Integrating academic and career tech curriculum is one of the primary objectives of the Carl Perkins Vocational Education Act (1998 reauthorization) and a guiding principle of the School to Work Opportunities Act. It has proven to be an invaluable approach to teaching, and educators across the nation have experienced firsthand how the application of interdisciplinary and team teaching enhances student achievement. Yet, with all of these positives, there are still stumbling blocks in the process. How to make it work? In this paper, the experiences of Kristine Ann Waslar, an academic instructor of earth science and environmental science at Penta Career Center in Perrysburg, Ohio, with more than 15 years of experience in the field of interdisciplinary and team teaching, are described. She began working at Penta in 1989, and was part of a "new way" of teaching academics in career tech education. Waslar states, "At Penta, we worked really hard at building relationships with the career teachers. We [the academic teachers] spent a great deal of time with the career teachers in the labs, learning the technical curriculum. Many times we learned concepts right along with the students; or, even better, the students taught us! When the career teachers realized we were willing to do what it would take to present the technical concepts in our math, English and science classes, the working relationship improved. Career teachers taught the math, science and English concepts right along with us in the academic classroom."