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The University of Wyoming turned the spotlight on career and technical education (CTE) last week, using its first-ever Trustees Education Initiative (TEI) Showcase to make one thing clear: CTE isn’t a backup plan in Wyoming — it is the plan.
Held Nov. 19 at the UW Conference Center, the event brought together educators, students, trustees and state leaders to talk about how hands-on, career-focused learning is shaping Wyoming’s future workforce and schools.
TEI, created in 2016, has grown into a statewide engine for strengthening teacher preparation and professional development. It now oversees several programs aimed at improving instruction and collaboration across K-12 systems.
“We decided to showcase career and technical education because it sits at the crossroads of education, workforce development and community,” UW Trustee David Fall said. “Strong CTE programs prepare students for good careers, help local industries and keep our economy resilient and diverse. That’s what a land-grant university is all about.”
Speakers repeatedly tied CTE to Wyoming’s economic reality: a huge share of jobs in the state rely on people with technical training.
“When we talk about what the number one goal of our education system is, it is about preparing students for real Wyoming jobs,” said Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder. “It’s our ranchers, our haul truck drivers, our electricians and our welders. It is quite literally the people that feed, power and fuel this nation. For far too long, we shy away from this type of workforce preparation and education. But in Wyoming, we do not apologize for who we are. Career and technical education is not the backup plan. It is the plan.”
A big part of the showcase was hearing directly from students and teachers whose lives were changed by CTE.
One of them was UW alumna and Newcastle High School woodworking teacher Bess Colgrove, who admitted she never pictured herself in front of a classroom.
“If you had told me, back in high school, that I’d end up teaching for a living, I probably would have laughed,” she said. “Several adults told me I’d make a good teacher, but it must have been the obstinate redhead in me that was sure they were wrong.”
Colgrove graduated with straight As and started down a business path before realizing it wasn’t for her. She eventually found the fine woodworking program at Red Rocks Community College in Colorado, earned an associate degree, and rediscovered her love of building things with her hands.
Life moves took her to Montana and then Wyoming. When a high school woodshop job opened and a principal knew her background, she stepped into teaching on a provisional license. She finished her bachelor’s degree online through UW’s CTE Educator Program while teaching full-time and raising three kids.
“Since the completion of my first year of teaching, my small-town high school workshop program has gone from declining numbers to a waiting list of students,” Colgrove said. “I’ve had students choose trades as a career after graduation who told me they didn’t feel that was a valuable option until my class. Others have told me they want to follow in my footsteps and teach shop themselves. When I hear that, I know this is the work that matters. The University of Wyoming CTE Educator Program didn’t just give me a degree, it gave me direction. It gave me a way to change lives, the same way mine was changed.”
For UW senior Sara Turner, now double-majoring in agricultural education and animal and veterinary sciences, CTE changed her life in a different way.
As a child, Turner had a severe speech impediment and spent years in therapy. Even when her speech improved, her confidence did not.
“After a decade of not sounding like all the other kids, there wasn’t a shred of confidence left in my speaking ability,” she said.
That began to shift in ninth grade, when she walked into agriculture teacher Ty Berry’s leadership class, where public speaking counted for about 10% of the final grade.
She didn’t give a flawless speech and ride off into a movie-style happy ending. Instead, she says, Berry’s feedback — “You don’t sound like the other kids” — landed differently this time. He meant it as encouragement.
He pushed her to keep speaking, keep trying, and slowly her confidence grew. That support eventually led her to choose agricultural education as a career. Turner now plans to teach high school ag and stay at UW for a master’s degree, while helping coach the university’s meat judging team.
Another showcase speaker, Wind River High School woodshop teacher and UW Bachelor of Applied Science graduate Dallas Dean, shared how CTE helped him reinvent his career.
Dean spent years as a carpenter and loved the work. Then a car accident left him paralyzed from the waist down.
“I realized I still wanted to build, but I had to build in a different way, so teaching became my new craft,” he said. “I want to help students build their skills, their confidence and their futures. The University of Wyoming made that possible.”
His professors pushed him to blend new tools with traditional trades, including using AI responsibly in CTE. Now, Dean uses AI to help his students design projects and explore ideas while they also learn hands-on skills in the shop.
“At Wind River High School, my students come from all walks of life,” he said. “My goal is to show them that no matter what pathway they choose, the skills they’re learning — both hands-on and digital — will carry them far.”
A student panel featuring UW students Tristy Thomas, Abby Wilcox, Lane Joy and Grace Van Borkum highlighted just how broad CTE’s impact is.
They talked about how CTE programs and industry partnerships shaped their paths, from agriculture and construction to family and consumer sciences. The common thread: hands-on learning helped them connect classwork to real jobs, and gave them confidence and a sense of direction.
Wilcox and Van Borkum also pointed to recent changes at UW that allow future family and consumer science teachers to complete their degrees entirely in-state instead of finishing at Colorado State University. They said that change should keep more qualified CTE teachers in Wyoming classrooms — a big deal in a state that’s always looking to grow its own educators.
The panelists stressed that strong CTE programs don’t just churn out workers with technical skills. They build leadership, problem-solving and critical thinking too, preparing students for high-demand fields like construction, agriculture, hospitality and health care.
Throughout the showcase, UW leaders argued that investing in CTE educators and programs is about more than filling jobs — it’s about keeping Wyoming’s economy strong and giving students real options.
TEI Director and UW leaders noted that CTE is central to meeting the state’s future workforce needs, from skilled trades and ranching to advanced manufacturing and service industries.
As Trustee David Fall put it, CTE reflects Wyoming’s core identity: practical, hardworking, and forward-looking.
Or, as Superintendent Degenfelder said more bluntly:
“Career and technical education is not the backup plan. It is the plan.”
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