Shownotes
"This was a a really strong convening then for employers and education to to better communicate and then plan on how to improve that connectivity between graduating students and employment."
We welcome guest experts John Hambrick, Work-Based Learning Coordinator at the Educational Service Center (ESC) of Central Ohio, and Lauren Stowe Jones, Senior Director of K-12 Partnerships at Columbus State Community College.
John Hambrick, who moved to Columbus in 1998, transitioned from a background in education and restaurant industry work into non-profit roles, ultimately leading him to his current position in workforce development at ESC of Central Ohio. The Educational Service Center serves 30 member school districts across eight counties, working to bridge the gap between K-12 education and industry needs.
Lauren Stowe Jones started her educational journey as a 7th-grade teacher in Boston but returned to Central Ohio due to high living costs. She joined Columbus State Community College, where she worked on reforming developmental education to reduce the need for remedial courses. Presently, she oversees 10,000 high school students taking college credit courses through the College Credit Plus program. This significant initiative offers free college courses to high school students, impacting their educational pathways.
Both guests emphasize preparing students for future job markets by aligning educational programs with evolving industry demands in Central Ohio. They highlight dual enrollment and teacher education programs as critical strategies. Lauren discusses how dual enrollment influences teaching demographics and necessitates changes in teacher preparation to deploy educators quickly and support their continuous development. John highlights Ohio's emphasis on expanding registered apprenticeship programs, especially to address teacher shortages, and mentions the creation of teacher academies in school districts as pre-apprenticeships.
Ohio's alternative licensure models are also a focal point, creating pathways for veterans and industry professionals to enter teaching roles. John outlines significant state funding to support education, including a $100 million investment from the Ohio legislature for career technical education equipment and workforce boot camps. While the full impact of these initiatives on students remains to be seen, the guests express optimism about creating more informed and prepared students.
The conversation turns to the integration of technology, particularly the role of AI, in education. AI is viewed as a complement to traditional teaching methods rather than a replacement. Teachers will need to adapt, and educational policies will have to guide the use of AI in schools. Community involvement is also essential, with partnerships between colleges, businesses, and economic development sectors shaping educational messages and providing resources.
Educational innovation is discussed, including the creation of innovation labs equipped with VR, 3D printers, and augmented reality tools. These efforts aim to provide equitable access to technology for all students. Programs like the Intel project highlight economic development activities, with a need to communicate future manufacturing and economic opportunities to the community. Columbus State has introduced career educators focused on in-demand industries and developed tailored educational materials for various audiences to spread awareness about regional career opportunities.
Partnerships with economic development partners are crucial to bring business insights into the educational realm, helping prepare students for new career pathways. Emerging technologies, smart mobility, and connected technology in Central Ohio are also highlighted, with resources provided by entities like the Department of Transportation and DriveOhio. Columbus State’s advanced training center in New Albany serves as a hub for technology and business-education interactions.
We take a look at a shift in educational focus, integrating career relevance within disciplines and emphasizing the need for continuous learning and adaptability in response to rapid technological changes, particularly post-COVID-19. The importance of critical thinking skills in employability contexts is underlined, and the discussion covers the need to equip students with broader skill sets necessary for job market readiness.
Dual enrollment programs and career education paths are becoming essential as high school education alone no longer suffices for well-paying jobs. Community colleges play a significant role, providing flexible and tailored programs to transition students into careers efficiently. Initiatives such as the Central Ohio Compact exemplify regional cooperation between K-12, higher education, and employers, facilitating direct feedback loops to ensure education aligns with workforce needs.
Efforts to embed career experiences within regular high school curricula and the importance of early exposure to career pathways are discussed. Programs like those initiated by Columbus State in response to the semiconductor industry's needs exemplify the dynamic relationship between educational institutions and employers. Emphasizing advanced manufacturing, now reframed as "advanced technology," reflects a need for continuous training for competitiveness.
Lastly, we talk about the challenges like securing funding for training programs and addressing the shortage of teaching staff in advanced technologies. Overall, proactive collaboration between educational institutions, businesses, and the community is essential to successfully prepare the next generation for the workforce.
Key Moments
09:11 College experiences vary; continuous education ensures success.
12:14 Developing semiconductor program: industry collaboration, curriculum expansion.
18:44 Building career pathways through school-employer partnerships.
24:15 Central Ohio hospitals collaborated for student healthcare event.
28:00 AI demands rapid adaptation in higher education.
32:16 Training is essential beyond high school education.
41:39 Lack of teaching staff and effective training.
43:36 Competitive rates, affordability, and opportunities in education.
48:17 Funding enhances educational pathways and career training.
54:25 Creative tech in education: VR, AI crucial.
01:00:11 Promoting career awareness in Central Ohio schools.
01:06:47 Addressing barriers for underserved students' education success.
01:09:43 Education evolving; encourage parental involvement and awareness.
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Recorded in Studio C at 511 Studios. A production of Circle270Media Podcast Consultants.
Copyright 2024 Carol Ventresca and Brett Johnson
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Transcripts
We are looking forward our way from Studio C in the 511 Studios. That's in the Brewery District just south of downtown Columbus, Ohio. Hi. This is Brett. Central Ohio continues to grow in population and with it job opportunities. With the creation of server farms, chip facilities, and many other quote unquote clean manufacturing locations, local job seekers will have incredible choices. Today, we're gonna discover the training opportunities that will prepare Central Ohioans for tomorrow's jobs.
Carol Ventresca [:Brett, you know, we are going to have a wonderful conversation today with 2 well known experts in workforce development and training from our community. So let's welcome John Hambrick, Work-Based Learning Coordinator, Educational Service Center (ESC) of Central Ohio. John, it can't get any longer than that.
John Hambrick [:It's not. We we we and also we love Central Ohio and most of our names
Carol Ventresca [:Yes.
John Hambrick [:Or organizational titles here
Carol Ventresca [:in Central Ohio. Exactly. And our other guest is Lauren Stowe Jones, Senior Director, K-12 Partnerships, Columbus State Community College. Thank you both for joining us. Happy to be here.
Brett Johnson [:John and Lauren, you've both been busy creating and implementing new educational and training opportunities for Central Ohioans first, But we would like to hear more about you, you know, your background and how you moved into this realm. John, kick it off for us.
John Hambrick [:Sure. Thanks. And, I moved to Columbus in 1998. Restaurant brought me to to Columbus, even though I graduated, with a education degree to teach secondary education and then a master's degree to to eventually be a principal. But somewhere along the way, restaurant took took the path right right right out of college, and that that's what led me to Central Ohio. Great experience working in private industry for a number of years then led into nonprofit, but that nonprofit work started to blend and weave into workforce development. So many years ago when we had an organization called COEX, Central Ohio Workforce Investment Corporation, which is now the home of the Ohio Means Jobs job center, I aligned with them to help job seekers to get really cool opportunities, whether that's to be reemployed, to help better employment, training, provider to help them be, better upskilled. And so that path just kinda whether it was through the OhioMeansJob System, I later joined the state as 20 workforce boards.
John Hambrick [:So I joined our workforce development board here, in Central Ohio, for many years, and then that led it just such a great confluence of of relationships led to this work into the k twelve space. So helping, here in Central Ohio, business and industry, economic development, our great training providers to help better, bridge the gap into k twelve across that gamut. And then and then the other way when k 12 raises their hand, to be able to work with business and industry. So, yeah, I've been doing workforce development for for a little while here in the region.
Carol Ventresca [:And, John, you know, a lot of folks haven't heard of the educational service center of Central Ohio. That's a statewide network, national network.
John Hambrick [:So that that's a for us, it's a statewide network. Right. There are over 50 ESCs, throughout the state of Ohio. We are a part of the governor's line item, budget. And then, us in our region, we serve over 30 member school districts. We have an 8 county footprint, Franklin County going out. And then, gosh, we we do so many different things to support school districts so then they could do their ultimate goal, and that is to help educate our youth. And so about 5 years ago, they they added a workforce component, but it was called college and career success.
John Hambrick [:Mhmm. And so that's how I joined the organization through that, bringing the workforce development experiences and relationships to help our schools be better prepared Right. And to better implement programming to have this this emerging workforce in in the schools to be ready to go out and about.
Carol Ventresca [:And and what a wonderful jewel in our community that many of us don't know about. And so thank you so much for joining us today.
John Hambrick [:You bet. Thank you.
Carol Ventresca [:So, Lauren, tell us about your work and you and and about you.
Lauren Stowe Jones [:Yeah. Sure. So I started as a 7th grade teacher. My first job was in Boston Public Schools, very, green to the field and, kind of baptism by fire with 7th grade, English and humanities out in Boston. Loved that job, loved working in Boston, and ultimately, had that moment where I thought, can I afford to stay a teacher and live in Boston? And, of course, the answer was no, pretty quickly there. So when I moved back to Central Ohio, which is my hometown, I decided to apply lots of different places. One of them was Columbus State, and I thought, you know, it'd be interesting to teach college. I had just received my master's degree from Boston University and really, just thought I'd give it a try.
Lauren Stowe Jones [:Ended up loving it. So loving that higher ed space. And, really, a lot of what I did in higher ed when I was a teacher, was was think about bridging the gap. So my background in 7th grade, I had seen those conversations with teachers where we thought about, well, what has worked from elementary school to middle school? What hasn't? What has worked from middle school to high school? What hasn't? And now, when I started teaching, it was that question of, okay, how does that continuum go on to higher ed? And I started teaching in what is known as developmental education or remedial education. And at Columbus State about at that time, about 80% of our students were taking remedial education in at least one subject, typically mathematics, but not exclusively. So started, really getting into the developmental education world, and then I, moved over to Zanes State College out in rural Zanesville. And right at that time, the Gates Foundation and some others had been investing in developmental education reform. And so we were really looking at how do we sort of blow up the system of developmental education or dev ed as we call it.
Lauren Stowe Jones [:How How do we do things differently? How do we get to the point where students who graduate high school have a high school diploma don't end up needing these remedial courses? And so my beginning in higher ed really came in that space of both teaching and policy, and that policy world was really interesting to me. So I kept kept getting involved in that. Haven't ever been good at keeping my mouth shut.
Carol Ventresca [:Right? So
Lauren Stowe Jones [:had a lot of opinions.
Carol Ventresca [:As a true teacher. Right?
Lauren Stowe Jones [:Yes. Yes. And so, really just enjoyed, that space. Learned a lot at Zane State College. And then when I came back to Columbus State, I taught for, several years, but then ultimately started doing some reassigned work in, boot camps to get students up to college level. And that was with high school students trying to get them to college level so that they could take dual enrollment and take advantage of all that was available there and very slowly. But then all of a sudden, that led to me leaving the classroom behind and going into the administrative world in dual enrollment and what's now known as college credit plus. We have 10,000, over 10,000 unique students that are taking college credit plus with Columbus State right now.
Lauren Stowe Jones [:And, the program has grown so much over time. And and so now I'm still getting to do a lot of that policy work, advocating for different changes to both dual enrollment and then just how do we look at that continuum of education from k twelve all the way through post secondary and into careers.
Carol Ventresca [:That is incredible. And so 10,000 current high school students taking college classes for free. Correct. Correct? No no tuition cost. Gosh, people need to know that. You know, that is amazing. That's just central Ohio.
Lauren Stowe Jones [:That I well, and that's just Columbus State. Those are just students taking that with us and you know we've got 23 community colleges in the state and and more 4 year institutions and where College Credit Plus is provided, it is changing the game of what it means to be a high school student, what it means to be a college student.
Carol Ventresca [:Mhmm.
Lauren Stowe Jones [:And I think that's an interesting space for us to be in. But as educators, it's always a moment of of redefinition and refinement and how do we figure out what's next. Right. So that's always been the space where I want to be.
Carol Ventresca [:And parents need to hear that when you when all they hear on the news is the cost of tuition and student loan debt. Yep. When they could hear this and see what the options are and help their child through elementary and middle school be ready to jump into those kinds of programs, I mean, how many kids do we now know that are getting associate's degrees when they graduate from high school and they can work and do as they please and then when college works, it works.
Lauren Stowe Jones [:That's right. And I think the whole idea of, the typical college experience, it it only exists for a very rare portion of our population. A college student now is a 35 year old who's going back to school after maybe having a degree, but not finding the financial success from it. Or a college student looks like a 17 year old who was maybe bored in high school and was ready for something different, ready for a challenge. And so they're taking their classes full time on a college campus. And just understanding that the point is education to a career, to a living wage, to something that sustains them, and to that idea of continuous training. I don't I don't know of a single job now that wouldn't require some continued training at some point, whether it was through the employer, through a higher ed provider, or some combination of those 2. And so getting into that mindset that, you know, it might be a 10 year degree for a bachelor's degree, but that could include some college credit plus as a high school student going straight to work, going back to college, getting us an associate's degree, getting back to work, and and just continuing that process and potentially even finding ways that the employer can pay for that degree.
Lauren Stowe Jones [:So I think there's a lot of opportunity for young people, and and, not young people that that just aren't well known.
Carol Ventresca [:Right. Right. That was my time at at Ohio State. The my favorite time at Ohio State was doing continuing education and learning that that quip that we all said was lifelong learning and how people are realizing how important that is. So I could go on and on. Let me go to my next question for Lauren. So educational programs have had to move quicker and be more flexible in their learning models. Community colleges, are working with employers on training needs for today's jobs as well as tomorrow's jobs, such as advanced manufacturing, health care, all of those things that we keep seeing in the headlines.
Carol Ventresca [:I've been talking to John about getting somebody to talk about this topic for a long time, so I'm so excited you are both here today. Talk to us about this new it I'm saying new. It's new to me. It's probably not new to Columbus State, but then the flexible certificate program that was created to serve many different industries and the value it holds for both employers and learners.
Lauren Stowe Jones [:Yeah. Yeah. Well, you know, community colleges are are just that. They are for the community. Right? And so when we think about our community, that includes both students and employers. And, you know, I would say Columbus State has a long legacy of of working with industry and taking that feedback in how we create our courses. Most recently, we came together among the 23 community college sector, and formed what was known as the Ohio Semiconductor Collaboration Network. And that network was able to pivot very quickly when we knew that Intel was coming to town, but it was never exclusively about Intel.
Lauren Stowe Jones [:It was about how do we meet the moment of semiconductors. So we know that this is an emerging industry, we know that chip manufacturing is going to be important, and we know that there are a ton of related skills. So when we looked across our degree program, we already had about 80% of the core skills that would be needed in any advanced manufacturing sector, and that really is true across, you know, EV, you know, semiconductor and even biotechnology when you think about some of the different manufacturing components of that. So building off of that 80% of the curriculum, we looked at then how do we need to put in that extra 20% and where does that come from? And what was great about the semiconductor collaboration network is we were able to bring employers to the table, faculty to the table, and very quickly develop a 1 year certificate that could be good for students so that they have a short time to get that certificate, a short time to completion, and then they've got potential for on and off ramps. Because that certificate stacks directly into a 2 year degree, which stacks directly into the ability for a 4 year degree. And so thinking intentionally about how do we build something that requires the least amount of time, but gives the students the most, that they can possibly have to be really attractive for employers like Intel and others. That was really the mindset in creating the certificate. And it's been a fantastic start.
Lauren Stowe Jones [:And even as we look out to the landscape, you know, we've got over 50 students just this semester who are participating in our modern manufacturing work study program. And a lot of what we've had to do over the last several years is think about when we say advanced manufacturing or modern manufacturing, that word manufacturing carries a lot of baggage. It is a difficult thing for a lot of Ohioans to hear when we think about the legacy of manufacturing jobs that have left the state. But this new world that we're in and increasingly we've been leaning on the phrase advanced technology because it really is a tech technician sort of degree, that is hugely important to our region and it's not going away. These are jobs that are going to be enduring, but they're going to take more skills, more training, and, that's where our 1 year certificate came to be. And we're continuing to look across all of our education programs to see what is the right amount of flexibility for students and for employers so that we can get folks into the job market, but also make them very competitive.
Brett Johnson [:John, your focus is on the needs of k through 12 students and their educational school systems, how to prepare children for future employment and enhance workforce programs. So how do your programs feed to and enhance the training programs provided at the community college level for today's jobs and and future opportunities?
John Hambrick [:Sure. So we'll we'll start at a foundational level that, Ohio Department of Education, now aptly named Ohio Department of Education and Workforce. What a great addition to really the mindset of of Ohio that, you know, we are, the heart of it all. Right? And and to include workforce. But to help our educational systems better understand how we wanna get to that post graduation is we created a career connections framework. So we we better understand at the elementary grades, how are we introducing workforce development? How are we introducing, an awareness of future careers? Many might need to be very familiar. Hey. That's when the fire truck showed up.
John Hambrick [:Right? That's when when when the police officer showed up. That's when the nurses showed up. But there's now so much more available, as to Lauren's point, of all of our emerging technology and all of our emerging organizations and companies coming into the region, then how does that shift and improve that awareness component for our elementary grade, not only students, but to help our elementary grade teachers so they can become better stewards of the awareness component. And then we get into the middle grades. Right? So so important for our middle school students to have exploration. How do they better learn, you know, that they can kind of touch it, feel it, see it in that exploration. It's so influential, that, you know, 6th, 7th, 8th grade on how things are going to apply, their path into the high school years. So students in the middle grades have that exploration of going on to a job site.
John Hambrick [:Right? We have many construction companies in in Central Ohio that welcome middle school students to come out, put on a hard hat, and walk around, you know, a job site so they can understate if that understand, at least get the exposure of what that looks like. You know, we have technologists going into or Zooming into classrooms, and allowing an augmented reality experience so then students can see the possibilities. Sure. They're playing Minecraft at home. They know what that looks like on a computer screen, but then when they, you know, embed that with what's happening at Augmented Reality Labs at Honda, wow. Then all of a sudden, you know, the the interest, compounds, and then maybe they're changing how they wanna enroll as a freshman in high school. So then we get them into high school. Right? And this is really that readiness component.
John Hambrick [:How are we having this, about ready emerging workforce be prepared to continue their education, how to continue into workforce, how to continue into an entrepreneurial spirit, or how to continue into one of our military services. Right? And and and to Lauren's point, you know, most things lead to workforce. Mhmm. Really. I mean, ultimately, whether that's that 2 year gap, that 4 year gap, or whatever's happening in school, well, then post graduation lead to workforce. But how are we preparing students at that? You know, we we've got a really good way of having orientation. We have a really good way of helping durable skills at the high school level, and giving them internships. Many that are in the career technical education field, they have a requirement of being out on a job site to help them become, not only prepared, but to develop competencies, you know, within that particular occupational pathway.
John Hambrick [:But how do we take that into the regular high school who they don't necessarily have that designated path of of core classes, employer experiences built in? So we have to develop that to get them ready, for that that next, including community college experience. And so how do we do that? We do that through relationships and developing, these partnerships with these employers that are that have been here for a very long time and then the new employers coming into the into the market. And and so once we once we have an understanding of that awareness to, to the exploration, to the readiness, then we're like, okay. How do we have a path then for students? And that career pathway conversation is really ever increasing. Thank goodness. Because, so I I don't know about, you know, any experiences here, but were you ever asked, in our listeners, you know, you've gotta whether in your own home or yourself when you were a junior or senior in high school, what are you gonna do after graduation? You know? What are
Carol Ventresca [:you gonna be when you grow up? Yeah.
John Hambrick [:You know? And and and oftentimes, it's, I don't know. Mhmm. Well, that that was very true, but we wanna reduce that response Mhmm. By including these career pathways that allow for some readiness, some, skill gain, whatever that looks like, whether that's just durable skill of knowing how to show up on time, how to be a a problem solver, how to be a collaborator, how to be a good a good citizen in your community. Even those core fundamental skills, we wanna develop that in their pathway. And so oftentimes that pathway might include, as Lawrence spoke, of that, CCP, that that college credit class that students are taking because they're advancing in engineering or they're advancing in their mathematics. You know, however that looks, but that's embedded now and and woven in to what that pathway looks like. And we're seeing a really cool trend, with our regular high schools that they wanna develop this career pathway.
Carol Ventresca [:Mhmm.
John Hambrick [:So they're they're looking at curriculum. They're they're looking at, is this meaningful to help get them through those 4 years ready for really all sorts of really cool opportunities. And if they could identify what that looks like in their sophomore or junior year, then we can we can embed new courses. Again, we'll just take engineering or math or construction or manufacturing or bioscience. Any one of those to embed that into the curriculum that helps them become better prepared eventually then for workforce. So it's a it's a really it's a great question, Brett. I appreciate that because but it's a it's a it's not just a single entity doing this work. It's really our community coming together to to pull these relationships to develop this so students have a clear pathway.
John Hambrick [:So when when they're asked, you know, the night before graduation, so what are you gonna do when you grow? What are you gonna do when you get out of high school? Right?
Carol Ventresca [:Have you been to your career services office yet?
John Hambrick [:You know, we it is our hope that that we've with this collaborative effort allow that student to have the experiences and the resources to be able to give an answer, a very confident answer of what they're gonna do next.
Carol Ventresca [:There was a a article in the paper just recently about the population of Ohio.
John Hambrick [:Mhmm.
Carol Ventresca [:And how we are in dire need of an influx of people. Mhmm. And population numbers are going down. Over and above, all of that doom and gloom information is all of the kids we do have and how we cannot lose any of them. We have to make sure they are all prepared, whatever their path is going to be, whether it's only high school, only community college, or beyond, if they wanna be a lawyer, they wanna be a doctor whatever. That not one kid can we lose in the system. We have to hold on to each of them. And before we started podcasting today, we talked about the STEM program.
Carol Ventresca [:I'm giving a big shout out to Girl Scouts of Ohio's Heartland and and, Tammy Wharton and her and her crew. This phenomenal STEM program that is going to serve kids and we have a lot of those kinds of programs that we really need to support as community members so that all of our children, regardless of not just k through 12, k through 16, k through whatever, are and and adults are going to have the opportunities.
John Hambrick [:And we're seeing through, the state of Ohio, through the governor's office of workforce transformation, a really incredible movement of industry sector partnerships Mhmm. To help with that. So, you know, we see statewide sector partnerships in mining manufacturing through the Ohio Manufacturing Association. We're seeing that regionally in construction. We're seeing that regionally in health care. We're seeing that statewide in information technology. Of these business partners, of these training providers, and of facilitators coming together recognizing that, you know, that it is a need for us to come together to develop that workforce so all students have not only that viable opportunity, but they've had a really cool exposure and experience into that. And I'll just give one brief example if I might in the health care.
John Hambrick [:Mhmm. Here in Central Ohio, we have the health care career collaborative of Central Ohio. So that's our 4 hospital systems, Ohio State Medical Center, Ohio State University Medical Center, Mount Carmel, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Ohio Health, and 2 provider systems. And last year, those 6 organizations came together as an industry sector partnership and developed a single day hands on event for high school freshmen. So these were, I mean, roughly 30 to 50 volunteers from each of those organizations came together at the convention center along with, you know, over $1,000,000 worth of the newest medical technology for those kiddos to have a hands on experience. And for many, as as they were sharing at for post interviews, life changing experience because now they've they've seen something that they had not seen before, and it wasn't just a nurse, and it wasn't just a doctor.
Carol Ventresca [:And and they can do it.
John Hambrick [:And that they absolutely can do it.
Carol Ventresca [:And they can do it.
Lauren Stowe Jones [:They see themselves in that.
John Hambrick [:That's huge. They do that. Right? And so not only with that hands on experience, but we we carry that further. Hey. Look. You can go 2 years at Columbus State. And then now even with the the coolest partnerships that then that can carry into a 4 year with already 2 years at Columbus State into Ohio State University. I mean these partnerships are developing because it's what we need to do.
John Hambrick [:It's not just what we want to do but we need to do that and that's happening here in the region.
Carol Ventresca [:Well, so this really feeds into my next question and as I mentioned I did continuing ed at Ohio State for over 20 years and we used to do what was the precursors to workforce to today's workforce development programs. But the biggest problem at the university at the time is, one of many big problems at the university at the time, the faculty were not into doing you know I'm not teach I'm teaching my subject, I'm not teaching somebody a job, but also they could not move curriculum fast enough to to meet the needs of employers. What's different now? What is going on that we can do that? Is it that the faculty and institutions are more attuned, or is it that employers are better understanding the needs of what has to happen?
Lauren Stowe Jones [:I would say it's all of the above. Right? I mean, I hear faculty talking about careers and talking about workforce in ways that I didn't when I first started my career over 20 years ago. So I think I do think there's been sort of a shift from my discipline alone and nothing else. It's it's really how does my discipline fit into the ecosystem of a student's life and career. And and
Carol Ventresca [:I think that's good point. That is a
John Hambrick [:good point.
Carol Ventresca [:That I mean, I think that's
Lauren Stowe Jones [:an important shift in in faculty and in, to their credit, just in the education movement overall. And I think part of that shift has come from employer need and from the fast pace of of everything moving. I I think during COVID as well, educators had to move so quickly, and we all saw where something could be flipped almost overnight. Right? We all had to go home. We had to figure out online learning faster than anyone's ever had to do before. And, you know, as difficult as that time was, I think it opened up a possibility that, wow, we can move quickly, and we can change things quickly. And now, I mean, I will say on behalf of my colleagues, we're a little tired. Right? I mean, we are moving so quickly in so many places, but it's the right kind of tired because we know it's what our students need.
Lauren Stowe Jones [:And when you talk about AI or you talk about, you know, the the jobs of tomorrow that we don't even know about, those are going to pop up and we'll have to react, hopefully, proactively, if not in real time. And so that quick pace turnover, it's been a seismic change in higher ed, and I, you know, I I hope it's here to stay. I think it is, so that we can kind of quickly respond to the needs of employers and then also embed in classes. You know, we've always had critical thinking. That's always been important. Right? That's a gen ed skill that has been assessed in higher ed for years. But now we're looking at it as, okay, we're hearing from employers that students need critical thinking. Where does my history class or my philosophy class fit into that? It's clear to the instructor, but how do we make that clear to the employer as well? And I think that that's something that we'll continue to see conversations about in the higher ed landscape.
Carol Ventresca [:I I used to talk to parents of, incoming students at orientation. What what's the value of having a social science degree? And and I would say to them, you know, unless your kid is in an area where they have to get a license, be an engineer, be an accountant, they're they're going to have a lot of options with a lot of overlap, and it it's it's where it's the skills they're learning.
John Hambrick [:Mhmm.
Carol Ventresca [:Such a small part of their overall degree is specific to a discipline. It's all that other stuff that they're learning that's and the experiences that are available to them that are so much more important. And, you know, they're gonna become a history major because they really like history. That's great. But they're learning a whole lot of other stuff that's going to get them into the job market.
Lauren Stowe Jones [:Absolutely. Absolutely. And I think to those, that that work that you do across the the educational spectrum, all of that feeds into the development of who you are. Mhmm. And I think where higher ed has been kind of having having a reckoning lately is just trying to figure out, okay, what's the fastest way we can get students to the the job market? We know that that's a need for both employers and for students, and how do we embed all of those skills across the spectrum. And so that's where you where you see conversations about a 3 year degree, where you see conversations about what is the the math that's required for a 1 year certificate. That may not be, you know, your typical calculus. It may not be what we typically have seen.
Lauren Stowe Jones [:But how do we how do we do right by the students and do right by the employers? And and that's not an easy not an easy answer, but I think that that's been a continuing conversation.
Carol Ventresca [:I got I got to ask one more question. Poor Lauren. I can't I'm I've I've got too many things rolling around in my head all of a sudden. Do you think that part of the ability for us to make these quicker changes are it's also due to our redefining or realigning higher education. When I was started working at Ohio State, you know, Columbus State was for the remedial kids, and they weren't ready to go to the university, and so they got stuck at a at Columbus State. Then by the time I started working in continuing ed, we were telling our continuing ed students, okay. You need this level of calculus, but you can do your remedial math at Columbus State and then come to us.
John Hambrick [:Mhmm.
Carol Ventresca [:So being dual enrollees was not uncommon. Now, we didn't tell the provost that we were telling students that, needless to say, but we we would encourage students, particularly during the summer when something may not have been offered at Ohio State that they could take it at Columbus State. Yeah. Cheaper tuition, faster schedule, get it done. But it it's that that, as I said, redefining of what we see the roles are of the institutions?
Lauren Stowe Jones [:I I think it could be. I I think too, you know, the the American dream of a high school education will get you a good paying job. That is not the reality for many Americans today.
Carol Ventresca [:And at least if it's good pain at the 1st year out of high school, it won't be good pain by the 3rd year out of high school.
Lauren Stowe Jones [:That's right. That's right. And so I think, you know, we've been getting a lot of feedback from school counselors that they they talk a lot about post secondary training. Right? It may not be higher education, but it is going to have to be training somewhere. So if it's not through a community college or a 4 year institution or an OTC, you are going to need training from somewhere to get you to where you want to be long term. And so I think that that understanding that it has to be more than high school in some sort of way, I think that has led to a redefining of again, when we say community, we mean all of the community. And then what does that look like? So we have students that are coming for that 2 plus 2 where they're going straight on to the 4 year school, but also that career technical education training that could get someone directly into a job and then maybe have that job pay for the 4 year degree if that's the way that they want to go. Mhmm.
Lauren Stowe Jones [:And and that expansion of higher ed has really come as a necessity in the sense that that high school alone is just, you know, often not enough for students.
Carol Ventresca [:Thank you.
Brett Johnson [:Ma'am, well, John, while higher ed has been working with employers on new training programs, k through 12 has also had to evaluate the skills young people should have by the time they're ready to graduate. How has the center worked with employers and school systems to ensure workforce programs are ready and available through high school and students can leave their high school job ready?
John Hambrick [:I love it. So, on on a regional level, the educational service center in partnership with Columbus State Community College created the Central Ohio Compact, which really then allowed k 12 throughout the region and higher ed and business partners all to come together to better understand, the the flow of education and then into workforce. And then the workforce to say, hey. This is working. We really appreciate what's coming out of public education for these particular criteria, but we need help in other areas. And so this was a a really strong convening then for employers and education to to better communicate and then plan on how to improve that connectivity between graduating students and employment. And then on a granular level, the state requires that all school districts have a business advisory council. So again, this is the where the really some of the rubber can meet the road of k 12 and business coming together to better understand how how students are being educated and how employers need students to be educated to be ready for the workforce.
John Hambrick [:The EFC as an example though does run a regional business advisory council that then all 30 plus members, not just only our our comprehensive high school districts, but also our career technical planning districts, our CTE schools also are part of this. So they too then can stay connected with business and industry to to say, hey. Look. We're we're coming out with this program. We know that we've got these emerging technology organizations coming in, so we need to change curriculum. We need to adapt to that. And so those employers can say, that is wonderful. Thank you.
John Hambrick [:This is what we like to see included in that curriculum. And then this these are experiences that we are gonna open up for those high school students that we talked about for that workforce readiness component while in high school. We're gonna provide for them these internship opportunities. We're gonna provide for them job shadowing opportunities. We're gonna provide, clinical, however that looks, hands on in the workplace experience to develop those skills and competencies. So I think that's really been important, on on that that kind of macro down to micro of weaving in education and business, but also to help for that student to be workforce ready. The how department of education and workforce shifted graduation requirements. All students need to walk out of the high school with at least 20 credit hours at at a minimum.
John Hambrick [:You know, we're all familiar with credit hours. You gotta take your math, your English, your your your your history, and electives. So you've gotta have that. And and then a second criteria for graduation is really competency. How can you demonstrate that you've learned some of this? Some do it very easily by taking tests. They can they can do their standardized test well. Or if they don't necessarily want to take that bucket inside of there, they could take, CCP courses. Mhmm.
John Hambrick [:Or they could do, like, a pre apprenticeship. Hey. I'm gonna actually, take a particular class, have a particular work based learning experience, and I'm gonna earn a credential that, because of that experience, that that equates to a pre apprenticeship. So so we're doing that. And then the 3rd bucket is students have to earn 2 graduation seals. A very a very high number of students throughout the the region and throughout the state are earning the Ohio means jobs readiness graduation seal. And inside of that, there are key competencies, that students learn. And just to name off a few, punctuality, work ethic, professionalism, learning agility, critical thinking.
John Hambrick [:Lauren, you had mentioned that. Right? Very important. Leadership, innovation, oral and written communication, global fluency, career management, and digital technology literacy. So when a student says, hey. I've earned this graduation seal, which is now adhered to their diploma, There are a total of 12 different graduation seals. So a very, savvy student can earn more than 1. They have to, of course, earn 2, but if if they earn 3 or 4, then all of those seals will be adhered to their their, their diploma. But so we're seeing that that we're the the state is trying to help encourage relationship, partnership, collaboration while having students be able to demonstrate competency and readiness.
John Hambrick [:Is is is it is it perfect? Is is it working as well as maybe business and industry would like right now? Well, that's why you have those advisory councils so they can share, hey. This is what we were really looking for. It it it's the the the business partners and employers and human resource professionals and talent acquisition professionals listening to this you know they're for any of their workforce like hey I want them to show up on time I want them to show up on time clean I want them to show up on time clean and have a little grit. Be ready to work. Right?
Carol Ventresca [:And actually work all day.
John Hambrick [:And and then holy cow. Yeah. Gosh. Put in the agreed amount of powder hours per day. Wonderful. And so these, these attributes that we're helping students develop in high school, we're hoping then, and in some cases, actually are translating into the workforce. So I I those are a couple of the ways, Brett, that we're really trying to
Carol Ventresca [:do that. That kind of a relationship would, I think, also help the school systems because the business folks see success and and are better, cheerleaders for their local school systems, more supportive, working on levy programs likely, those kinds but I would see that that could be a really, wonderful way to not just build partnerships for the outcome of the students, but also to build partnerships for the support of the school systems, which they need.
John Hambrick [:And we're seeing that, you know, throughout the region in any one particular school district on any one particular night during the week. You're seeing maybe a state of the workforce panel, being put forth for parents and families to see these, you know, 3 or 4 business partners that are coming together to be champions of what's happening in the district Exactly. And to be champions of other employers to come into the fold because those panelists, those business leaders are experiencing, you know, the the attributes of what's happening inside of that district. And so, we need more cheerleaders too.
Carol Ventresca [:Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. Oh, so these are great plans. Lots of big programs. And, it's certainly not cheap. Training is not inexpensive. Equipment, software, instructors are all needed for any of these to actually work.
Carol Ventresca [:Where is that influx of funding coming from, and how are your organizations obtaining that funding, and, does the lack of funding limit these opportunities in various areas of our state? So, whoever wants to start, I'm I'd love to hear from both of you. Well It's not easy.
Lauren Stowe Jones [:It's not easy. I you know, I think more, more so than the lack of funding, something that keeps me up at night is the lack of teaching staff. So when we think about advanced technologies, when we think about, IT and the wages that individuals could be making in the workforce versus the wages that they make when they are teaching. That makes me scared because we have a real critical need to have, a whole new set of of faculty to have a whole new set of students that are coming out ready for the workforce. And that's just not something we have enough of yet, and that there are enough programs, yet to upskill high school teachers who want to get credentialed to teach these courses for college credit plus. So continuing to look at at grants and and different funding opportunities to see where can we find the best training for the the faculty and the teaching staff, and then how do we expand and scale that. At Columbus State, we have a motto from our president that, you know, is always start small, scale fast. And, you know, trying to figure out where to start with that faculty piece, that that's really a critical piece right now.
Lauren Stowe Jones [:You know, for for all of the equipment and and everything else that's coming in, I think I think we've been very creative and have worked in partnership, through a number of different grants and a number of different initiatives. We have an amazing grants team. And there is going to be a time, you know, if if a grant is not there, how do we operationalize these these costs?
Carol Ventresca [:And I've had conversations with faculty from 4 year schools and private schools, And even adjuncts make more money there than they would if they were teaching at a community college, which is is too bad. I mean, that there needs to be some equity there.
Lauren Stowe Jones [:Yeah. Yeah. And I I actually think that that is changing because we have, a pretty competitive rate now for our adjuncts, but competitive is is still difficult in a part time gig economy. Right? And and so I think that that is, really concerning. And the other thing that I I think we have a moment of possibility for is for our schools of education to be looking at similarly, what does it mean to be a teacher in today's economy? So for the for the price tag that you have to pay as someone who went through a traditional education program. Right? What what can we do to make that more affordable for teachers, and aspiring teachers? But also, how can we make sure that there are similar ramps for them so that that you can move up to a different scale, that that you also, have some opportunity as a school of education to think differently. If you are in training to become a community college teacher or a 4 year high school teacher or 4 year college teacher, excuse me, you're going to be teaching high school students. So it used to be that we had faculty that showed up at Columbus State, and they said, oh, well, part of why I got my PhD is I never wanted to teach high school.
Lauren Stowe Jones [:But dual enrollment across the nation has changed that. So what does it mean to really be teaching 16 to 45 year olds, right, or 85 year olds and beyond. And I I don't think that we've had a moment of reckoning to really think about that. And I would love for our schools of education to be thinking differently about how how do we get teachers out into the workforce as quickly as possible? How do we support them financially for continuing education? But then what what does that truly mean, to be credentialed to teach and to be credentialed to teach in a market that's always evolving?
John Hambrick [:There is a a growing trend in in the state of Ohio of expanding registered apprenticeship programs. So really encouraging the adult, workforce or not in the workforce to, enroll into a registered apprenticeship. And we think historically skilled trades, plumbing, construction, welding. But recently, there because of this teacher shortage, you know, we do now have a registered apprenticeship for education. But what's a great feeder system for a registered apprenticeship is a recognized pre apprenticeship. So we're seeing more districts, more school districts at the k twelve level, develop a teacher academy as part of their curriculum. And so then now we could weave that in as a pre apprenticeship to give students who raise their hand to that express an interest can have that curriculum exposure, and then along with the work based learning experience, will have that that teacher experience, that real real world experience to then potentially feed future educators. There's a a movement in the state of Ohio to grow your own.
John Hambrick [:Mhmm. You know, how school districts can work with their students to grow future educators.
Carol Ventresca [:You know what that reminds me of? There was an apprentice I don't know if it was called apprenticeship, but it was an apprenticeship type program for young folks who had not either hadn't finished college or if they finished college, they didn't have a teaching certificate. But when the beginning of the baby boom and they needed more teachers, they got folks to go populate the classrooms, and then they would go back and get the training they needed while they were actually teaching.
John Hambrick [:So we're seeing that also within Ohio Department of Education and workforce and, higher Department of Education of really developing alternative licensure models.
Carol Ventresca [:Right.
John Hambrick [:Whether that's veterans as an example. Right? You know, that that workforce, you know, provide an in for them, industry professionals. You know, we we need industry professionals to come into k 12 to teach. So so we're seeing that movement. I do wanna circle back a bit, you know, when you talk about sustainability and some of the grants. I'm very proud of our state leaders that they know they they're expressing their importance of workforce in the state by putting money there. Right? They're putting money there. So as an example, the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, has a a career technical education equipment grant.
John Hambrick [:And from the state legislature, it was over a $100,000,000. And this would be for not only just career technical schools, but comprehensive schools that are developing these pathways that we spoke of earlier, and they need equipment into that. Earlier this year, they they their first round of funding, $68,000,000 deployed across 57 districts. So high ticket items, that these districts can then now purchase and develop for future careers. And then they just launched the second half, of that of that second round, and and that was another the other $32,000,000, that our our districts are receiving to, again, develop these pathways, whatever that looks like, and some of that is in teacher training. Mhmm. Right? So then that way we get industry professionals in to be able to teach whatever that is that industry is demanding because we need that. Another really, strong thing from our governor's office of workforce transformation is is also, you know, they're putting money towards, having educators participate in boot camps, educator workforce boot camps to go out into industry to learn so then they can be messengers in the classroom.
John Hambrick [:The ESC of Central Ohio, this is we had this is a with a second year of our educator workforce boot camp, and we deployed, you know, almost 50 educators across 8 different industry sectors. So IT, health care, modern manufacturing, construction, energy, supply chain logistics, transportation, and life sciences to give them, that understanding. And a lot of this is underwritten from private industry also, but the governor's office is putting money into that. And then my my last thing about the sustainability and where's money coming from and to to Lauren's point where you've got this this need for our workforce to be continually learning, the state has a strong program called tech cred Mhmm. That, their their current workforce can get, credentials or certificates that the state reimburses because they understand that we need, a current agile informed workforce, And and this is one mechanism to help, provide that.
Carol Ventresca [:John, those are incredible programs. What's the percentage of of the student population that is actually taking advantage? Do we know?
John Hambrick [:Yeah. That's a good question. I I think on, well, so many of these programs are really kinda helping the the educators or the districts to provide the resources for students to be able to participate in that. So I think, you know, because some of these are so new within a year or 2 years, we don't necessarily have that data yet to see how that is rippling and positively affecting students and and their experience or exposure and their readiness. We don't have that just yet, but, my my my gut tells me that, you know, we're going to see more informed students just as an example, just of our life sciences as a result of some of this happening. And and not only what's the the the messaging coming from inside of k twelve, but the messaging coming around that student from our our community college partners, from our business and industry, from our economic development. You know, they're they're and they're, they're pretty savvy. Our life science partner is pretty savvy to be on social media as well.
John Hambrick [:So so so so messaging is is seeping in to a young person's sphere.
Brett Johnson [:Mhmm. Yeah. So technologies are constantly changing as we know. Training programs need to reflect those changes. However, our new technology is actually supporting training programs in innovative ways. I mean, our robots teaching robotics is artificial intelligence writing curriculum. Do new software programs make applications easier? Can you bring information to potential students through social media and and marketing using new technologies? And how can instructors utilize tech in each of their teaching tasks? I mean, John, can you address that first? Yeah.
John Hambrick [:So we we know large language models, AI. It's here. It's embedded. It has been for years, in some cases, decades, and it's only growing exponentially, and so in some cases, we need to catch up to it. But it it's real interesting for different school districts that they evaluate what that policy of AI engagement is, and not all school districts are created equal in their approach to embracing, utilizing, and, you know, forming new policies and and practices around AI. At the ESC, last year, within our our big department of, of advancement, we did a book study on AI in education. We we wanna be consultants, and we wanna be messengers of for our sake. We think AI is gonna be a strong complement to student success.
John Hambrick [:We think AI is gonna be a strong complement to business and industry success. And I think what's also interesting is we're seeing a lot of, information going towards the user for AI. You know, more and more we're seeing that, and then we're seeing how AI is changing business. But to the point earlier about teacher preparation, you know, how is that is AI education and AI practices being embedded into teacher programs? So then that teacher becomes, again, a steward of how AI and and these and this new technology is going to complement and enhance, but by no means, replace.
Carol Ventresca [:Right. AI is a tool, and and people forgot how when computers came around and, oh, it's gonna replace people. No. It's a tool that we can all easily use. So, good good good idea.
Lauren Stowe Jones [:I I think, completely agree. I was so happy when I heard you say compliment. Right? Because the best educator is a great educator human, and that's what we need more of for sure. But I'm seeing a lot of really creative things. You know, we've got a set of VR headsets like a number of places have, and and the ability for students to jump into those virtual worlds and see what a semiconductor fab lab looks like. Right? We took a group of educators out to a lab, and it took us all probably about 20 minutes to suit up into what we call the bunny suit. You can't do that at scale with young people, you know, and have each person get into those bunny suits in a timely fashion on a field trip when we can't even have enough school bus drivers as it is. So so how we can leverage things like virtual reality, like, AI when we need it, I I think that that's definitely part of the equation.
Lauren Stowe Jones [:But it has to be from those educators thinking differently and and really thinking about, how do we leverage all of the skills that we have. You mentioned social media, and that's been definitely something that's been a topic of conversation. You know, we are not well versed. I am not personally well versed on TikTok, but we've taken our career awareness campaign to the TikToks and and to the different social media platforms. And that has meant very short form videos, right, that are incredibly short, but that is what young people have wanted to see. And we've been really encouraged. We had a new campaign out, about health care, and it was reaching that 18 to 24 year old demographic that we knew we needed to get that message to, to talk about again, it's not just doctor or nurse. There's a plethora of careers across the continuum, and those have been really successful.
Lauren Stowe Jones [:So I think we'll continue to see some innovation, and, I'm hoping that we'll see a lot of fast movement as we look at these new technologies, again, as John said, as a complement to everything that's already happening.
John Hambrick [:And we're seeing across school districts in the region, and I imagine statewide, and I, of course, hope across the country that we're seeing innovation labs being created inside of school districts. And so what they're in in some cases here in Central Ohio, you know, they are modifying the space inside of a library. Big space. Right? And so how can they then embed some of this new technology, makerspace, 3 d printers, VR glasses, you know, augmented reality? And and that way, it's it's in a a more communal space for students to have easier access because if students don't have access to this, they don't know what it is, and they won't be able to use it, grow it, and then mature with that technology.
Carol Ventresca [:And they need to have that access at the moment they know about it. It's the Mhmm. What do they just in time. Right? Just that. That's
John Hambrick [:And and so thank goodness. And some may disagree, but we're seeing that that innovation, you know, as as Lauren mentioned, but we're seeing that in k twelve so students have more more, and and I hope equitable access to that technology as well.
Carol Ventresca [:Okay. When when the 3 of us were having a discussion about this podcast before we actually figured it out, I think John mentioned that there are going to be 45 companies that will support the Intel project. 45 supplying suppliers. We've all seen the headlines, you know, the the server farms, the cloud computing, the chip manufacturing, and everybody's kinda sitting back scratching their heads going, what are they talking about? What are how do we define all these commune these industries? How how can we get this information across to our community as to where we're where is manufacturing going? Where is, our economy going with all of this? And how do we make sure that it's going to be successful? How do we make sure we get kids into the pipeline or adults into the pipeline to to cert to work for those companies?
Lauren Stowe Jones [:So one of the things that we've done at Columbus State is really change, again, change how we operate. In that, we have something new called career educators, and they're based out of our admissions office. And, you know, you typically think of an old admissions recruiter. Right? They have a territory. They they have relationships in a certain school district. We we do still have those and and they do still do that work very well. And we have a whole new set of career educators that are specific to these in demand industries. And they are experts of that field.
Lauren Stowe Jones [:They know that field and they have right now, it's a slide deck of over 80 slides that have been really, impressive to look at, but they they, adapt that whole deck for whichever audience they have. So we've got some middle school audiences that they've spoken to. So that's a much limited, slide deck, and then we've got some adult, groups that they talk to, some high school groups. And part of all of their, you know, collateral of material talks about what the wages are. What it takes to have a living, family sustaining wage in Central Ohio today. What the job expectancy is for IT, for health care, for biotechnology, for, you know, advanced technologies. What then they could do with a degree, with a certificate, etcetera. And it's really just meant to be career education.
Lauren Stowe Jones [:And and I think the more we can get that message out for families, for students, for teachers, school counselors. Right? You know, some of the jobs being talked about today, if you've been working in k twelve for a long time, you you don't even know about that. And I learn something new every time, you know, I meet with one of our career educators even working in the field. So, so really getting them out has been a top priority for us. And we're, currently meeting with a lot of superintendents across Central Ohio and sharing, you know, what the career educators do, talking with groups about where the right place is to find, to find a space that, you know, whether it's 15 minutes to an hour that we could have that conversation with everyone across the spectrum. So that's been exciting because we've seen a lot of really positive feedback, and that, you know, that 80 plus slide deck just keeps evolving over time as we get more feedback and and sort of refine that approach. But for us, that's represented a whole new way to do business. And and really the message is this is a career that our region needs.
Lauren Stowe Jones [:Yes. Columbus State could help you get there, but, you know, even if it's not about us, we think it's important that we get that message out about the career because that's what our area, that's what our families, that's what our educators really need to know. Wonderful.
John Hambrick [:And and I love that approach. Right? You know, what's in demand? How how do we share Yep. You know, the the emerging, the advancing technologies and companies coming in? And so we also find it very important to work with our economic development partners. Mhmm. The this is a community that's doing the outreach to business and industry to come into the Central Ohio area. So they've got the the up to date data. They've got, you know, not only what that looks like today, but what what the expansion will be in in a year from now. You know, what what's coming into the region.
John Hambrick [:And and so having those communication channels Mhmm. And then having those presentations, we love bringing our, our accompanying economic development partners into the k twelve community so educators know, education leaders know on how then they can better prepare, the and inform their school board for upcoming policy, how they can inform, curriculum developers on how they're gonna do these new career pathways. It's it's a wonderful, cornucopia of resources coming together again ultimately for the betterment of our students for opportunities so they don't have to say, I don't know.
Carol Ventresca [:Right. Or where where can I go live to get a job?
John Hambrick [:That's right. That's right. And and I think another really highlight of of we've talked a lot of technology and and a lot of emerging, but also just, you know, our smart mobility that's happening in the region, our connected tech technology, our drone technology, super cool, super exciting, and these resources that are coming out through our department of transportation and DriveOhio, these toolkits that educators can use, these, and and if I might, you know, Columbus City's Columbus State Community College, that you have your advanced training center
Carol Ventresca [:Yeah.
John Hambrick [:In New Albany. Right? Also a great place for to bring the the this advanced technology business and industry coming together Mhmm. With with learners and potential learners. So I we're having, I think, really cool resources to put in front of people to have that exposure and then engagement. Wonderful.
Brett Johnson [:Yeah. So there are likely challenges that Ohioans are facing in attaining needed training for the opportunities, today as well as those future jobs. Can each of you provide, some challenges facing students, and and how are those challenges being addressed?
Lauren Stowe Jones [:Well, so one of the things happening at our accelerated training center is a big focus on English language learners. So we know, Central Ohio has a growing population of, students that, speak a multitude of languages but need support in in English. And so we've adapted our services both at our Columbus campus and then at the accelerated training center to make sure that we can meet that need. And I think that's something that you see a lot of k twelve districts similarly kind of reevaluating how to best support that student. I also still think, you know, as an old school academic, those those basic and core foundational skills are incredibly important, and so thinking particularly about mathematics. So it it is not calculus for everyone, and that's a great thing. But there is still a rigorous amount of mathematics that that is needed, especially for some of these in demand industries and thinking about how do we make math cool and real and exciting. Right? So I've got 5th graders right now and they love math.
Lauren Stowe Jones [:But I know all the statistics are out there that, you know, 2, 3 years from now, that might not be their story. And how do we change that script for all students? I think that that's a a critical part. In our advanced technologies courses, we're learning that it's not that students can't do the mathematics. It's that when we're talking about nano fractions. Right? How do you even picture nano fractions? So they know how to do fractions, but how do you apply that to such small micro technology pieces? That that's where some of the the applicability breaks down. And so thinking through how do we really build up those skills so that they're not scared by the small smallness of something, and that they're able to make those applications and make it real to them. I think that that's still really important.
John Hambrick [:The ESC of Central Ohio is participating with the US Department of Education Careers e Challenge. And the this is a challenge to help establish, an ecosystem, a regional approach on equitable access to work based learning. And for listeners unfamiliar, maybe with that term, I've used it a few times today. It's real it's it's real world work experience for high school kids and maybe even middle schoolers. At at the college level, they call it a co op, right, or an externship. But it's really it's getting students into the workplace or the workplace into the schools to have meaningful experiences. And and so a challenge is that we find that there are parts of our population, many parts of our population that don't have that access. If they're in a career technical education program, it's built in.
John Hambrick [:It's ready mix. But if you're in a high school or maybe if you're not even a part of public education, but you're a part of the charter and community school infrastructure, maybe they're not as well resourced. So we've identified that, hey, in our neck of the woods, including ELL students, but our foster youth Mhmm. Students may not have that same access because of any one type of barrier that they're encountering in encountering whether on the home front or academically. And we're also seeing how, you know, not just them, but, you know, our variability youth, so special education students. You know, how those on IEPs that there there's an infrastructure set for those students, but how do we help them participate in the workforce in a k twelve ecosystem that'll then lead to success once they finish high school. And so those are challenges, and and they're and they are they are real world challenges for for education to to engage business partners around those student populations. And sometimes, maybe, you know, special needs and or maybe adaptations, accommodations Mhmm.
John Hambrick [:At the workforce. So really keeping that dialogue open. So I I gotta tell you, you know, it's it's, I appreciate what an employer says. Hey. Can you send me the top 5% of those students in the engineering program? Rock on. Thank you. Thank you. Yes.
John Hambrick [:Would you consider Mhmm.
Carol Ventresca [:You know, this? 5% plus 2 more.
John Hambrick [:You know, plus 2 more. Right? I love that. You know, we wouldn't have the entrepreneurs in our in our community if we only focused on the top 5%.
Lauren Stowe Jones [:That's right.
John Hambrick [:We we just would not. We would not have the dynamic community if we only focused on those top learners. So so that's part of those challenges is is helping our our business partners to to to better embrace, if as possible, as many students. It's it's rough to say all. Mhmm. We that's a that's a goal. Mhmm. But, you know, reality is how many more can we include for their development, for for their esteem, and then their future contribution now to the community but then to that future business partner.
Carol Ventresca [:Alright. Excellent. That's Brett Brett rolls his eyes over here because I start geeking out when we talk workforce development since I did it for so many years. So thank you both, you know, our time flies, and listeners I hope you have gotten as much out of this as I have. I learn something new every time I sit down and talk to our experts in workforce development. Before we end, we always give our guests an opportunity for their last words of wisdom. Lauren's gonna start us off.
Lauren Stowe Jones [:Sure. So, gosh, I I think that, if I can say anything to the the parents out there, it would be to really consider that, every generation's education has looked different than generations before. But I I I can't say that anytime has that been more true than today. And I think the more we can have parents talking to each other and talking with those of us in the field, the more we can spread that word across wider and and bigger groups. So I think, you know, whether it's thinking about CCP, whether it's thinking about career and technical education, whether it's thinking about a mix of those 2, but just understanding that the changing landscape is out there and that in Central Ohio, you know, as John said, we are incredibly lucky for the economic development work that has happened here and the business and industry that has been brought to our region. And so I would just really encourage folks to to to get involved and and to know a little bit more about what's happening and, let us know if our career educators can help with that or, you know, if I can help with that in any way. I I geek out about talking about this too because it's really an exciting time to be in Ohio and to, to be working in this space.
Carol Ventresca [:Wonderful. Thank you.
John Hambrick [:You know, our our workforce, our future workforce is in high school right now. Mhmm. Well, they're they're in college. Right? They're they're in college. They're in high school. They're in middle school. Yep. Our gen alpha soon to come.
John Hambrick [:Alpha. Alpha. Yes. I tell you. Yeah. So I think, you know, we we we we we know some gen alphas around here, that, you know, they're they're in the early stages of middle school and in elementary school. So my words of wisdom would be to our employer partners, to our business owners, to our human resource professionals, to parents, you know, we need to we need help developing our future workforce. And and I don't mean that we just need laborers, not that at all.
John Hambrick [:You know, we need contributing members, of that not only will be working and and benefit rich, career sustaining type of opportunities, but then they also have that opportunity to participate with their future children in girl scouts. Right? In in music class, in whatever, you know, sport. But, you know, business leaders reach in to college to participate, reach in to your business advisory councils, reach into the your school district to say, I wanna be a part of the solution because the the workforce shortage is not going away. Right. So help develop help us help you develop our future workforce.
Brett Johnson [:Yeah. Excellent. Makes sense. Thank you. Yeah. Well, thanks to our expert guests, John Hambrick, Work Based Learning Coordinator, Educational Service Center, that's ESC, Central Ohio, and Laura Stowe Jones, Senior Director, K through 12 partnerships, Columbus State Community College for joining us today. Listeners, thank you for joining us. You're gonna find the contact information and resources we discussed in the podcast show notes and on our website at looking forward our way.com and we're looking forward to hearing your feedback on this or any of our other podcast episodes.
