Aron Schmidt is the director of CTE & HS Curriculum for the Vail Unified School District in Vail, Arizona. Aron’s career began as a welding student and SkillsUSA State officer in high school, then a math teacher in high school and ultimately led to a career as a CTE administrator. During that time, he earned his master’s degree in educational leadership, and he has completed the first two years of his doctoral degree. He has been recognized as one of Tucson, Arizona’s 40 Under 40 professionals, and under his leadership, Vail’s CTE programs have been recognized for numerous local, state and national awards.

Rachel Aszklar is a teacher at Sumner High School in Washington State. Rachel graduated Magne Cum Laude from WSU with a degree in Family & Consumer Sciences in 2012 and earned her master’s degree in Career & Technical Education from Concordia University. She grew up in the Pacific Northwest, and education has always been a passion (she received an overhead for third grade birthday). Rachel started her teaching career at Spanaway Middle School, and in addition to her current position at Sumner High School, she recently returned to WSU to be a Cougar Quest Administrator where she organized the WSU summer camp for high school and middle school students. Rachel is an active adviser for FCCLA. Through her involvement in FCCLA and in her Family & Consumer Science classes, students have the opportunity to make an impact through various community service activities and overall make a significant impact in the Sumner Binney Lake community.

Carol Erwin is an associate professor at Wayne State College in Wayne, Nebraska. Carol graduated from the University of Nebraska Lincoln in 1999 with a degree in Family and Consumer Sciences Education and earned her master’s degree in 2004 in Curriculum and Instruction from Doane College. Carol completed her doctorate in Adult and Higher Education Administration from the University of South Dakota in 2018. She taught for 12 years in the 7-12 FCS classroom and advised FCCLA Chapters at Rock County Public School, Stuart Public School, Coleridge Community School, Laurel-Concord Public School and Randolph Public School. After great experiences and lots of awesome students at the 7-12 level, she took a position at Wayne State College teaching the Foods and Nutrition classes and working with the Family and Consumer Sciences Education majors. She has grown the FCS Education program at Wayne State College about 120% from 16 majors in the 2012-2013 year to 35 majors in the 2018-2019 year.

Lisa Doll recently retired from her career of 30 years in career and technical education in the state of Arizona. She spent the last six years of her career as the director of Arizona CTE Curriculum Consortium. Prior to that, she was a junior high teacher, high school teacher and administrator for over 24 years. Lisa earned a bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education from Arizona State University and her master’s degree in Secondary Education with an emphasis in reading from Northern Arizona University (NAU). She completed her Principals’ Certification from NAU. Lisa served as the state vice president in 2015 for the Association for Career Technical Education of Arizona, president in 2016 and was re-elected to serve a second term in 2019. She also served as the Arizona Council of Vocational Administrator’s state president. She has presented nationally on many topics and still actively presents in Arizona. Lisa was one of the founding members of the Arizona Leadership Continuum which was developed to assist CTE Professionals statewide with numerous leadership opportunities to allow educators to continue to grow in their field. Lisa helped develop and teach courses for Arizona Premier Series, which provides CTE-specific instruction to teachers in areas such as best practices, work based learning and classroom management. She served on the Arizona Quality Commission and numerous committees, including the Arizona State Strategic Planning team and CTE state teacher recruitment team. Lisa believes students are our greatest gift, and as educators, we must do our best to prepare students for the future.

Nicole Hampton is a faculty member in the College of Education at Northern Arizona University where she also serves as the CTE area coordinator. In this capacity, she is responsible for course design and delivery at the undergraduate and graduate levels, student advising and mentoring, service activities, leadership, program assessment and reporting, and administration for the CTE degrees. NAU has both a BSED and MED in CTE, undergraduate and graduate certificates, and a CTE minor. Nicole’s work includes program articulation with the statewide community college system as well as program outcome development and curriculum mapping and assessment for the programs. Nicole has been a member of ACTEAZ since 2005 and ACTE since 2008 and serves on the ACTEAZ board as the University Representative – a position she was appointed to in 2009. Passionate for students, she serves as scholarship chair for both the ACTEAZ organization and the College of Education at NAU.from 16 majors in the 2012-2013 year to 35 majors in the 2018-2019 year.

Kitti Wheeler is a Business and Marketing teacher, accomplished DECA advisor, work-based learning coordinator and student store supervisor in Lakewood, Washington. Kitti is a national board-certified teacher and has a master’s degree in Education. National conference presenter, author and teacher mentor with 30 years’ experience as a business and marketing educator, she has an extensive background in implementing programs and curriculum that provide students with relevant experiences to develop their potential as leaders in their schools, communities and future careers. She has a passion for helping teachers thrive in the classroom and gives her students hope by instilling in them a positive mindset and a belief that their future is limitless.

Lori Merrill is a Medical Professions instructor in the Cochise Technology District. Since 2004, she has been a Registered Nurse with a passion for patient education. In 2014, Lori was able to take her love for teaching to a new career in CTE. She loves seeing students share her passion for healthcare. As she has had the opportunity to educate, influence and support her students in the classroom and in HOSA, she is renewed in her hope for the future caregivers that will make a difference in their patients’ lives.

Nora Zollweg is a Student Services coordinator at West Sound Technical Skills Center in Bremerton, Washington. Nora has earned a bachelor’s degree in Human Services from Western Washington University, master’s degrees in Organizational Leadership and Human Resources from Brandman University, plus a master’s degree in Educational Leadership with a principal’s endorsement from Western Governors University. Nora has also completed her CTE director’s training through OSPI and holds a CTE director’s credential. Nora has served as the president of the Washington Association for Career Counseling & Employment Readiness (WA-CCER- Career Guidance) and served on the WA-ACTE Executive Board for four years. She is passionate about developing employment opportunities, ensuring equity and access, and supporting students so they can thrive in the career of their choice.from 16 majors in the 2012-2013 year to 35 majors in the 2018-2019 year.