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Building Futures: Career Pathways for Ohio Students · At the Table

• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to At the Table, a podcast by the Ohio Leadership Advisory Council.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Dr.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: Elizabeth Lawley, co-director of OLAC.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: This is a space where Ohio education leaders come together to explore timely and relevant topics shaping leadership, learning, and school improvement across the state.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: Whether you're a superintendent, principal, coach, or classroom teacher, there's a seat for you here.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: Let's get started.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: Today, my guest is Rob Gonda, who is the Director for College and Career Success at the ESC of Central Ohio.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: Rob, you've done a lot of professional learning series sessions for us, and you've always provided such great information for everyone.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: So I want to thank you so much for coming on today and sharing your expertise with us again.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for being here.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_01: Wonderful.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for having me.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: Are there new things that you know, as we close down one year, you know, we're always planning for the next year.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: Are there new things or things that are that are taking shape now at the ESC in your area that would be something that we want to share with people that are listening to this podcast?
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_01: You know, uh for us, uh really how do we best serve our member districts and then really thinking about what is next to provide more opportunities for students.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_01: So two things come to mind.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_01: One are pre-apprenticeships.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, my particular division, we spend a lot of time thinking about how we can provide more opportunities for all kids.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_01: And pre-apprentips are an absolutely wonderful opportunity to have one-on-one relationships with businesses and also to really get to kids' interests where they are able to explore something and figure out if they like it, not like it.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_01: And if they do like it, go on to a registered apprenticeship and continue that post-graduation.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, the other thing is uh we were recently named uh the uh Career Pathway Support Network for Central Ohio.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_01: And this is an initiative uh by the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, uh almost a recreation of the tech prep model that hasn't been in existence for uh decades.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_01: And so we've teamed up with the legacy tech prep in Central Ohio and are now providing more opportunities, not just for our member districts, but for the 11 county central Ohio region.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, excellent.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: That that's a great expansion, if you will, uh a way to get more people involved and more students involved.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: That's wonderful to know that.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: There's so many opportunities for students today that weren't there whenever I entered education first.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um could you describe for us some of the um options that exist today that that possibly didn't exist even five to ten years ago?
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know, I was recently at a meeting uh uh hosted by Jobs Ohio where they talked about the last 15 years, we've seen significant growth in Ohio.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_01: It used to be around 2011, we were ranked 48th, 45th as a state to do business in.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_01: Well, now, fast forward to 2025, we are a top five state.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_01: We are number one in the Midwest as far as a place to do business.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_01: And so, with that kind of growth statewide, we are seeing more opportunities for students.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_01: And so what that looks like is our career technical education centers exploding with numbers, which is great.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: They are doing absolutely wonderful work.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_01: But how do we even get more kids involved into things that they're interested in to make sure that the workforce that we need in Ohio with all this expansion is ready to take those jobs?
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_01: And that's great because we want our students when they graduate with their diploma to have opportunity, right?
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_01: Whether they go on to college for that opportunity, whether they go right into the workforce or take a different pathway, what are all those things that are there?
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so what I'm seeing in particular is an emphasis on high-quality work-based learning, uh, which means that kids are having prolonged experiences with a business.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_01: They're interacting with that business, they're trying the job out, uh, figuring out do they like it, do they not like it?
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, we're seeing uh many more opportunities as far as career-connected learning opportunities, starting at the elementary all the way through.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_01: And this real thought of what are those core memories that we want students to remember about the events that we are having around jobs and college and what the future looks like.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_01: So, what is what does that look like in third grade and fourth grade and seventh grade and on to high school?
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_01: It doesn't just happen once they have a diploma.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_01: It needs to start earlier so kids really know what those opportunities are.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: I I agree with you.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we used to try and have a curriculum that was in place for kindergarten through eighth grade for job experiences and not necessarily real job experiences, but career experiences that they would remember.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: And we tried not to duplicate them over time and just made sure that they were available for those students so they would learn about those careers as they as they moved up um through the uh grade levels and and got that experience.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: One of the things that you said um a couple of minutes ago was about um these uh pre-apprenticeships and and these work experiences that we wanted our students to have.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: Are you finding it difficult to find businesses or um organizations that will take the large number of students that we have who need to do a pre-apprenticeship or need to have some job experiences?
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: Are you finding it difficult to have find those types of partners?
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_01: Uh not difficult to find the partners.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_01: I think the challenge comes in what does this look like?
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_01: And again, many of our business partners, uh, they did not go in thinking, okay, I'm going to have my talent pipeline come from teenagers.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_01: I'm going to be working on the adult workforce side of things.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_01: So what does that look like when I'm working with a 16-year-old?
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_01: What does that look like in my work environment?
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_01: How am I able to give them an experience?
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes they can't do some things because of their age, that maybe they can't work with a particular tool or something of that nature.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_01: But what can I do to expose them enough that they really understand what the job entails so they are able to make an informed choice moving forward?
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_01: Uh we say a lot, uh, both to our K-12 partners and to our business partners, that every student is going to have a career.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_01: In fact, every student.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_01: What we're trying to do is make sure that those students go into a career they want to go into, not a career that chooses them because of, you know, maybe it's a life situation or they weren't informed or they didn't have those experiences.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_01: And so when we start to have those conversations with the businesses, okay, so let's take a look at what's happening in your business and what are those core foundational things that you need from them.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_01: And it might be formalized training, like an industry-recognized credential that they need to earn while they're in high school.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_01: Or it might just be, hey, they need to understand what durable skills are and understand, you know, what it means to be on time, how to communicate uh effectively, how to interact with other adults in a professional manner.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_01: So what does that look like?
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_01: So we spend a lot of time talking about just what does that experience look like?
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_01: And once we've defined that, what we're finding is that our businesses are like, great, sign me up, and we'll start slow.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_01: One or two students.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_01: Then it grows to five, then it grows to 10.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_01: So we're really making sure that we are setting up both the students that are going into that experience and the businesses for success.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: That's excellent.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: And that's an excellent model uh to follow.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: So congratulations on that.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um with schools seeing more and more attendance issues since COVID, how do you think that career readiness and a focus on tech prep supports better student attendance?
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know, we we know that's a multifaceted uh topic, uh, but it really comes down to relevance, right?
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_01: So when we make the educational experience relevant to the student, we know that they are going to want to attend, that they're going to be more attentive.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_01: And so when I think about a workforce experience or a career-connected learning experience, that's what we're trying to do is make it relevant.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_01: And every great teacher does this, right?
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_01: I'm teaching math, I'm teaching social studies, I'm teaching language arts.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_01: Why is this important?
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_01: What is that?
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_01: What's the purpose of that?
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, sometimes it's I'm going to be able to think critically and be able to analyze something at a very deeper level, which will then help me translate into something else down the road.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_01: Or it might be much more, okay, you need to understand this foundational math concept because you'll use this in coding down the road.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_01: So always making it relevant.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_01: What we find though, for some kids, they need something that's more tactile.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_01: They need something that's more hands-on, they need to be able to see what that looks like.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_01: And so what we're seeing as a shift in a good way is what does that junior and senior year of high school really look like, especially for the kids who have their academics, their graduation requirements done?
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_01: What other experiences can we give them that will carry on to college or maybe right into employment?
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: Taking this uh in a different way, and you may or may not be able to address this.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um, is there any work at the uh Department of Ed on changing those graduation requirements so that the junior and senior year of high school are more career focused or focused on what's going to happen after I leave the building, uh, the high school building?
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know about changes, but I do know that the new graduation requirements that have been in effect for the last couple years are addressing both what does it look like from an academic standpoint to honor those kids who achieve at a very high level, whether it be an honors diploma or you know, recognize them that them because they've done well on the ACT, SAT, et cetera.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_01: But what does that also look like when they go into the military?
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_01: What does that look like when they complete a pre-apprentip?
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_01: What does it look like when they do 250 work-based learning hours and earn the Ohio Means Job Readiness Seal?
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_01: So they do have things embedded in the graduation requirements to show that students are ready for life once they have that diploma.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_01: And then just this past year, uh the report card has a new measure called the College Career Workforce Military Readiness Measure that is actually officially graded now.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_01: And so what that means is districts are getting a glimpse into are all students ready to for life after graduation?
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_01: And what I really like about this particular measure, it's one-to-one, right?
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_01: So the student uh is able to demonstrate it or they're not, and they have lots of ways they could demonstrate it.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_01: But that gives you a sense of are we getting to all kids, not just their diploma, but what does this look like through graduation?
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_01: What does this look like in the next step of their journey and into a professional career?
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: We see that the current governor's focus is really on bringing opportunities into Ohio.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: He's done a great job of bringing different industry and different opportunities here.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: How do you think that um career readiness and career development actually, and tech prep, of course, uh support his vision and the work that he's trying to do in Ohio?
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know, the governor's workforce board uh really focusing in on what are programs that we could put out there uh to help all Ohioans reach their full potential, right?
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_01: So whether you're looking at a tech cred or you're looking at an IMAP program, which provides an opportunity to earn credentials for free and to really skill up and go into a new career, those are direct things that the governor's office is putting out there that can be taken advantage of both at the high school level, but also when they graduate and they're thinking about what is my next step?
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm not quite maybe ready for college.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_01: Was that that look like?
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_01: I think the other thing, though, is a real focus, and again, through the Department of Education and Workforce, which was also a change that happened a couple of years ago with that uh name edition, is what does a career-connected learning look like, K-12, and how do we support that, right?
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, this career pathway support network that I mentioned earlier on will have a very specific focus on two things to start with, and that's middle school career technical education.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_01: We know that when students are exposed at the middle school level, they know that they have other opportunities when they go into high school and what those opportunities are.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_01: And then career advisoring and mentoring.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_01: So, how does a student know what opportunities actually exist out there?
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_01: We have absolutely wonderful school counselors throughout our entire state.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_01: There's just not enough of them.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_01: And so, how do we make sure that that advising and mentoring is happening with all those adult, those trusted adults uh that are in our school system to say, here's what's next.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_01: Here's those journeys.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, one of the initiatives that I know that the governor um supported the last couple of years and supporting again is teacher workforce boot camps.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_01: So those teacher workforce boot camps are meant to expose K-12 teachers to careers that they might never have seen, right?
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_01: How do you know what it looks like to be in a advanced manufacturing facility?
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_01: What does it look like in a clean room when you're putting one of those bunny suits on?
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_01: And what's that?
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_01: What does it mean to be in a modern construction environment?
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_01: And what does that mean?
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_01: That if teachers are exposed to those things, they can do two things.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_01: One, they can relate that back to the lessons that are happening in their classroom.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_01: But more importantly, when little Tim is in the hallway and you're having that conversation as a trusted adult, have you ever thought about doing this?
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_01: Let me tell you about this experience that I had, and and maybe I can help shepherd you into what that might particular that particular career could look like for you.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_00: I remember years and years ago in the Middletown City Schools, and I believe it was in cooperation with the the Middletown Chamber of Commerce, and I could be wrong about that because the the details are somewhat foggy.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_00: But every summer um there was a group that came together and they visited the different industries and businesses in Middletown, and they learned what they did and uh learned about what the what the products were that they had.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: And I can't I can't remember if it was called Leadership Middletown or something different.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, that's sticking in my head, but I I'm not recalling that.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_00: That seems to be something that you're talking about, only this is much more in depth.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know, the one the program that we run, uh we go to eight different industries over the course of a of a week, and then we partner with uh Ashton University in this case uh to think about how do you embed this into your classroom?
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_01: So now it's not just about the experience, it's about what does that look like when you go back to your K, you know, your kindergarten classroom, your middle school classroom.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_01: What does that look like as next?
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_01: And I will tell you this very popular, not just with the businesses that we are are interacting with, but also our local chambers.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you mentioned them.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_01: Uh they are our partner, uh, the Columbus Chamber of Commerce uh partners with us on this particular initiative because they see the importance of if we're growing so much, if we're expanding in all these different industries, you know, we need to make sure that the adults who are interacting with our children, with our students, uh understand what's actually out there and opportunities that might not have existed just five years ago.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_00: Well, connecting that relevancy of the occupation, the job, the business, whatever, to my classroom and having me understand how I can actually connect the two is so valuable.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_00: Is that being replicated any place that you're aware of outside of your area?
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, throughout the state, these uh boot camps uh do exist.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_01: And again, some are being run by other ESCs, some are uh being run by other chambers and organizations, but yes, this is being replicated uh throughout the state.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_01: And if it's not something in your area, uh those are things to ask, right?
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_01: Those are things maybe to ask your school district saying, hey, can we have those experiences?
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um couple years ago, we worked with a district to take one of their professional development days at the high school level, and and the high school staff went out to all the different businesses and then they came back and talked about what do you what do you go through?
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_01: What did that look like for you?
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but another wonderful resource that we need to make sure we mention is our career technical centers.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_01: They they want to do this as well.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_01: They want to help and be that partner, and they should be uh that partner along the way, because again, they could be that training site for that student down the road.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_01: And so when they you partner with those career technical centers and they're able to say, have you thought about this?
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_01: or we have a business connection that maybe can help with that.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_01: That's that's a wonderful relationship that every district uh needs to be able to mine as much as possible.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_00: I'd like for you to take a second and put on your futuristic hat.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_00: I want you to to uh think about this, and you probably have many times before.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_00: What changes do you anticipate in schools as it relates to workforce readiness?
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_00: What do you see coming on the horizon for school curriculum, school um activities, that sort of thing?
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I for me uh the academic requirements are absolutely essential to make sure that we have a literate uh society, right?
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_01: So they need to make sure, you know, those found fundamentals absolutely have to be there, uh, even with AI, even with the advents of those things, understanding how things work, understanding the foundation, uh, understanding what it means to put a great sentence together, understanding what it means to be and be able to write a story is very essential.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_01: Where I see the future going, though, is how do we embed more of the career workforce into every single classroom, right?
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_01: What is that real world experience that you're able to articulate and maybe use in your particular uh chosen field of expertise?
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_01: And it can't be left to a class that a student selects.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_01: It has to be exposed to all students.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_01: And again, we're unique.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_01: Our state's unique.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_01: We are growing.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, one of the demographics that's growing the fastest is that 22 to 43-year-old, that working class uh that we have in Ohio is growing throughout the state.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, Columbus, Ohio, this region, 90% of the growth that's happening in Ohio is happening in central Ohio.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_01: So we we are feeling all these companies that are coming in, the Hondas, the Intels, the Andrels that are coming in, but it's all the businesses around that.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_01: So when we have all this opportunity, how are we making sure students understand what that looks like?
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_01: What do you mean I could get my college degree paid for by starting out in this company?
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_01: Or boy, I can, if I just get this certificate, or maybe my associate degree from maybe one of my uh community colleges, I can have access to a career that pays really well, a living wage now, and continue my education moving forward.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_01: So I see that blending happening more and more.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_01: And as I mentioned before, that junior and senior year, what is that, what does that really look like?
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_01: And there's wonderful capstone projects out there, there's wonderful uh internships, but more.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_01: All students having that exposure.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_01: How do we redefine those those last couple years to use all that wonderful information that they've gained through their time within the district?
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_00: And it sounds like to me that we also need to to think about if we're going to try and change what the junior and senior year looks like and what actually education across the board, considering workforce development, looks like.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna have to do something different in our colleges, in our in our teacher prep programs.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_00: Because coming out of college, I didn't know how to integrate uh anything other than the uh chosen field that I was in, the jobs that I knew about, not the jobs that are were futuristic or not the jobs that I didn't know about.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't know how to integrate that into my classroom.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_00: So it seems to me that that universities need to be thinking about okay, what do we need to do in our instruction to do what you're doing in The boot camps and connecting to make the experience of the of the college graduate different from whenever it was a college graduate in in 1978.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_00: You know.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_00: What are your thoughts about that?
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know, I have had some interactions with our local universities, and I know that is a topic that they are tackling.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_01: Good.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_01: You know, what is what does business look like in a particular college?
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_01: And how do we make sure that that is those concepts of what's next are sharpened within that college?
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_01: And in the college of education, you know, what does it look like to have a career-connected learning?
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_01: Right?
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_01: What does that language look like?
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_01: And then what is the system that needs to be in place within that K-12 experience?
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, it's one part the colleges doing their part to expose them to what career connected learning is.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_01: But then on the K-12 side, what is the system that we have in place?
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_01: And we have so many wonderful pockets of things that are happening in every one of our districts throughout the state of Ohio.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_01: But is there a cohesive, connected learning concept, K-12, uh, that we can really hang our hats on and say, we know that little Tim has gone through these 10 experiences, and we know that he knows his interests, he knows his aptitude, he's had these experiences, he knows he could go to college, he could go into the military, he can go into employment.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_01: What does that system look like?
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_01: Now, that's gonna take some time, right?
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_01: Because there's a lot going on in education and especially teacher preparation.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_01: But if you can make something relevant, uh, you and I both know also uh discipline goes down in the classroom, things get a little bit easier that way.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_01: So I think it's a both and that we need to make sure that our outcoming, our new educators are prepared to have those conversations because it's only going to help them.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_00: You know, years ago, uh when my sons were in high school, we had the career passport uh where they had to do certain things, they had to be able to write a resume, and it and it turned into the backpack program.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_00: But I don't see that as having caught on um across the state.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know if your if your view of that is is more expanded than mine, but I don't hear a lot about that in schools.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um I don't hear people talking about, oh, they went on to the uh website and and created the student backpacks for them to put their things in there that had been in the career passport, uh, you know, where they had the resume, they had letters of um application that they practiced on, um, their their resumes, if you will, all of that were in those career passports.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_00: Is is my perception of that wrong, or do we need to do more work with that?
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_01: Our districts are doing a nice job with that.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_01: Great.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um they might be using a purchase program that they have.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_01: Uh some of them that are out there uh do allow you know the college letters of recommendation to be generated, the resumes that you talked about, uh collection of their work-based learning hours or experiences.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_01: And it looks different district to district uh depending on what they've they've purchased or used.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_01: Uh the Ohio Me's job uh uh backpack uh is still there.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, there's a new system called Portfolio that is also going to try to help with the tracking of the graduation uh seals and the work-based learning and some of those kind of things.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_01: So it is definitely an area that our districts know that students need to have that exposure.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_01: They need to know how to access that tool.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_01: And that's an example where AI is really helping, right?
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, new things that we're seeing with uh artificial intelligence.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, what if you're going into an interview and you can have a back and forth with an AI bot and have questions asked to you and be able to have that conversation?
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_01: Or what if they draft a resume?
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_01: Could you give me some tips and tricks on what will make this more relevant if I'm applying for this job?
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_01: So that's evolving as well.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_01: But definitely uh the leaders that I've talked to and interacted with, they they do see the importance of not only that aspect, but also the durable skills.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_01: Being able to articulate, communicate, think critically, understanding uh what their particular interests are and how those interrelate, those are also very, very important.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_01: And we're seeing some real intentionality of how are we teaching this?
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_01: And then once we've taught it, what's a demonstration of what this looks like?
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_01: So we know that they've got it.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_01: It's not just a lesson that was done in an advisory period or home room.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_01: It's something that we've done multiple times, and students are able to demonstrate they actually have mastery of that.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_01: Excellent.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um, before we close, could you talk a little bit about the credentialing process or ideas and maybe specifically how that supports uh what we're trying to do with our workforce development?
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so our industry recognized credentials that are part of the system really go all the different career pathways, right?
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_01: So students are able to get specific skills, maybe a CompTIA networking, or you know, maybe it's a SurveSafe or an OSHA 10.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_01: They're able to go through specific courses and gain those skills that will help them in a job setting.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, over the last couple years, uh, there's been a real focus on how do we help students earn enough of these that are relevant so they can go right into employment if they've earned those.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_01: So it's a 12-point credential that's been grouped together.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, right now, the state, actually, after the first of the year, uh, as part of House Bill 96, they're going to be looking at the industry recognized credentials again because they want to make sure that they are relevant, right?
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_01: So, students earning credentials that don't go into a local business, that doesn't make sense uh for us to continue to do those.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so what does that look like?
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_01: So each community almost has to take a look at the industries that are happening uh around them, and then can they match those credentials that will help them having have that student earn that so they can go into an entry-level job ready to go on to what's next?
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_01: So we've have seen some shifts and changes with that.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_01: We anticipate some positive shifts and changes with that.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_01: Again, when we talk about a pre-apprenticeship that I started off with, uh part of that program is you have to earn an industry-recognized credential that is relevant to that field as part of that experience.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_01: So they are embedded there.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, but real positives that you can see will translate into opportunities for kids.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, the other thing I would mention with these is we're seeing them also being embedded into a classroom.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_01: Some of the industry recognized credentials are about leadership or about maybe it's that Lean Six Sigma grouping.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_01: So, what does that look like in a business classroom?
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_01: What does that look like into a different classroom?
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_01: Can you embed those?
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_01: So it's not one more thing, it's just adding to the curriculum that's already there and enhancing that for the kids.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_00: And and I really, I really like that leadership piece because everybody, everybody, no matter what your job level is, has to be a leader today.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_00: So I really like that.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um I want to thank you so much for sharing your expertise and being here with us today.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, you always present so much information whenever you do one of our professional learning uh series sessions for us, and I really appreciate that.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_00: And I know the audience will appreciate this.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_00: So thank you so much for being with us today.
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for having me.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um thank you for joining us at the table.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Dr.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_00: Elizabeth Lawley, and it's been a pleasure to have you with us.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_00: If you found today's conversation valuable, be sure to subscribe and share with your colleagues.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_00: For more leadership tools and professional learning resources, visit OhioLeadership.org.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_00: And until next time, keep leading with purpose.