Montana Industrial Technology Education Association

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MITEA at MACTE Conference Bozeman Convention Center - Oct 16th-17th 2025

Montana Industrial Technology Educators Association (MITEA) Ignites Innovation and Celebrates Excellence at 2025 MACTE Fall Institute

BOZEMAN, MT – October 20, 2025 – The Montana Industrial Technology Educators Association (MITEA), a key division of the Montana Association for Career and Technical Education (MACTE), successfully engaged in a dynamic two-day professional development experience at the 2025 Fall Institute in Bozeman. MITEA professionals, who focus on trades and industrial technology, participated in a mix of high-level general sessions, technical workshops, industry tours, and celebratory events.

Deepening Technical Skills and Industry Connection

MITEA members, led by Division President Greg Cejka, focused on strategies to enhance their programs and connect classroom learning to the workforce:

Division Business Meeting: MITEA held its dedicated annual business meeting on Thursday in the Aspen room, a crucial time for discussing division-specific issues, initiatives and future conference planning.
Technical Workshops: Educators benefited from hands-on sessions , including "Measure and Light it Up," presented by Greg Cejka , which focused on improving measuring fluency in students while also creating a tool to teach measurements that educators could take back to the classroom as well as teaching simple residential wiring. They also attended the "Career Opportunities in Construction—What is next?" session, which provided industry-driven resources to grow CTE programs.
Industry Tour Highlight: A major draw on Friday was the offsite tour of Spark R&D, The Splitboard Binding Company. This provided MITEA members with a comprehensive, real-world view of the entire manufacturing and production process in action, including design, prototyping, CNC machining, plastic injection molding, welding, assembly, and shipping. This connection is invaluable for teaching advanced manufacturing concepts and guiding students toward relevant careers.

Conference-Wide Engagement and Recognition

MITEA members fully participated in the general conference agenda, gaining broad CTE perspective and receiving significant recognition:

Keynote Address: Members attended the Opening General Session on Thursday (8:30-10:00) to hear workplace strategist Jeff Butler deliver his keynote, "Building an Effective Multi-Generational Workplace".
CTAE Alignment: All members participated in the critical general session on Thursday (2:00-3:15), "Modern Career Clusters for Montana: Aligning Education and Industry," which detailed the adoption of the New Career Cluster Framework and Montana Career Pathways.
Awards Banquet and Recognition: MITEA had a strong presence at the Montana ACTE Awards Banquet on Thursday evening, celebrating top professionals in the field. MITEA nominees and the awards they were nominated for are detailed below.

The Montana Industrial Technology Educators Association (MITEA) celebrated significant representation across multiple categories at the 2025 Montana ACTE Awards Banquet celebrating the hard work put in by our teachers across the state.

Teacher and Postsecondary Excellence 2025 MACTE - MITEA

Greg Cejka (Helena Middle School) was nominated for Teacher of the Year , an award recognizing the finest middle/secondary CTE teachers who demonstrate innovation, commitment to students, and dedication to improving CTE.
Hunter James (Park High School) was nominated for New Teacher of the Year , which recognizes CTE teachers with 3–5 years’ experience who have made significant contributions toward innovation and shown a professional commitment early in their careers.
Jim LeProwse (Highlands College) was nominated for Postsecondary Professional of the Year. This award honors the finest CTE teachers at the postsecondary level who have demonstrated innovation in the classroom, commitment to their students, and dedication to the improvement of CTE.

Leadership, Administration, and Community Service

Josh McKay (Helena School District) was nominated for Administrator of the Year , an award that recognizes administrative CTE professionals who have demonstrated leadership in ensuring teacher/student success and made contributions to innovative, unique, and effective CTE programs.
Joe Wilkins (Paris Gibson Education Center) was nominated for the ACTE Lifetime Achievement Award , which recognizes CTE professionals for their leadership, innovations, and significant contributions to the field over an extended period of time.
Denise Bordeleau (Butte High School) was nominated for the Carl Perkins Community Service Award. This award recognizes individuals who have used CTE to make a significant impact on their community and demonstrated leadership in programs that promote student involvement in community service.

These nominations highlight MITEA's dedication to professionalism, innovation, and leadership across various roles and career stages within Montana's CTE community.

MITEA at MACTE Conference Billings Convention Center - Oct 17th-18th 2024

During the breakout sessions of the ACTE Conference, MITEA members had the opportunity to tour the new construction of a Laurel school, undertaken by Langlas Construction. This tour was organized by the Montana Contractors Association in collaboration with MITEA leadership.

Langlas provided an insightful tour for our MITEA teachers, during which their employees explained various processes and techniques used in the construction industry. This experience offered a valuable learning opportunity for our educators to observe the diverse methods and construction techniques employed in a new school project.

We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to Langlas for hosting our group. We also benefited from an engaging presentation on Universal Design for Learning (UDL) practices and procedures for the classroom, as well as a highlight presentation on the Inch Board created by Polson ITE teacher Abe Ewing, which was particularly well-received by our teachers, as we all love a bit of competition.

In addition, teachers participated in breakout sessions organized by the Montana Contractors Association and Dick Anderson Construction, both of which offered excellent information and resources for Industrial Technology Education.

Overall, it was a productive couple of days filled with informative sessions, engaging speakers, collaborative group work, and opportunities for career and technical education networking.

Montana ACTE serves as an excellent platform for connecting with fellow CTE educators across the state. I look forward to seeing some of you at the ACTE CareerTech Vision Conference, taking place from December 4th to 7th in San Antonio, TX.

During the breakouts of the ACTE Conference MITEA members had the opportunity to tour the AFFCO- Anaconda Foundry Fabrication Company. At the foot of the Pintlar Range of the Rocky Mountains, in the heart of historic Montana mining country, a tradition of excellence continues. The Tuttle Manufacturing Company opened its factory in the 1880's. Later it was taken over by Copper King, Marcus Daly and his Anaconda Copper Company. Today, it's AFFCO, a proud company, marrying the artistry of days gone by with modern and innovative technological processes.

AFFCO has grown over the years to a company of extraordinary diversity. All, in the singular effort of providing its resource based customers with an incomparable variety of manufactured products and services. Products and services of uncommon quality and workmanship. AFFCO is proud of its heritage and committed to the future.

AFFCO Took the MITEA Teachers on a tour of their facilities and the employees explained different processes and techniques used in their industry. It was a fantastic learning experience for our teachers. A big Shout out to AFFCO for hosting our group.

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