WATERTOWN, S.D.(KXLG)- The South Dakota Career and Technical Education (CTE) Summer Conference is underway in Watertown this week with more than 300 educators from across the state attending.  The gathering is sponsored by the South Dakota Department of Education in cooperation with the South Dakota Association for Career and Technical Education. Each year the conference provides teachers, administrators, and school counselors with opportunities to connect with other educators as a way of exploring best practices that will help them prepare students to be college, career, and life ready. Among the attendees this year is Jane Gubrud who is a Career Regional Technical Education Specialist with the South Dakota Department of Education.  She says the idea of the conference is to expose educators and then students to 16 different employment possibilities statewide.

Attendee Laureen Mehlert teaches media arts, digital music, and aviation at the Career and Technical Education Academy in Sioux Falls. She says exposing young people to new career opportunities and experiences is what career technical education is all about and that, for teachers to have real-time field experiences, visiting businesses and industry, is important.

The four-day conference in Watertown concludes Wednesday.