What do you want to be when you grow up? My three-year-old wants to be an entomologist and a ballerina. Just last night she was modeling her best bug dances for me (and was delighted when I shared that bees actually communicate by dancing!). 🐛🐜🐝

We often think of career prep as a high school conversation, but data from a recent Discovery Education and Hanover study tells a different story:

• 78% of students discover a career interest before high school.

• 54% say that initial spark happened back in elementary school.

• 81% of students agree career exploration should start well before high school.

  
  

The interest is clearly there! However, the study also highlights a significant gap: while 71% of administrators report that weekly career learning occurs, only 19% of students experience it. Additionally, 95% of teachers expressed a need for better resources to integrate career concepts into daily instruction, noting that one-off events (like isolated field trips) have…

As we gear up for our region’s fourth CTE Regional Advisory Convening, I came across two articles that left me feeling inspired - and encouraged. The work we’re doing to strengthen connections between education, industry, and community isn’t happening in isolation. There are models taking shape in other regions that we can learn from, adapt, and make our own.

Indiana’s Partners for Professions and WestNext initiatives offer a helpful blueprint for moving from individual career-connected experiences toward a more coordinated regional approach.

A few ideas especially stood out:

🤝 Create a clear front door for partnership.

Make it easy for educators and industry partners to find one another, share what they need, and get support turning an idea into an experience.

Common Sense Media released a report this summer called AI Use by Tweens and Teens, based on a survey of over 1,200 kids ages 9–17. I went through the key findings, and they crystallized something I've been feeling for a while: our schools and districts are genuinely working hard on AI literacy, but AI use among kids is snowballing faster than most of us can keep pace with — and a lot of that use is happening completely outside school, where nobody's teaching them anything about it.

1. This isn't a "coming soon" problem. It's already here.

86% of kids 9–17 say they use AI, and almost a quarter use it every single day — including 81% of 9-to-12-year-olds (🤯). And a lot of that isn't kids opening ChatGPT on purpose. It's AI baked into search results, phones, social apps, and games they're already using. In fact, AI-generated search summaries…

I was today years old when I learned that bird bones are not hollow to make them lighter!

Despite what many of us were led to believe, research shows that a bird’s skeleton weighs just as much as a terrestrial mammal’s skeleton of the same size! Spoiler alert: Bird bones are actually denser and stronger, featuring a pneumatic system filled with air spaces connected directly to their respiratory system. The extra room provides space for air sacs, allowing birds to process the massive amounts of oxygen needed to power flight. 🐦‍⬛

This article in Science and Children breaks down a hands-on lesson plan geared toward second graders that tackles this misconception using scientific modeling, playful movement, and phenomena-based learning. Here is how you can recreate this 5-part investigation in your elementary classroom:

Phase 1: Hook & Challenge

• Discuss & Demo: Ask what students know about bird bones, then compare a solid pool noodle…

As the new school year ramps up, there’s no shortage of conversation about AI. But for CTE and career-connected learning educators, perhaps the more useful question is:

How do we prepare students to work with AI in the careers ahead?

Workforce expert Mark C. Perna points to a growing role in today’s workforce: the “AI Orchestrator”- someone who knows how to combine AI tools with human expertise, judgment, creativity, and problem-solving. Drawing on Upwork’s 2026 Future Workforce Index, Perna makes the case that the real opportunity isn’t simply learning AI - it’s learning how to use it effectively to get meaningful work done.

That’s a natural fit for CTE and career-connected learning. Here are three easy ways to bring that thinking into your classroom this fall:

1. Ask Industry: “How Is AI Changing Your Work?”

Add one question to your next guest speaker, industry panel, or site visit:

Back-to-school season is busy enough without adding “figure out AI” to your already-full to-do list. So this year, we're making it a little easier.

Starting September 15, the Columbia Gorge ESD and Columbia Gorge STEM Hub are hosting weekly virtual AI & Digital Literacy Office Hours.

Learn a Little. Try a Little. Ask a Lot.

We'll kick off the year by working our way through the new Google AI Educator Series - starting with "Introduction to Gemini for Education" - with short, focused lessons designed to build your AI skills and help you work toward Google Educator Series badges and Gemini Educator certification. Each session includes brief, targeted instruction, tool walkthroughs, and time to put what you're learning into practice.

We'll also use our time together for Q&A, discovery, troubleshooting, and hands-on exploration.

Wondering if AI could save you 30 minutes a week on a task you hate?

Welcome to the 2026–27 school year!

With another school year underway and AI continuing to reshape the way we teach and learn, it might be time to retire one of our favorite AI debates: How do we stop students from using AI?

Of course, we still need to talk about academic integrity. Of course, there are times when AI should absolutely be off the table. And of course, students can use AI to do work they should be doing themselves.

But if our AI conversations stop there, we're missing the bigger opportunity.

From “Using AI” to “Applying AI”

Dr. Elizabeth Radday and Matt Mervis recently wrote an excellent piece for ASCD called Sparking Curiosity with Applied Intelligence, and they offer a distinction that I think is worth bringing into our classrooms:

As the new school year gets underway, it's a great time to ask a simple question:

How well does your whole school community understand - and talk about - CTE?

Career and Technical Education is often most familiar to CTE teachers, counselors, and coordinators. But classroom teachers, administrators, support staff, and families all play an important role in helping students connect what they're learning today with the opportunities available after high school.

ACTE's free CTE 101 for Counselors Toolkit offers practical, ready-to-use resources that can help schools start the year with more consistent CTE and career messaging.

And despite the name, it's not just for counselors.

A Few Ways to Use It This Fall

Have you heard the news? Oregon Senate Bill 1596, which takes effect at the start of 2027, officially recognizes play-based learning as valid instructional time for students in grades K–5. The State Board of Education is revising rules so that both free play (child-directed, spontaneous activity) and guided play (adult-supported learning with specific goals) count directly toward required classroom hours (recess and required PE remain separate).

What this means for Elementary Teachers

We often find play-based learning emphasized in early childhood settings, and I'm excited to see more and more of it in elementary school as we are now officially encouraged to make play part of our day. Instead of viewing play as a break from academic content, this bill acknowledges that play is how young children learn best. Importantly, SB 1596 also explicitly states that play opportunities should never be withheld as a behavioral consequence. 🙂

As educators, we can leverage…