QUITMAN – A Brooks County school counselor has been elected president of a national board.

Brian Law was elected president-elect of the Association for Career and Technical Education of Alexandria, Va. The election was open to ACTE’s membership of roughly 25,000 educators, administrators and other CTE professionals, organizational representatives said. 

Law is a school counselor at Brooks County High School and Career Technical & Agricultural Education director for Brooks County Schools. Law campaigned on the slogan #IAMCTE. 

Raised by parents who were products of career technical education, “Law contributes his passion for CTE to his high school coursework of taking an agriculture class in ninth grade and becoming a member of FFA and completing a college preparatory diploma with a business seal through completing requirements in business courses where he became involved in FBLA to be his school’s chapter president and completed a Work Based Learning experience his senior year with the high school counselor which was his career goal.” 

He said he lives CTE everyday through his students where he removes barriers to learning serving their personal/social, academic and college/career needs while impacting their future and preparing them for the workforce.

Through his job as a CTAE director, he has an impact on education where he advocates for CTAE, supervises and supports the teachers and forms partnerships with local business and industry to help students be career ready, representatives said. He said he finds that the first contact with a CTE class/teacher makes the difference and causes students to own their education.

He said like him in a rural high school in Turner County, CTAE classes motivate students to come to school where they can have a hands-on education that is meaningful. It was because of his involvement in FBLA that he was able to take his first trip outside of the rural area to Atlanta. 

Students in rural areas should be afforded the same educational opportunities and ACTE supports the growth and sustainability of CTE programs, he said. Serving the association is giving back to his students and community.

Law said he is proud to represent Brooks County Schools and Georgia as he serves ACTE on the national forefront. 

Georgia has a strong CTAE program with several model apprenticeship programs, relationship with the Technical College System of Georgia, and Georgia Chamber of Commerce, representatives said. Georgia is a leading state in agriculture with legislative and policy support and is the only state to add “A” for Agriculture to CTAE.

Students who are CTAE Pathway completers (3 courses in one CTE field) at Brooks County High School have a 100% graduation rate, organiztion representatives said. Georgia boasts one of the highest CTE graduation rates in the country of 96.5% with a 99.6% placement rate of CTE Pathway completers that go on to post-secondary education, advanced training, military service or employment.

Law has experience in association leadership where he served as Georgia School Counselor Association president (2008-09) and American School Counselor Association president (2010-11). He served on the ACTE board of directors as the Region II VP (2016-19). 

Having worked at all levels in school counseling P-12, teaching middle school, being a summer school and migrant education program administrator and an adjunct professor at Valdosta State University teaching school counseling and education courses, he said he is prepared for a new service to ACTE and the 25,000 members nationwide.

Law will serve one three-year term; July 1 through June 30; one year as president-elect, one year as president, and one year as past president. The president-elect serves as a member of the board of directors and the executive committee and also performs additional duties.