Robert and J.J. spent some time with Cindy Gutierrez who is the Director of CTE Program Services for the Arizona Department of Education. Cindy shares what it takes to put on a great Career and Technical Education program as well as al of the exciting happenings currently going on within the state.
Learn what the Arizona CTE Program has to offer the students within the state of Arizona.
The Arizona Department of Education — the state agency tasked with overseeing Arizona’s K-12 public education system. The department, led by a publicly elected Superintendent of Public Instruction, comprises more than 600 staff across four state offices working to serve Arizona’s students, families, educators, and school communities.
Career and Technical Education is a division of Arizona Department of Education. CTE’s Vision is to Develop Arizona’s competitive workforce through the power of Career and Technical Education.
Cindy Gutierrez serves as Director of CTE Program Services in the Career and Technical Education (CTE) unit of the Arizona Department of Education, a position she has held for the last six years and has been with the department for over eight years. Cindy serves under the leadership of the Deputy Associate Superintendent and state CTE Director, Cathie Raymond and Superintendent of Public Instruction, The Honorable, Kathy Hoffman.
In this position, Cindy leads a team of eight program specialists who oversee the high school CTE programs across the state, which include Construction Science Technologies, Engineering, Manufacturing and Information Technologies, Agriculture and Welding, Transportation Technologies, Public Service Careers, Health Science Technologies, Family and Consumer Sciences, Education Professions, and Business, Marketing and Communication Technologies programs. Prior to becoming a director, Cindy served as the CTE Construction Science and Transportation Technologies Program Specialist for the Arizona Department of Education.
Cindy began her career in education in the Peoria Unified School District as a high school Industrial Technology Instructor teaching Drafting, Cabinetmaking, and her passion, Construction Technologies. Cindy also organized and taught CTE Internship courses related to each CTE program on the campus, connecting seniors in high school to Business and Industry partners to gain real world experience before graduation. Cindy holds a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Education from the University of Arizona and a Master of Education in Career and Technical Education from Northern Arizona University.
A native of the West valley – Peoria, Cindy has seen the overwhelming growth of the valley and can credit her own father for many of the homes built since the early 1970’s.
In November 2021, Cindy was honored to receive the Visionary Leadership Award in recognition of her support and partnership with the Arizona Construction Career Days
