Sessions of 2026 Connection Conference: April Porter
Porter, April
Marketing Teacher
Higley Unified School District #60
April Porter has taught business and marketing for over 25 years. She earned her MBA from Brigham Young University and her Bachelor’s in business education with a minor in marketing from Southern Utah University. She has taught six years in Utah, five years in Texas, and 15 years in the Higley Unified School District in Arizona. April has taught Business Ownership, Business Management, Accounting, Business Information Systems, Animation, and even Computer Programming. However, helping students develop leadership, entrepreneurship, and real-world business skills in Marketing and DECA are her greatest teaching passion.
Sessions:
[5848] From Concept to Cash: How to Run a Student Market Day
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Westin La Paloma
- Business and Marketing Education
Market Day is a high-impact, real-world learning experience where students invest their own money, launch a small business, and sell to real customers. This how-to session walks educators through planning, logistics, student expectations, funding considerations, risk management, and assessment. Learn how to structure timelines, approvals, pricing, marketing, and reflection while maintaining equity and school compliance. The session also covers common pitfalls, profit tracking, and ways to connect Market Day to performance indicators and work-based learning requirements. Participants leave with a clear road map and ready-to-use ideas to confidently run a successful, student-driven market experience.
[5846] TSA Ready: Arizona CTE Technical Skills Assessment Roundtables
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Westin La Paloma
- Business and Marketing Education
Preparing students for the Arizona CTE State Technical Skills Assessment can feel overwhelming—this roundtable makes it collaborative. Educators will engage in focused, small-group discussions to share proven strategies for aligning instruction to state standards, using data to target gaps, and building student confidence before testing. Topics include pacing guides, review structures, vocabulary strategies, practice assessments, and accommodations. This is a teacher-driven exchange of real tools and routines, not a lecture. Participants will leave with actionable ideas, shared resources, and a clearer plan to help students demonstrate mastery on the TSA.
