2025 SC Education + Business Summit

All CTE centers and schools, whether housed on or off the school campus, must advertise, promote, and communicate their career cluster offerings in easily accessible and conspicuous platforms to boost student participation. After 8 years of experience in training district and school counselors, one vital piece to increasing student success in high school is communicating to students and counselors the CTE course offerings before and during IGP conferences.

This presentation provides a hands-on, use these free tools immediately to create the ideal settings for CTE staff to build their skills and professional capacity. The fast paced training is specifically designed for CTE practitioners to learn, observe, and implement each of these strategies, techniques, and resources to develop programs that are based on effective facilitation and engagement. We have presented this workshop and others to over 30,000 conference participants at over 400+ national, statewide, and regional conferences throughout the country, including keynoting at the EBS Summit in previous years, NC Workforce Training Conference (10+ years), Southeast Training Association (10+ years), NCETA (10+ years), Northeast Workforce (5+ years), etc.

As the 2024 SC CCR ELA Standards are implemented across educational settings, it is imperative for CTE instructors to understand the relationship between literacy skills and students’ success in the workforce. Our sessions will focus on how the new standards integrate essential literacy competencies with CTE curricula, thereby supporting CTE teachers in fostering an environment where students not only gain technical expertise but also develop the critical reading, writing, and communication skills needed for success in postsecondary education and the modern workforce.
The 2024 SC CCR ELA Standards emphasize the development of key literacy skills—such as reading comprehension, writing proficiency, and effective communication—that are essential across all career pathways. CTE instructors often teach students who are at various levels of literacy development, and integrating these standards into CTE instruction provides a clear, actionable framework for improving student outcomes in both technical and academic areas.
By attending this session, CTE teachers will gain a deeper understanding of how the new standards can be woven into their existing curricula. They will learn practical strategies for incorporating literacy instruction that aligns with their industry-specific content, helping students bridge the gap between technical skills and the soft skills required by employers. This integration is not only relevant but necessary for ensuring that students are truly prepared for success in the workforce or in further academic pursuits.
Our sessions will also highlight strategies for embedding literacy across all CTE content areas, with a focus on real-world applications. From interpreting technical manuals to crafting professional emails or delivering presentations, the integration of literacy standards into CTE classrooms enhances students’ readiness for both higher education and their careers. These competencies are critical to student success and will contribute to the overall mission of Career and Technical Education to prepare students for life after high school, whether they choose to enter the workforce directly or pursue further education.

Tooling U-SME, supported by the state, and Tallo through their partnership with SC Future Makers are both resources that are available for high school programs.

Presenter Bio
Hannah Bullard is Head of Strategic Partnerships at Tallo. Her team is responsible for the growth and nurturing of Tallo’s strategic partners and to ensure the partner’s goals are met. Hannah's extensive experience in fostering collaborative relationships and her dedication to achieving mutual success make her an invaluable asset to Tallo's strategic initiatives. Prior to Tallo, Hannah worked at Hawkes Learning where she worked very closely with community and technical colleges in providing supportive developmental English and Math curriculum software. Her passion has always been to support the advancement of early talent into educational and career opportunity. Currently, her team is responsible for the relationship Tallo holds with South Carolina Future Makers, an organization that promotes manufacturing educational and career pathways throughout South Carolina. She holds a BA in Finance from James Madison University.

Krista Maurer is a Senior Account Executive specializing in Workforce Education for SME for the past 16 years. She is always excited to have the opportunity to promote manufacturing careers and pathways connecting these opportunities to STEM learning and the advanced technology in our industry.