Each year, CTE Momentum gives high school students hands-on opportunities to apply classroom learning to real-world problems. Through challenges, teams cultivate in-demand skills and link their career and technical education (CTE) classes to rewarding careers.
After participating in three separate challenges focused on AI, clean energy, and space, students and teachers identified key themes for how teams grow throughout the CTE Momentum experience.
1. Real-world relevance enhanced how students engage.
In the Your AI Horizons Challenge, teams proposed AI concepts that reimagined how work could be done and considered how those tools might apply to future careers. Instead of working in isolation, they tested their ideas against real use cases and constraints.
That career-relevant framing had a clear impact on student engagement. As Megan Widner, a business and IT teacher from Wichita Falls, observed: “The most valuable part was seeing students take ownership of their ideas and connect what they’re learning to real-world applications.”
When students tied their projects to real-world problems, engagement became more meaningful and self-directed.
2. Working with emerging technology built students’ confidence.
A second theme was a shift in how students related to emerging technologies.
Instead of viewing these tools as distant or overly complex, students began to see them as something they could understand — and influence. Yvonne Barbosa Schalengen, a CTE mechatronics teacher, described this change: “They shifted from seeing emerging technologies as intimidating to tools they could actually shape.”
Yvonne’s students echoed that experience: “Figuring out how to train [AI] ourselves and watching it get smarter was pretty cool. AI isn’t some scary thing replacing people, and we kind of proved that.”
Across all three CTE Momentum challenges, participants have moved from passive technology users to active problem-solvers, developing early confidence in their ability to work with emerging tools.
3. Projects reinforced durable skills.
Alongside technical learning, students consistently improved skills that applied across careers and industries.
As Stephanie Carson, a computer science teacher, noted: “They were not only learning technical concepts, but also learning how to communicate ideas, respond and listen to feedback, and work as a team.”
Project experiences strengthened core skills — communication, collaboration, and adaptability — that are essential in nearly every career path.
Why these themes matter — and what’s next
Taken together, these themes point to what CTE experiences consistently deliver: learning grounded in practical context; growing confidence with technology; and skills that carry into future careers.
The next challenge in the CTE Momentum series will bring these themes even closer to home. The Careers in Your Community Challenge — launching August 2026 — is a CTE Momentum challenge to develop student-led career navigation solutions. Teams will explore careers in their own communities, identify the skills local employers need, and create resources that connect their CTE courses to opportunities right where they are.
Sign up for the CTE Momentum newsletter to get notified when the Careers in Your Community Challenge launches.