The CTE Connect

February is a powerful month of A, B, Cs recognition, reflection, and celebration, and we are excited to honor three meaningful observances that align closely with our work in Career and Technical Education.

This month, we recognize American Heart Health Month, reminding us of the importance of wellness—for ourselves, our colleagues, and our students. We also celebrate Black History Month, honoring the achievements, contributions, and resilience of Black leaders, innovators, and trailblazers whose impact continues to shape education, industry, and our communities. In addition, we proudly observe Career and Technical Education (CTE) Month, a time to spotlight the incredible work you do daily to prepare students with the skills, knowledge, and confidence needed for college, career, and military readiness.

February also includes School Counseling Week (February 2–6), and we encourage you to take a moment to thank your school counselors for their dedication and unwavering support of our students and CTE programs. Their guidance, advocacy, and partnership are essential to building strong pathways to student success.

Thank you for your dedication to excellence, your commitment to student success, and your role in building strong pathways to opportunity. This month, we celebrate you and the life-changing impact of CTE.

#KISDSTRONG

#ExcellenceByDesign

We are at 73%—strong progress, but not the finish line, one point more than last month. Huge kudos to ECHS for reaching 100% CCMR and to HHHS at an impressive 86%. Let’s build on this momentum and push together to the 88% goal!

Please complete the short survey if you are interested in facilitating a summer camp BY Friday, February 2, 2026.

Celebrating an outstanding performance at the DECA District 5 Career Development Conference, held December 15–16 at the Kalahari Resort in Round Rock. District 5 is one of the most competitive districts in Texas, and we are incredibly proud to announce that THREE Project Management teams have qualified for the DECA State Conference in February 2026!

The Killeen ISD Career Center hosted a Health Occupations Students of America area competition Friday and Saturday that drew 1,500 students from 191 high schools.

The second-round competition included an area that stretches from Killeen through Waco to Dallas-Fort Worth and the Oklahoma border and west to Abilene and San Angelo.

Students gathered for meetings and networking and tested their skills in categories across a wide range of medical knowledge.

Check out the full story here!

Adrianna Bautista placed 4th in the Prepared Speech event at the Business Professionals of America (BPA) District Leadership Conference, earning her spot as an alternate for the State competition.

We also want to recognize Shayla Lovett (not pictured) and Naomi Knight for competing and representing KCC with professionalism and dedication. We are proud of all three students for their hard work and commitment to growth through BPA!

The goal of the Expo is to retain current students and recruit new students across the district. What will you be demonstrating or showcasing at your booth or in your classroom to highlight your program’s strengths and engage students through demonstrations? We are excited to support this event as we invite students across the district with a strong focus on recruiting 8th graders to support their course selection for high school.

KCC Future Educators partnered with their 5th-grade mentees at Reece’s Creek to lead an engaging leadership lesson. These students are part of Reece’s Creek’s first-ever Future Teacher Club and are already exploring a future in education.

What an inspiring experience for both our KCC students and their future educators in the making!

• Are you new to these CTE courses: Anatomy & Physiology or Forensic Science? Visit your CIS/CIS to receive your access information.

• TCMPC is an online curriculum management system aligned with the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), the state standards for what students should know and be able to do. It includes curriculum frameworks, unit planning tools, assessments, scope and sequence guides, and other resources to help teachers and leaders plan instruction.

• https://go.tcmpc.org/

Our district has signed up with Intuit for Education to provide financial literacy resources for your students at no cost. Check out a few of the highlights:

• Free and interactive curriculum with real-world tools to help students become financially confident
• Both personal finance and entrepreneurial finance courses with a choice of lesson plans that are guided by educators or self-paced learning for students on their own
• Plus, there’s a Teacher Assist search function built in to help locate the lesson plans you want instantly. It really couldn’t be easier to get started!

Click here to create your free account in just a few moments and then selecting your school and following the steps listed in the ‘For those already approved’ section. Selecting your school is a critical step in the process!

This educator toolkit is a full collection of lessons, simulations, games, and other resources broken down by topic. You can find your state’s standards alignment on the site as well once you log in.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email stepan_mekhitarian@intuit.com to help any way possible with access to additional support and professional guidance.

You will find additional information in the CTE Schoology folder -- Resources -- Curriculum Resources -- BMF

The State Board of Education approved two sets of universal employability skills Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) for all CTE courses in a program of study; one set for Level 1 and 2 courses and one set for Level 3 and 4 courses. Cross references to the new employability skills TEKS will be added to the TEKS for each CTE course, as applicable. Employability skills standards are required to be taught as a part of each course in a CTE program of study.

New §127.15, Career and Technical Education Employability Skills, will be available in 19 Texas Administrative Code (TAC), Chapter 127, Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Career Development and Career and Technical Education, Subchapter B, High School.

Relocation of CTE TEKS:

All TEKS are now found in Chapter 127 (they relocated from Chapter 130). CTE TEKS to 19 TAC, Chapter 127, Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Career Development and Career and Technical Education. The move ensures that all CTE TEKS are in the same chapter in administrative rule and will be effective on August 1, 2025.

Newly Adopted CTE TEKS for the 2025-2026 School Year

The SBOE has adopted several new sets of CTE TEKS to complete programs of study that will be implemented in classrooms beginning with the 2025-2026 school year.

Engineering TEKS

The SBOE approved new TEKS for 20 CTE engineering courses that are available for implementation beginning with the 2025-2026 school year. The new CTE engineering TEKS will be effective in 19 TAC, Chapter 127, on August 1, 2025. In the interim, the new TEKS can be accessed on the CTE Engineering TEKS Review web page.

For a complete list of CTE courses scheduled for implementation beginning with the 2025-2026 school year, visit the TEKS Implementation web page.

1. Clarify expectations for learning and mastery ("Know" and "Show"):

• The "Know" side lays out the essential conceptual understandings students must grasp.

• The "Show" side specifies how students should demonstrate that understanding—through actions, responses, or evidence of learning.
  For example, in weekly data meetings, educators use a know/show chart to unpack a target standard—defining what students need to know and how they’ll show mastery. This then guides lesson focus and assessment.

2. Anchor collaborative instructional planning and analysis:

• Teachers and administrators use know/show charts as shared reference points during planning cycles and data meetings. Together, they dissect standards, align exemplars to expectations, surface conceptual or procedural gaps, and design reteach lessons tailored to the identified needs.

3. Identify and address learning gaps through focused reteaching:

• After marking areas where students struggle (evidenced by student work or exit tickets), instructional teams revisit the know/show chart to determine whether the issue is conceptual ("know") or procedural ("show"). Then, they craft reteach plans that explicitly target the gap—whether through modeling, questioning, or guided discourse.

4. Build consistency and clarity across teachers and lessons:

• By defining exactly what counts as "knowing" and how to "show" it, know/show charts help ensure that lessons, exemplars, and assessments are all aligned and consistently rigorous across classrooms

• All Pacing Calendars with TEKS in Schoology
• Know and Show - supports PLCs & Unit Focus Document(s) for planning lessons
• Unit Focus Documents (UFD) in Schoology

We want to continue highlighting the amazing things happening across our district.

Each week, use the form to share your good news and feel free to upload a photo or two. We’ll showcase these celebrations on our Killeen ISD CTE webpage, monthly webpage, and/or social media to keep our CTE community inspired and connected.

Thank you for sharing your "good things" with our district-wide CTE team!

Industry Based Certification Training. The courses below will be IBC testing during the spring semester. To ensure that teachers are trained to provide the preparation materials to students, they will be trained. Anyone that has been trained, may begin preparing students. Our trainer will not be available on January 6, however, individual training can be requested at your available time. There is a series of training videos and support to help you begin. Below, you will find the teacher Onboarding Guide, Quick Start Guide, and webinar series with short training videos.

College and Career Exploration teachers meet monthly to review district documents (pacing, Know and Show, UFDs, Exemplars, plan lessons, review data (this year pre/post assessment assessments for inclusion & preparation for the next cohort application in the spring), engage in training, receive important updates, and prepare for course planning for fall and spring.

Essentially, these meetings serve as a districtwide PLC that mirrors the valuable work done on campuses. This is a very valuable opportunity to ensure continuity as students move throughout the district and they remain successful.

Join G-W's Mandy Green for a free, transformative masterclass series. Whether you’re refining your design skills or starting fresh, this series equips you with practical tools and proven frameworks to make learning stick and transfer beyond the classroom. Register now for as many sessions as you'd like to attend, and feel free to forward this message to any colleagues who might be interested.

February 24, 2026 • 3:00 p.m. CST

March 31, 2026 • 2:00 p.m. CST

April 28, 2026 • 2:00 p.m. CST

May 19, 2026 • 2:00 p.m. CST

June 23, 2026 • 2:00 p.m. CST

July 28, 2026 • 2:00 p.m. CST

August 25, 2026 • 2:00 p.m. CST

September 29, 2026 • 2:00 p.m. CST

October 27, 2026 • 2:00 p.m. CST

November 17, 2026 • 2:00 p.m. CST

I hope you can join us for these monthly webinars with Mandy Green. She combines an extensive background in education, an innovative and energetic approach to professional learning, and a passion for sharing best practices that empower educators and ultimately lead to student success.

We hope you are doing well. We are reaching out to share an exciting professional learning opportunity for your teachers. WeTeach_CS, in partnership with Baylor University, is offering a FREE Computer Science and a Technology Applications certification preparation course. With these certifications, a teacher is credentialed to teach courses in the Computer Science curriculum, including cybersecurity, game programming, and other areas. Attached is a flyer with all the details, including registration.

This program is an excellent opportunity for teachers interested in expanding their skills or adding a new certification area. With increasing demand for computer science and technology instruction across grade levels, this course can help campuses expand their STEM offerings at no cost to educators or their districts.

Program Highlights:

• Fully funded—no cost to teachers
• Prepares educators for the Texas CS or Tech Apps certification exams
• Flexible, synchronous and asynchronous coursework
• Supported by leaders in CS education
• Significant stipends for completing coursework and additional stipends for certification
• Generous Professional Development hours for participants.

Please feel free to share the attached flyer with any teachers who may be interested. It supports broader campus goals around STEM pathways, technology integration, and preparing students for future-ready careers.

Let us know if you have any questions or need additional copies of the flyer. If you have questions, please e-mail sara_teichelmann1@baylor.edu.

Greg Speegle, Professor, Computer Science, greg_speegle@baylor.edu

Trena Wilkerson, Professor, Mathematics Education, trena_wilkerson@baylor.edu

https://cs.baylor.edu/weteachcs/

• February is National CTE Month
• February is Black History Month
• February 2 - 6 - School Counseling Week
• February 3 - Paying for College - @ KCC - 6PM - Karen Denney (Presentation series below)
• February 7 - HBCU College Fair & Teen Job Fair at Harker Heights HS
• February 11 - Killeen ISD Virtual Meet & Greet
• February 12 - Future Ready Expo - @ KCC from 5:30 PM - 7 PM
• February 13 - Regular School Day
• February 16 - Student and Staff Holiday
• February 15 - 21 - Random Acts of Kindness Week
• February 21 - 28 - National FFA Week
• February 24 - Central Texas Scholarship Lady - Award Letters and Appeals at KCC 6 PM
• February 25 - Virtual Interviews 2 PM - 4 PM
• March 12 - Killeen ISD Multicultural Festival 5 PM - 7 PM at Killeen ISD Career Center
• March 13 - Regular School Day
• March 16 - 20 - Spring Break
• April 24 - Deadline for submission of CTE data from Industry Certification for Seniors. All remaining students. May 9, 2026.
• March 25 - Killeen ISD Virtual Meet and Greet
• March 31 - Central Texas Scholarship Lady - Career Search at Killeen ISD Career Center 6 PM
• April 3 - Student and Staff Holiday
• April 24 - Deadline for submitting Industry Based Certifications for ceremony recognition
• May 7 - CTE Cording Ceremony for Completers. Invitation only!

You will find the finalized schedule for 7th graders to visit the KISD Career Center.

A few important reminders:

• Tours are scheduled from 9:30 – 11:30 a.m.

• Bus requests must be submitted by the middle school POC (email was sent by Alisia Smith, KCC CTE Program Advisor to principals and counselors).

• Please use the following budget code when submitting this transportation request (for Middle Schools): 163-11-6494-00-003-22-00

We are excited to welcome students to explore the programs at the Career Center and begin considering their future pathways. More detailed logistics will be shared as each tour date approaches.

Thank you again for your support in making this opportunity possible for our students.

We are temporarily located at Dr. Jimmie Don Aycock in room 812.

CTE/Advanced Academics Secretary, judith.roldan@killeenisd.org, 336-1740

CTE Coordinator, charlotte.heinze@killeenisd.org, 336-0272

CTE Director, patrice.robinson@killeenisd.org, 254-336-1757

We hope this newsletter inspires and informs you as we continue to be a model of excellence in Career and Technical Education as a District of Distinction. Together, we are shaping the future of our students and industries.

August 2025 CTE Connect

September 2025 CTE Connect

October 2025 CTE Connect

December '25/January 2026