Teachers who work together to blend academic and career/technical (CT) instruction have found a key to motivating students to complete high school and prepare for college, advanced training and careers. This newsletter highlights key strategies schools are using to join academic and technical studies to advance student motivation and achievement. Highlights include: (1) A technology center in another part of the world is using the High Schools That Work (HSTW ) model to blend academic and CT studies in preparing graduates for high-demand jobs; (2) Schools in the United States make it possible for academic and CT teachers to collaborate in raising student achievement; (3) Hybrid courses are meeting the needs of students and employers; (4) Entire schools and teams of teachers have launched successful projects to combine academic and CT learning. Many such projects are described in this newsletter; (5) Schools are using students' interest in current topics such as crime scene investigation to engage them in learning; and (6) Teachers are using project-based alternative assessments.