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David Rutherford, career and technical education (CTE) director for the Napavine School District, received recent honors from the Washington Association of Career and Technical Administrators (WACTA).
Rutherford has been named the CTE Administrator of the Year for WACTA’s Western region, according to the Napavine School District.
The Western region includes over 45 school districts across Grays Harbor, Lewis, Mason, Pacific and Thurston counties. WACTA has nine regions across the state.
“I am very proud of the work Dave has done with our CTE program,” Napavine Superintendent Shane Schutz told The Chronicle over email. “He is an amazing leader and we are very lucky to have him in our district. He always goes above and beyond his call of duty to make Napavine great. I am just so thankful that he is a part of our team!”
In addition to his regional award, Rutherford has been nominated to apply for WACTA’s State Administrator of the Year award.
The winner will be announced at the association’s spring conference in Spokane this April.
“As many of you know, Dave has worked tirelessly alongside our staff to build one of the strongest Career and Technical Education programs in the state,” the district said in a news release. “His vision, work ethic, and dedication to providing meaningful opportunities for students have made a lasting impact on our district. He consistently invests his time and energy into supporting our staff, engaging our families, and ensuring our students are prepared for success beyond graduation.”
Rutherford, who’s in his ninth year at Napavine, has been the district’s CTE director since 2019.
He credited the Napavine community for being “extremely supportive of programs that take their in-class education and take it to the next level.”
“Having a great staff and supportive superintendent has allowed us to utilize the CTE teaching model to prepare our students to be highly successful after graduation,” Rutherford told The Chronicle. “We are the regional hub for manufacturing apprenticeships and excited to have students working for I-5 Cars this summer to further their training.”
The CTE director added that Napavine was also the “state hub” for training students in drinking and waste water management. The district offers a water apprenticeship prep program in partnership with Evergreen Rural Water of Washington.
“I am just excited to come to work every day and see the great things students are doing,” Rutherford said.
The WACTA 2026 Spring Conference takes place April 20 and 21 at Northern Quest Resort and Casino in the greater Spokane area.
According to its website, WACTA, founded in 1972 by a “small group of committed vocational administrators”, provides “general direction to the administrators of the state by conveying current, pertinent, information on, or related to, career and technical education.”
