This week, our staff members Kathryn Castelloes and Lori Fernald Khamala attended and presented at the 2026 CTE Summer Conference: Unleash Your Superpower, held July 13 –17 in Winston-Salem, NC.

Kathryn and Lori connected with high schools from across the state and joined a roundtable discussion with CTE (Career & Technical Education) directors to spread the word about Code the Dream. They also led a session on how tech nonprofits can expand career pathways for students beyond traditional college routes as AI reshapes industries, spotlighting our own model at Code the Dream: free, remote, part-time software engineering training that leads to the opportunity to apply for a paid, full-time registered apprenticeship. Bonus points: they even spotted a giant inflatable rubber duck at the conference, which was pretty fitting considering our own mascot is a rubber duck named Cody! 💛 #CTE #NCDPI #NCACTE #CodeTheDream