Erik and Becki sit down with Andrew Zimdars, Director of Partner Services at GPS Education Partners, for a myth-busting look at the future of work-based learning and talent pipelines.

Andrew shares bold insights into why the traditional four-year degree isn’t the only path to prosperity and why Wisconsin employers must shift gears to survive the “silver tsunami” of retirements. Vibrant stories from the front lines reveal how technical education is transforming students, businesses, and communities.

Andrew’s direct perspective on generational change, soft skills, and the immersive apprenticeship model offers a powerful roadmap for business leaders navigating the shrinking labor pool.

Episode Highlights:

04:03 - Everybody's heard about the millennial student debt thing, right? We all went to college for the experience instead of the pathway. And I think more and more students are feeling the pressure to know what they want to do when they get out of high school and to figure out, like, am I going to go to college? Am I going to go in the workforce? What do I want to be when I grow up? So, work-based learning provides them an opportunity to, at a low stakes, figure out, like, what they're good at, what are they interested in, what they want to do after high school, what are their skill sets?

08:22 - I think as a generality it's kind of seeing a student that comes in very immature, thinks they know what they want to do. Some career interest survey at the high school told them they were going to do this or that. Kind of felt like they had it figured out. And then to kind of be able to see that evolution of growth, to be just more informed and mature when they graduate. I think that's one kind of success that always stands out to me.

13:06 - They spend half of the day there finishing their high school curriculum, graduating with a diploma from their home high school because they maintain the status of being a student at the high school they're at. And the ed center has a bunch of different kids from a bunch of different high schools there. And then the rest of the day, we put them into a youth apprenticeship and they have to work and get skills through that and experience through that. What's really cool is that this kind of work-based learning, full circle happens where in the classroom they're being coached on things that are going to happen at the job. And then the employers are giving us feedback on what's happening at the job, and then we coach them in the classroom.

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