2009
ACTE Convention & Career Tech Expo
 The
New Rhythm of CTE
November 19-21, 2009 - Gaylord Opryland Resort Hotel &
Covention Center, Nashville, Tennessee.
Catch the new rhythm of CTE! Let ACTE's 2009
Convention preview video show you what you can expect
in Nashville. You can also watch videos from the 2008
Convention, including interviews with attendees and award
winners as well as the 2009
CTE Month PSA Contest winners, which were announced during
the event.
Latest News:
General Session
Speakers
Jeff Henderson
 South
Central Los Angeles native and award-winning chef, “Chef
Jeff” Henderson, will open this year’s
Convention as the Opening General Session speaker. Henderson
is an award-winning chef who has served as the Executive Chef
at the renowned Café Bellagio and Caesar's Palace in
Las Vegas. What makes Henderson so remarkable is his story
of going from crack dealer to top chef.
Henderson grew up in South Central Los Angeles
and in San Diego, and was raised by a single mother who worked
as a welder. To earn money, Henderson turned to drugs and
by 19 he was running a million-dollar cocaine operation. Eventually
arrested and incarcerated, he spent almost a decade in federal
prison. During this time, he realized that being locked up
had saved him and he discovered his passion for cooking while
doing kitchen duty. Once out of prison, he channeled the same
intense ambition that had nearly ruined his life to help him
rise to the top of some of the best kitchens in the country.
But as a convicted felon and a black man in the world of haute
cuisine, he had to overcome many challenges.
Henderson began his professional career cooking
at many influential restaurants, including Gadsy’s,
L’Escale, the Dining Room at the Ritz Carlton Hotel
in Marina Del Rey, Zing, and The Good Bar. He went on to become
a sous chef at the world-renowned Mobil 5-Star Hotel Bel-Air
in Los Angeles as well at Mobil 5-Star L’Ermitage Hotel
in Beverly Hills.
In 2000, Henderson continued his rise, making
history in Las Vegas as the first African-American Chef de
Cuisine at Caesars Palace. He was later promoted to an Executive
Chef position and has since held that position at several
top restaurants in Las Vegas and Los Angeles. In 2001, the
American Food and Wine Tasting Federation named Henderson
“Las Vegas Chef of the Year.” He has since gone
on to become the Executive Chef at the Bellagio, another first
for an African-American.
Henderson has been honored as one of the
top African-American chefs by Black Enterprise magazine. His
memoir Cooked was released in March 2007 and he is in discussions
with production companies to produce his story and networks
to star in his own reality show.
Henderson’s story will not only inspire,
but will reinforce to career and technical educators that
the skills and education they are providing are of real value.
Stedman Graham
 Stedman
Graham is a businessman, educator, writer and
speaker who focuses on maximizing leadership, achieving success
and embracing diversity.
As a businessman, Graham is chairman and
CEO of S. Graham & Associates (SGA), a management and
marketing consulting company that specializes in the corporate
and educational markets.
As an educator, Graham is a former adjunct
professor at the University of Illinois-Chicago where he taught
a leadership course. At the Kellogg Graduate School of Management
at Northwestern University, he taught a management strategy
course. He also founded and directed George Washington University’s
Forum for Sport and Event Management and Marketing - the first
of its kind in the country.
As a writer, Graham has authored 10 books,
including two New York Times bestsellers, You Can Make It
Happen: A Nine-Step Plan for Success and Teens Can Make It
Happen: Nine Steps to Success. His latest release Diversity:
Leaders not Labels includes his unique approach to eliminate
barriers to success.
And finally as a speaker, Graham has worked
with clients such as Hyatt Hotels Corporation, Manpower, CNN,
GlaxoSmithKline, American College of Sports Medicine, YMCA,
U.S. Olympic Committee, U.S. Department of Labor’s Job
Corps, Harvard and Wharton business schools, and the U.S.
Department of Education.
As the Saturday General Session speaker,
Graham will share his leadership insights and tips that will
not only help career and technical education professionals
themselves, but will also get them thinking about their role
as mentors and educators.
Pre-Convention
Workshops
ACTE has developed several pre-Convention workshops that will
take place Wednesday, Nov. 18.
Career Clusters 201
This half-day workshop will provide an overview of the Career
Clusters Tour Guide: Module 2 - Implementation. This workshop,
which will take place on Wednesday, November 18, is designed
to introduce participants to the basic concepts of initial
implementation of a Career Clusters framework, including the
overarching infrastructure of implementation, developing plans/programs
of study and application of the 15 critical components of
implementation. The guide includes background information,
a PowerPoint slide presentation, PowerPoint notes, handouts
and CD. Each participant will receive a copy of the Career
Clusters Tour Guide: Module 2 (a $65 value).
Registration for this half-day Workshop is
limited to 75 participants and the registration fee is $125.
Linking Career/Technical Studies
to Broader High School Reform
As schools face the serious challenges of raising student
achievement, improving graduation rates, and preparing all
students for postsecondary studies and the workplace, they
are increasingly turning to career and technical education
for the answers. Using the proven-practices of the High Schools
That Work reform model, career and technical studies take
center stage in high-performing high schools. This full-day
workshop will explore how schools can organize multiple pathways
that include an intellectually demanding academic core and
career and technical studies, active engagement in learning,
embedded literacy and numeracy, extra help and support to
meet high standards, and guidance and advisement to ensure
that all students and their parents are involved in setting
goals for further learning and the workplace. This workshop
will take place on Wednesday, November 18. |
