Governing Board
Jeff Wassell, Sedona Oak Creek School District, Chairman jwassell@vacte.com
Ed Mezulis, Camp Verde Unified School District, Clerk emezulis@vacte.com
Kathleen Fleenor, Clarkdale Jerome School District, Member kfleenor@vacte.com
Jill Myers, Cottonwood Oak Creek School District, Member jmyers@vacte.com
Dave Leckington, Mingus Union High School, Member dleckington@vacte.com
Staff
Bob Weir, Superintendent bweir@vacte.com
Shawnna Patton, Business Manager/Board Secretary spatton@vacte.com
Laura Carbonaro, Attendance Secretary lcarbonaro@vacte.com
Daria Weir, Counselor dweir@vacte.com
Travis Black, Construction Instructor tblack@vacte.com
Sabrina Conway, Certified Nursing Assistant Instructor sconway@vacte.com
Valentina Meraz, Cosmetology Instructor vmeraz@vacte.com
Jeremy Doerksen, Eric Ostler, and Sal Unale, Fire Science Instructors jdoerksen@vacte.com eostler@vacte.com sunale@vacte.com
Jennifer Choate, Law Enforcement Instructor jchoate@vacte.com
Genna Adams and Russell Snider, Teacher Training Instructor gadams@vacte.com
Who We Are?
The Valley Academy for Career and Technology Education (VACTE) was established in 2001 by approval of the citizens of the Verde Valley and Sedona areas. VACTE is one of fourteen Career and Technical Education Districts (CTEDs) in Arizona. Our school district members are Camp Verde, Clarkdale/Jerome, Cottonwood/Oak Creek, Mingus Union, and Sedona Red/Rock.
Career and Technical Education Districts (CTEDs) are specialized school districts designed to deliver career and technical education (CTE) to high school students in cooperation with their member districts by providing a pathway for students to earn industry certification and college credit, as well as experience career-based learning, hands-on instruction, and leadership development through such organizations as FBLA, FCCLA, FFA, HOSA, and SkillsUSA. VACTE supports the CTE programs, CTE instructors, and more than 1,500 CTE students at the three local high schools. These programs include agriculture, automotive, business, coding, culinary arts, digital photography, drafting, film and TV, graphic design, sports medicine, stagecraft, and welding.
VACTE has additionally established 7 CTE programs offered at locations throughout the Verde Valley which provide career training to students from the three high schools, area charter schools, and home schools. These programs include: certified nursing assistant, construction, cosmetology, culinary arts, fire science, law enforcement, phlebotomy, and teacher training.
A strong partnership with Yavapai College has been developed in providing dual or concurrent enrollment courses, whereby, high school students are able to earn both high school and college credits for the courses in which they are enrolled. VACTE pays for the college tuition, textbooks, and uniforms for many of these programs. VACTE courses also support several industry recognized licenses and certifications which the students may earn upon exit from the programs such as Arizona Board of Nursing Certified Nursing Assistant Licensure, Arizona Board of Barbering/Cosmetology Licensure, and Arizona Firefighter I and II certification.
Mission
Provide an engaging learning environment resulting in the development of hirable and productive individuals in a competitive workforce.
Students are offered quality instruction and technical skill foundations through on-the-job training in specific areas of career development.
Our instructors share their extensive real-world knowledge for students to experience and achieve workplace success. Our development activities are use-inspired and include workplace soft skills, team building and industry standard skills. We expect our students to be leaders in supporting the ideas behind this vision and mission.
Vision Statement
Skills for Today, Careers for a Lifetime
We envision a future where our students attain the skills to build professional careers that will last a lifetime. Our focus is on creating an educational experience that supports each individual's desire to learn.
We seek to produce a skilled workforce one student at a time.