas, talked shop, and explored ways to build connections and experiences that students and teachers can continue to build upon.

This is how CTE programs stay relevant, responsive, and connected to the real world. 💡

Industry advisory partnerships help teachers answer the question, “What’s next?” They bring fresh perspectives into the classroom, help programs evolve alongside industry, and create opportunities that better prepare students for the careers ahead.

And the best part? These are our own Tucson-area professionals and business leaders who volunteered their time, knowledge, and experience because they believe in preparing the next generation of talent. ❤️

👏 A special shout-out to Jackie Wolfe for working alongside teachers to make this incredible event happen and bringing more than 60 industry partners through the doors!

Andrada’s Industry Night is a great example of what’s possible when educators and industry work together with a shared purpose.

☀️🔥 The Challenge Was On, but would the sun show up?Our Engineering 3 students from Empire, Mica Mountain, and Andrada c...
10/08/2026

☀️🔥 The Challenge Was On, but would the sun show up?

Our Engineering 3 students from Empire, Mica Mountain, and Andrada came together for the Solar Oven Throwdown to put their engineering skills — and their ovens — to the ultimate test!

The day started with one BIG problem: clouds. ☁️😬

Not exactly ideal conditions when your entire project depends on the sun! But engineers adapt, troubleshoot, and keep going. Eventually, the clouds cleared and the competition was ON! ☀️

Students put their designs to the test, collecting data and seeing how their predictions compared to real-world performance. Along the way, they competed for:

🔥 Hottest Oven
💰 Best Cost-Based Performance
📊 Performance Index

But the best part of the challenge wasn’t measured in degrees or data points.

Students from three different schools had the chance to meet, compete, collaborate, share ideas, and make connections while tackling the same engineering challenge. Everyone walked away with a win. 🙌

And this is just one of the experiences available to our Engineering 3 students, who can elect to take the course for University of Arizona dual enrollment credit for a small additional cost.

Real engineering. Real college credit. Real challenges.
And, thankfully, a little sunshine when we needed it most. ☀️😎 Justin Villard, Andrada Engineering Extraordinaire hosted this annual event and crafted the awards in his engineering lab. Jeff Ofstedahl is our Engineering inspiration teacher at Empire High School and Arthur Boggs led Mica Mountain Engineering. Thank you to the UA College of Engineering.

🚀 110 student leaders. Big plans. An entire year to make them happen.Our annual CTSO Officer Leadership Training brought...
09/23/2026

🚀 110 student leaders. Big plans. An entire year to make them happen.

Our annual CTSO Officer Leadership Training brought CTE students from across Vail School District together to build the year they want for their chapters! 🔥

Pima County School Superintendent Dustin Williams kicked things off with a story that showed how leadership grows. He shared how his journey led him from being a student to teaching in local classrooms, then stepping into leadership. Today, his office supports educators and schools across 17 districts and 70 charter schools through programs and professional development. His path gave our students a powerful reminder: the people learning in a classroom today can one day lead an entire community of educators. 📚

Tucson Electric Power journeyman lineman Sameer Mendez shared a path that also began in high school. Through JTED’s Get Into Energy program, he discovered an opportunity without knowing exactly where it would lead. With patience, diligence and a commitment to keep learning, he continued showing up, earned an internship and ultimately built a rewarding career at TEP. His story reminded students that hard work and persistence can turn an opportunity into a future. ⚡

Then Curt Bertelsen from Pima JTED put our leaders to work. Alongside more than 20 CTE teachers, students mapped out meetings, industry connections, field trips, competitions, community service and career preparation. Some chapters already have their sights set on the national stage! 🏆

That is the power of a Career and Technical Student Organization. In FBLA, FFA, SkillsUSA, HOSA and FCCLA, students take what they learn in their CTE programs and put it into motion. They lead teams, turn ideas into plans, build confidence and find their people along the way. 💪

A huge thank you to Dustin Williams and his team at the Pima County School Superintendent’s Office, Sameer Mendez and Andrea Hengsteler at TEP, and Curt Bertelsen and Pima JTED for investing in our student leaders. We cannot wait to see what these chapters do next!

⚡ All the answers are in the math!Empire High School Engineering students went behind the scenes at Tucson Electric Powe...
09/17/2026

⚡ All the answers are in the math!

Empire High School Engineering students went behind the scenes at Tucson Electric Power to explore how engineering keeps our community powered.

Students toured the power plant and saw two very different methods of power generation. They visited the conventional steam turbine facility and the industrial internal combustion facility, which looked like a giant car engine!

A panel of TEP professionals also introduced students to careers in substation engineering, relay engineering, protection engineering and modeling. Students discovered how many specialized engineers work together to safely and reliably move power from the generating facility to our homes and businesses.

This experience brought C.O.R.E. to life through Careers, Opportunities, Relationships and Experiences. It also proved that when curiosity meets engineering, Adventure Awaits!

A special thank you to our TEP partners Andrea Hengsteler, Alec, Lindsay, Dana, Larry, Josh, Amanda, Alan, Melany, Rick, Kenneth, Joshua, Jesse, Jaime and Chad. We appreciate the time you spent sharing your expertise, your careers and the energy business with our students.

⚡ Powering curiosity. Engineering the future.

FCCLA Early Childhood Education students headed to Senita Valley to help set up their Scholastic Book Fair, and this was...
09/11/2026

FCCLA Early Childhood Education students headed to Senita Valley to help set up their Scholastic Book Fair, and this was so much more than putting books on tables!
Students put their classroom learning into action by:
📖 Organizing books by age, theme, and accessibility
🧩 Using problem-solving skills to create an effective layout
🚶‍♀️ Designing clear, functional pathways and traffic flow
👀 Strategically positioning and securing merchandise for optimal observation and safety
🤝 Creating a setup that allows volunteers to easily step in, understand the system, and take over
This is the kind of hands-on, real-world application that makes learning meaningful! Our ECE students are developing communication, organization, teamwork, critical thinking, problem-solving, and leadership skills — all while contributing to their school community.
Because Early Childhood Education is about so much more than just teaching little people. ❤️ It’s about learning how to create environments, solve problems, collaborate, lead, and make thoughtful decisions that support others.
And, of course… after all that hard work, we had to stop for lunch! 🍕😋
FCCLA ECE: Learning it. Doing it. Living it.

What can the Wild West teach today’s future public safety professionals?Cienega High School Law and Public Safety studen...
09/10/2026

What can the Wild West teach today’s future public safety professionals?

Cienega High School Law and Public Safety students traveled to historic Tombstone to explore the history of law enforcement right here in Southern Arizona.

Tombstone became one of the most recognized settings in American law enforcement history after growing tensions between local lawmen, including the Earp brothers, and a group of outlaws led to the famous 1881 gunfight near the O.K. Corral.

Students visited the site of the gunfight, explored museums, and stepped into a community that still preserves the look and atmosphere of the late 1800s. The experience gave them an opportunity to consider how law enforcement, public order, community expectations, and ideas about justice have evolved over time.

Their teacher, Terrence Hickey, brought his enthusiasm for both law enforcement and history to the experience, sharing perspectives that helped students look beyond the legends and better understand the people, decisions, and circumstances surrounding these historic events.

The trip connected classroom learning with the real history of the profession and gave students a deeper understanding of how the past continues to shape law and public safety today.

A special shout out to 4th Street Deli and Desserts in Benson for preparing the amazing food and desserts that concluded our adventure!

Careers. Opportunities. Relationships. Experiences. That is C.O.R.E. in action.

What kind of engineer do you want to become?At Andrada High School, students do more than learn about engineering. They ...
09/10/2026

What kind of engineer do you want to become?

At Andrada High School, students do more than learn about engineering. They experience it.

From testing airfoil designs in aerospace engineering to battling sumo bots in Engineering 2 and creating Tippy Tap water delivery systems in Engineering 102, each level introduces students to a different side of the engineering world.

As students advance, so do the challenges and opportunities. Level 3 students are even able to earn dual enrollment credit through the University of Arizona.

The goal is to give students a wide variety of hands on experiences so that when it is time to choose their next step, they have a better understanding of the type of engineering they may want to pursue.

Careers. Opportunities. Relationships. Experiences. That is C.O.R.E. in action, and at Andrada, the next adventure is always being engineered.

🌎 WHERE ARE THEY NOW? | From Cienega to Namibia 🐆📸You never know where a CTE adventure might take you…Just ask Sydney Ni...
08/27/2026

🌎 WHERE ARE THEY NOW? | From Cienega to Namibia 🐆📸

You never know where a CTE adventure might take you…

Just ask Sydney Nieto, a former Cienega High School student who participated in both Agriculture and Photography.

Today, Sydney is a sophomore at the University of Wyoming, studying Wildlife & Fisheries Biology & Management—and this summer, her adventure took her all the way to Namibia, where she interned with the Cheetah Conservation Fund. 🐆🌍

And here’s the magic: Sydney’s CTE experiences didn’t just prepare her for one career—they gave her skills she could combine and carry into opportunities she never imagined.

🌱 Agriculture. 📸 Photography. 🐆 Wildlife conservation.

Sometimes, the best adventures begin by exploring more than one path.

Cross-train. Explore. Build your toolbox.

You never know where CTE will take your adventure. ✨

Read Sydney’s internship story:
“Cheetahs, Cameras, and Conservation”

❤️

🔎 Adventure looks a little different at Cienega.What if learning about Law and Public Safety meant stepping into the ro...
08/26/2026

🔎 Adventure looks a little different at Cienega.

What if learning about Law and Public Safety meant stepping into the role of an investigator?

At Cienega High School, Law & Public Safety, an exclusive to Cienega CTE program are getting hands-on experience with the many sides of the field, from conducting field interviews to lifting latent fingerprints and exploring the skills used across law enforcement, public safety, and related careers.

Because exceptional CTE programs don’t just teach students about careers, they give them opportunities to experience them. 🫆

The investigation into Law & Public Safety is underway, and this case is far from closed. 🔎

Led by Terrence Hickey, Cienega’s Law & Public Safety program is giving students a firsthand look at the many career possibilities within this dynamic field.

Building Partnerships. Building Futures. ⚡️When industry partners connect with CTE, everyone benefits. Students gain rea...
08/25/2026

Building Partnerships. Building Futures. ⚡️

When industry partners connect with CTE, everyone benefits. Students gain real-world opportunities, industry professionals can share their knowledge, programs stay connected to workforce needs and sometimes, those partnerships come with generous donations that make hands-on learning possible!

This fall, Tucson Electric Power and VailCTE have connected on several exciting endeavors. Most recently, Andrea Hengsteler, Aaron Porter and Shane Burton from TEP stopped by the Mica Mountain Welding program to donate scrap metal for our future welders to use in training.

A few students had the opportunity to informally connect with Andrea, Aaron and Shane, alongside our own Kyle Bulawa and Mr. Rich. The donated materials will help our intermediate and advanced welding students practice transitioning around a shape and wrapping corners, valuable skills that are best learned hands-on!

Thank you, Andrea, Aaron and Shane, for your time, expertise and generous donation of scrap resources. We look forward to more field trips, classroom connections and opportunities to partner with TEP and industry throughout the District this fall.

The future is bright—and we’re building it together! 🔥⚡️

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Vail, AZ
85641

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+15208792030

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