Imes selected to helm Yuma JTED
Longtime educator Kevin Imes was recently selected to take the helm of Yuma County’s Joint Technical Education District (JTED), Yuma’s new school district focused specifically on career and technical education.
Dubbed STEDY (Southwest Technical Education District of Yuma) by its governing board, it is an independent school district specifically established to offer and fund career and technical e ducation programs for high school students while they concurrently complete academic courses at their home high school. Both Yuma Union High School District and Antelope Union High School District are partnering to form the district along with support from Arizona Western College.
The board awarded the district’s first superintendent contract to Imes on Monday at its regular meeting. STEDY Chairman Roger Nelson added that it had five qualified candidates interview for the position.
“We were very pleased with the pool of candidates that we had, but he really was the best qualified out of the bunch,” Nelson said.
With 27 years of experience in education, Imes most recently oversaw career and technical education programs and staff as the Assistant Superintendent of the Agua Fria Union High School District. He’s also had experience developing programs as a founding principal of two schools in the Deer Valley Unified School District.
“I think he will be a great fit in this community. He’s a very personable individual. He has a lot of experience in education, and he’s excited about the JTEDs… it’s kind of infectious,” Nelson said. “I really think he’s going to mesh well with the community leaders here, and the public, the parents, and he’s worked with high school kids for all this time.”
When he began his years in education as a science teacher in 1988, Imes explained that it was then that he discovered his passion for making learning relevant and meaningful for students, as a way to connect them to the real world. In regard to officially taking on his new position July 1, as STEDY superintendent, he said,
“This is a fantastic opportunity to be able to do just that.”
Imes said he looks forward to be able to enhance and support the career and technical education programs that already exist in Yuma.
“There’s a tremendous amount of good work that’s being done already in Yuma Union and at Antelope Union, and so this is to totally to support that and help to prepare students for the real world of work,” he said.
He noted that he’s also looking forward to working with the governing board as well.
“They’re five individuals committed to helping students and we’re all on the same page, and that excites me that we have a collective leadership body that’s working for the benefit of helping students,” he said.
He anticipates also getting to work with the Yuma community and with AWC to strengthen STEDY’s programs.
“I think that we’re going to be able to make a difference and be able to change the lives of students,” Imes said.
Beyond the education portion of the program, he noted that he also sees STEDY contributing to Yuma’s economy, providing more skilled and knowledgeable workers.
“I think that we have the opportunity to not only help students, but help the economy of the community in providing a skilled student workforce. I think there’s tremendous potential there.”
Some of his administrative duties in his new role as superintendent will include developing annual and long-term plans for continuous improvement, maintaining existing and plan for additional facilities and programs, developing and managing annual budgets, hiring and managing certified and classified employees, and providing professional staff development.
Imes has a bachelor’s degree in biology from Arizona State University and a master’s degree in educational leadership from Northern Arizona University.