The TechEd Podcast
Bridging the gap between technical education & the workforce 🎙 Hosted by Matt Kirchner, each episode features conversations with leaders who are shaping, innovating and disrupting the future of the skilled workforce and how we inspire and train individuals toward those jobs.
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The TechEd Podcast
How to Build & Grow an Industry-Aligned CTE Program - Maroun Nehme, Director of Advanced Robotics and Mechatronics at BPHS
Host Matt Kirchner sits down with Maroun Nehme, Advanced Robotics and Mechatronics teacher at Buena Park High School in California. Maroun has built one of the most impressive high school mechatronics & robotics programs in the country—complete with a structured 3-year pathway, hands-on labs, and SACA and FANUC certifications that prepare students directly for today’s workforce.
But the learning doesn’t stay inside the classroom. Maroun leverages the power of social media, videos and events to turn his students’ achievements into powerful stories that resonate with parents, employers, and the broader community—growing support and enrollment year after year.
Listen to learn:
- How a high school built an industry-aligned, 3-year pathway in advanced robotics and mechatronics
- Why third-party certifications—especially hands-on—are a must for real career readiness
- How offering honors-level CTE courses attracts both college-bound and career-focused students
- Why social media became the program’s most powerful tool for enrollment, engagement, and advocacy
- Educators: Get tips for how to start a CTE program like Buena Park's, AND how to harness the power of social media for your program!
3 Big Takeaways from this Episode:
1. Industry certifications should be foundational—not optional—in high school CTE programs. At Buena Park High School, students earn SACA, FANUC, and Amatrol certifications across a 3-year advanced robotics and mechatronics pathway. These credentials aren’t just test scores—they’re tied directly to hands-on skills that industry demands, giving students tangible proof they’re workforce-ready.
2. Offering honors-level credit in CTE courses attracts a wider range of students and elevates program credibility. Maroun intentionally made the second and third years of his program include honors-level courses to appeal to college-bound students who care about GPA and academic rigor. It sends a clear message: hands-on technical education is for all students.
3. Strategic storytelling is one of the most effective tools for growing CTE programs. By showcasing student certifications, projects, and success stories on Instagram, LinkedIn, and at community events, Maroun built recognition from city leaders, employers, parents and school administrators. One student-led video even helped redefine how people perceive technical education in his district.
Connect with the Maroun and BPHS ARM Program on Social Media:
Resources in this Episode:
To learn more about the Advanced Robotics and Mechatronics (ARM) program, visit their site!
Other resources: Visit the official show notes page to access more resources!
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Matt, great to have you along this week on The TechEd Podcast. My name is Matt Kirchner, I am your host. We talk at the end of every episode, and for those of you that stick around for the end of the episodes, we talk about how you can find The TechEd Podcast all over social media. We talk about being on Facebook, we talk about being on Instagram, on LinkedIn, on Tick, tock, anywhere you go for your social media, that is where you'll find The TechEd Podcast. And that is where we originally found today's guest. We've gotten to know him quite well over the course of the last several months, a great thought leader in technical education, doing incredible things, inspiring the next generation of STEM and workforce talent. Really excited to introduce to the audience of The TechEd Podcast my friend maroon, namey. He is the director and teacher of advanced robotics and mechatronics at Buena Park High School. We're going to learn about Buena Park High School in just a little bit. But before we get into that, maroon, thank you so much for taking some time for us here on The TechEd Podcast. Joe's here, thank you for having me. So one of the things I love about your story is it's not unique in terms of how you got into technical education. You worked in manufacturing and sales before entering education. Guess what? I also worked in manufacturing and sales before entering education. So it's a great path into the world that we're in. But talk a little bit about what made you take the leap from working in manufacturing into the education space.
Maroun Nehme:It's a little bit of a unfortunate story that turned, I guess, into this, you could say, to keep it simple, you know, I wanted to be a teacher in the beginning, but making more money in manufacturing and sales than I would have and in 2013 I was worked 15 years for the company we're still recovering from the recession, took a couple of pay cuts, eventually got laid off, and my wife was pregnant with our second child, and we found out that he had a heart condition, so we basically had to make a decision of how to take care of him when he was born. And he also came out five weeks early. I guess he was rushed to come out into the world. Well, I made the decision for me to be the stay at home dad. My wife is also an educator, and she had 10 years. She had the benefits, and I had to work opposite her schedule, because one income in Southern California just doesn't cut it these days, for sure, right? So I started tutoring and doing Uber and I tutored in math. That's what my undergrad is in. And I don't know, maybe I work with 100 kids in the five year span, and a lot of the parents kept telling me, you belong in the classroom. You need to go to the classroom. And that's really what pushed me to go back and think about becoming an educator. I went to teach math. Didn't think I would ever in my life be doing this, but I love it. I've loved it since day one, and here we are. The rest is history.
Matt Kirchner:So did you have to go through any licensing or any additional education to make that switch?
Maroun Nehme:I did. I didn't have to do anything with math, because my Bachelor's was in pure math, so I had the subject matter expertise. Part of that fulfilled. I did have to take six prerequisite classes, and then I enrolled in the credential and funny story Matt too. I actually almost dropped out. The cost was a little bit overbearing, and I knew it would have to work less. My son was doing better at the time, so he's starting kindergarten, and fortunately, I applied for a scholarship that covered the full cost. It was about $10,000 and covered both semesters of credentialing programs so I can focus on my studies and be prepared rather than think about how many hours I can work each week to make ends meet.
Matt Kirchner:And I know, before we go on with the conversation, I know you were leaving your question hanging with the audience, you said that this adversity ended up with a positive ending. So how's your son doing now, if we can, he's
Maroun Nehme:doing quite well. He's I don't know if you're watching Jimmy Fallon's, but his son sure has the same exact condition, which is called the trilogy of fallow so they eventually repaired his heart. He'll eventually need one more surgery. But the hard part was, in the beginning, he spent about 90 days in the NICU before we're able to bring him home, just feeding issues on other developmental issues. But he's alive, and he's done really, really well, so we're happy to have him in this world, and he's almost 12 now next month,
Matt Kirchner:unbelievable, and glad to hear that that's going well, and certainly give Him our rest here from The TechEd Podcast. Thank you. We say often, at least I do, that every adversity sows the seeds of a greater opportunity, and we never quite know where life is gonna take us or where we're being led. And sometimes it's not obvious until after the fact. In your case, you were led into this incredible opportunity to inspire students and make changes in their lives, put them on career pathways they might never have been on had it not been and probably, in fact, probably would not have been on had it not been for your considerable influence. So talk a little bit about with this experience in business development, sales, manufacturing, how does that influence the way you teach in the classroom?
Maroun Nehme:The biggest part of this is allowing me to bring real life experience into the classroom. Even though I worked for a manufacturing company, I was definitely more on the sales end of it, and the manufacturing that we did, we had very little automation, but just talking to students about what to expect in the real world, things that you need to know you need to demonstrate to your boss, communication skills, initiative. You can't wait for somebody to just tell you what to do all the time, and it's really have them gain those employability skills so they can be prepared. One. Start out in the real world looking to make some money. And
Matt Kirchner:it is interesting. You know, you think 1015, years ago now, if this is 2013, or so that you made the transition, it is incredible how much more automation there is in manufacturing than there was then. And certainly, a lot of employers, and I spent a ton of time in the manufacturing space, have a long way to go. A lot of them aren't quite there yet, but they're making changes rapidly. Points to why it's so important for us to have this workforce and have this talent that is ready, job ready, technology ready when they walk into the manufacturing space. So talk about your program. Let our audience know. What is buen a Park High School all about? Where is it? Who are your students? And then what does that path look like through your program?
Maroun Nehme:Absolutely. This might be a little bit long, but I'll try to keep it short. Go for it. Buena Park High School. Bucha Park is in Orange County, California, where, you know, 15 minutes away from Disneyland, very close to Knott's Berry Farm. The program, it's funny because when I finished my student teaching, which was the fall of 2019, or the program was in its infancy stage. It was brand new. There was another teacher teaching it. He had just had two sections and three sections of math. He was working to become an admin, and he left in December. When I finished my credential, an opportunity came up. I went to talk to my principal. I had walked in the room. I was like, This is great. This is amazing. I would like to apply for this position. I was hired, and the program was brought to be a very high quality CTE program, something to provide students as an option besides college. You know, after high Sure, I'll be honest with you, I didn't really know a whole lot about it, but I wasn't afraid of it. I've never been afraid of the unknown. And it looked cool. I mean, the classroom was just like never anything I've ever seen before. So I took over the program, and 10 weeks later, I went home because of COVID. The following year, you know, we had hybrid and all sorts of stuff. So it really wasn't until the 2021 2022 year, I want to say so four years ago, when we were physically in the classroom and I felt the program started to get some traction. At that point. Sure, I eventually made into a three year pathway. I didn't know what I was doing when I first came in, so I went from two to three, and eventually, actually, with, even with the help of my first soccer training, really gave me some clarity of how to run this
Matt Kirchner:smart automation certification Alliance. Is that right? Saka, yeah, okay, correct. Yes,
Maroun Nehme:that is good. I probably should have mentioned that. So I have it as a three year pathway now, and the first year, we call it the advanced robotics and mechatronics, which is the introductory class in the pathway. My first semester, I focus on just the soccer 101, basic operations preparation. Kids do the rotation from station to station, and they prepare to take the soccer written exam, which we can talk about a little bit later as well. For sure. Second semester, we shift to mindseye, so the kids build a catapult, then they choose whether they want to build a four by four or a six by six, and we run their whole foundations Lab, which is extremely engaging, and it's a great way to recruit kids into the program. And
Matt Kirchner:just to make sure I'm tracking the mind's eye would be if I'm right, Spokane Washington, Mike marzetta and others, and that is the company that's kind of around drones and UGVs. So flying drones and ground drones, is that right? Absolutely.
Maroun Nehme:And in that first year, we mostly focus on the UGVs, which also help prepare students, if they like, to enter some of the skills you essay competitions we do as well. And then the second year, we call it Mechatronics honor. So it's an honors class the second year, and that's the concentrator. So now again, we kind of replicate first semester soccer, but this time it's the 102, the advanced operations. A lot more to learn. We're getting into PLCs. We're getting into hydraulics. And you know, the students are so engaged and the resilient, they don't want to give up to figure out how to connect the circuit or design one, which is great for teachers to see. They take that final in the fall semester for the soccer 102, and then we switch back to mind's eye, and this time we do the drones. And in the past years, I ran the drones, but I just felt it dragged too much, because they're all waiting for one cage to fly. Okay? So it created this big, long bottleneck, so to speak, right? A manufacturing term bottleneck, very much. So, yes, I introduced the automated can crusher project from amatrol, which is majority of the equipment that we use are from amateral, and it gave the kids an opportunity to apply what they have learned in the first two years. So at half the kids do the drones, half the kids the can crusher, and at the quarter they switch. So let's
Matt Kirchner:take just a really quick breath here, and I want you to continue, because I know we're not quite done with the pathway, but just to unpack a little bit of what you've already told me, because what you just said is fascinating to me and launches into a whole bunch of other just inquiries and questions. So you said that the second course is an honors course. Did I hear that? Right? That's correct. I'll be honest with you, and I love the sound of that. A lot of folks, when they think about traditional career and technical education don't think about that as necessarily being an honors course. But in your case, it is. So talk about that differentiation. So yes,
Maroun Nehme:as I mentioned earlier, the program was brought in to be a high quality CTE program. And we want to attract, obviously, the kids who are thinking of going the career technical education pathway. But at the same time, if I have somebody that wants to go to a four year college or become an engineer, this is an amazing class for them. I mean, just look at all the hands on experience they are going to gain. And I don't want them to. To miss out because it's a non honors course, because these kids tend to care a lot about their GPAs. I know I did when I was in high school, right? For sure, the entry level one, we just kept it non honors, just not to scare anybody. But even those kids went in and they just continued on, especially knowing that it was honors, but it's something that was definitely on my mind. And I mean, the curriculum can be a little bit challenging, for sure, but we want to make sure they're prepared for it as
Matt Kirchner:well. That is so awesome. It ties back to another question that I had from something you said previously, which was talking about students having, you know, kind of a choice between four year and more of a career and technical education. I admit I bristle a little bit when I hear that, and I know that was the old version, right, and not the new version. But it's like, Wait a minute. This to the point that you just made, which is hands on learning on things like robotics, automation, mechatronics, smart technology, that's not limited to any one group of students, and that should be presented to all of them. I'm going to say that's the first time I've heard about a tech ed program being an honors program in a high school. Is that unique? Is that something you see in California at
Maroun Nehme:our school, even though, you know, it's a title one school, and we do push for our CTE courses to have the second and if they have a third year to be honors, I don't want to push the kids who want to be take honors classes from a program like this, because an amazing thing, and they're going to graduate with so much more knowledge than Just a class where all they're getting is just a lecture, maybe some paper, problem solving theory. This is hands on. It really makes them work harder and second guess themselves sometime. I totally love
Matt Kirchner:that, and I'm a huge, huge believer in that. And also, I don't want to get too deep in the weeds, but so many examples that we hear of students that you know went on to, for example, four year engineering programs, but they did it through a more of a standard, typical CTE pathway, and then they get to college, and they've got so much more of a context for what it is that they're doing post high school, versus the student, to your point, that just kind of learned out of a book and in a lecture. And I mean, there's all kinds of ways to learn, and we certainly don't want to diminish any single one of them, but I love the way that you're talking about this. So I want to give you an opportunity to kind of continue on the pathway. I will just go back to you mentioned amatell as well, for any of our audience members that may not be familiar with that company, just a quick couple of sentences on who they are.
Maroun Nehme:Amateral, to me, they're a curriculum company that also happens to make trainers that students can work on. And it really what got me hooked on the program, this is when I saw the amateur all e learning. I knew this is what I wanted to do, because I felt whomever started designing the E learning there really hit it on the nail, especially for the Gen Z. When you go through the curriculum yourself, you'll notice that one page doesn't have too much information, so capturing that shorter attention span, it's interactive. There's animation. It can read the text for those who might struggle with the English language or just reading. And we're talking about tier three, very content specific vocabulary, the fact that the vocabulary is hyperlink, so you don't know what it is, you can look it up, sure. And then the other part is the skills, the hands on, skills that go with every lesson. They build up and become more challenging. And to me, that was a again, I'm like, Okay, this is what I want to do. I want to teach this full time. What do I need to do? Is I actually went and got my CTE credential after so I can teach this just full time, and I just do the math in the summer. Now,
Matt Kirchner:yeah, I love that. And so are you in? If I'm familiar with amateur there's, you know, you can do, like a one to many or a traditional lecture. You can use the E learning it you do a hybrid combination. How are you delivering the curriculum itself before they do the hands
Maroun Nehme:on? What I used to do, I used to lecture, and I would lose some kids, because no kid wants to just hear some one person speak the whole time. And then, going back to that soccer training that I did in Las Vegas, I actually met a person who gentleman named Joe Russo, who used to be a teacher in California and taught a very similar program, pre soccer, and he shared how he taught it, and he taught an amateur program called industry 4.0 fundamentals, I believe, sure, which is very similar to the soccer 101 and 102 and that just completely gave me clarity. And I'm like, Okay, I like the station rotation. I love this. Every kid is doing something different. It created more work up front for me in the summer, but it made my year a lot smoother. I really enjoyed how kids were learning a little bit of everything in that first year, because they're not getting bored with just one subject. And they're experimenting. They're learning. What is it I like more? Is it the AC, DC? Is it the pneumatics? I really like the Electrical Relay, you know, I like the robot programming and so on. It just really provided clarity for me and allowed me to run my program much better. You know, this was my moment, my aha moment, so to speak. Yeah, I love
Matt Kirchner:that. Well, we're on the topic of introducing some of the partners that you have. I know there's a yellow robot over your shoulder there, as I'm seeing you on video. I know my friend Mike Chico happens to be the CEO of the company that produced that robot, and would be disappointed in me if I didn't ask about that. Mike's been on the podcast four times. By the way, you're in great company, but tell us about your partnership with FANUC, which I assume is part of this as well.
Maroun Nehme:It is, and that actually leads us to that third year so it can answer two questions at the same time. Perfect. When I first walked into the classroom, we only had the Delta robot, and I didn't know what to do with it. I started. Asking our partners, what can I do to teach FANUC? So I had to go. It was during COVID. I did everything virtual. Yeah, all right. I became certified, and a year or so ago, we bought the alarm mate behind me. But our third year class, I call it industrial automation, and it is just honors as well. The first semester, we focus on the handling tool, programming and operations. We use Robo guide, obviously, because I only have two robots in the class and 20 kids, so I need a not a great ratio, but they're a little expensive, but Robo guide makes them really, really good, because they're not afraid to make mistakes. They're not going to break an expensive machine. That's the simulation software. Yeah, okay, Robo guide does an amazing job, if you've used it before, of literally looking like a real robot, but it's building that self efficacy for students. Sure they do the lab, oh, it works. I can do this now. When they jump on the real thing, they feel 10 times more comfortable. And then the second semester, we focus on the vision package. And then that really blows their mind. How can a camera locate apart and it's randomly somewhere they sell and go and pick it up. I do prepare them in that third year for the soccer 103, which is the robot system operations. And then right now, actually, this week, today was day two of their nocti fanic certification. Sure, absolutely.
Matt Kirchner:I was with Ann Gilchrist from NACD last week, as a matter of fact. So I know that organization, while third party certification body, that is doing a lot of great work, as is the smart automation certification Alliance. You've mentioned a number of times, and so just hearing how you're integrating this maroon I would love to hear a little bit about your relationship with soccer. You've mentioned that a few times. Thank Jim wall, who's the executive director, is a former guest on The TechEd Podcast. So our audience, who've been listening a while, are familiar with with Jim, but just give us a quick overview, if you would, of what SAC is all about and how you're using it in your program.
Maroun Nehme:So as you mentioned earlier, it's the smart automation certification Alliance, and it's a it's a nonprofit third party certification platform, and I think what really sold me on it is the fact that the certifications, or the content and the standards were put together by subject matter experts and industry professionals. I want to say not teachers. I know I'm a teacher, but I'm not an expert in everything things, right? So I think I like that fact. I also like the fact that it was membership based versus pay per exam, so the student, if they don't pass a test, they can retake it. And in real life, that's how it is. If you don't pass your DMV test, you can retake it, sure, along many other things. But to me, when it was introduced to me, it was a no brainer. I was like, Okay, so now you got students in high school who may only graduate with a high school diploma and maybe nothing else. We don't know what they're going to do right after school? Maybe they go to college, maybe not. Now they have this opportunity to get a piece of paper that certifies them. I know this product, or I even the better the gold. I know how to use it. I know how to do it. I know how to troubleshoot it, and that gives them that Employability Skill.
Matt Kirchner:Got it you mentioned the gold. Make sure the audience understands what you mean when you say the gold. Absolutely
Maroun Nehme:So saca has two levels. There's a silver level and a gold level. And the silver level is the written exam, you know, assessing a student's knowledge on the content the gold a little bit more special, because you can only be assessed on the gold if you have past the silver. And the instructor also has to be gold certified and also have the proper equipment. So the gold is a depending on which certification can be one or more hands on assessment, allowing kids to troubleshoot, allowing them to apply everything that they've learned in that year with on those assessments. And I, the way I sell it to the kids, I go the silver tells an employer, you know it, but the goal tells them, you know how to do it. I love that. And the beauty about that, I was doing a career lesson with students. And I don't know if you're familiar with ONET Online. What's it called? I'm not sure how ONET Online. So it's a, I believe it's a government ran website, labor statistics. You can look at any job that you want. And I was doing a career project with the kids, find out what you like, take the couple of personality tests, look up the job, see what you need, education wise, what it pays. And one of the links on there says certifications. And my students like, Hey, Mr. Namie, it says saka, right there. They were excited to see it, because they're like, Okay, you're to teach that to something. And it's, you're right. It is, you know, needed out there. So that was really, really exciting when they saw that.
Matt Kirchner:I love that story, and it's just an example of a making that connection, so that the students actually see the certification that they're earning while they're in high school is reflected on a website that's indicating that that's what employers are looking for. We'll be sure, assuming that's a public website, we'll link that up in the show notes for the audience. So check that out there. That's really, really cool. The other thing I think that's fascinating, is how you went into this discussion around the certifications being backed by industry. And one of the things that we never want to offend a teacher, because we've got a lot of teachers that are yourself included, amazing subject matter experts really, really understand this technology. But the truth of the matter is, if we're preparing. Students for careers. What's even more important than what a teacher expects is what the industrial employers are going to expect when those students get to industry and they're ready to take that first job, or, for that matter, take those certifications and maybe go on to whether it's a two year educational institution or a four year and get credit for that prior learning. Really, really important, but also important that those certifications are created by industrial employers for students, so that they're aware that the competencies that they're gaining and the things that they're earning are going to have relevance when they get to industry. So talk just for a moment about that. You know, what is the reaction many of your students, in addition to the story you tell about these certifications that they're earning, you
Maroun Nehme:have your what I call the achievers, they want to earn anything thrown at them. So some do that just to have another notch on their belt or another certificate, which they know they're smart, they know it looks great on their resume, whether they go into that field or not. And I tell the kids who are looking to go into engineering, you may not be a technician, but you will probably be an engineer, and you're going to gain this hands on knowledge, and having these certifications is going to improve your chances of getting employed or getting into a college of your choice. And then you have the students who are looking to go directly into the workforce or maybe go to a trade school. So for them, they see a lot of value. I talk about both the soccer and the FANUC certifications. The best part is they're the one who found it on that website. Oh, net, yeah. So they're not just blowing smoke. This is really making it up. These are required, and we've taken them out on field trips, and they see industry. They see these same exact robots behind me. Went to an aerospace industry making bearings for the aerospace it was maybe 2030 alarm mates, feeding C and C, awesome. Yeah. FANUC robots. I love that. Yeah. We recently took him to a UTI universal Technical Institute. Sure, one of my students, who was actually the very first kid in the very first class of the program, like right when I took it over, he graduated two years ago. He was wait listed at one of our Cal States here, went to community college, then reached out to me through Instagram. I said, Mr. Name it. I need something. I got to get into this field. So I told them about UTI, which put a brand new robotics program in one of the closer campuses to us. We took a field trip out there. We saw him. They got fanix, they got tabletop Mechatronics from Amma trial. They have all sorts of equipment. And He's almost done with the program. He's more than halfway through. And then he told our students, he goes, I just applied to a job level one technician, $50 an hour. Wow. So I really, I'm like, Okay, you got a 20 year old kid making more than a teacher five years teaching with a masters.
Matt Kirchner:Well, let's do the math. I mean, $50 an hour. You know, that's, that's$100,000 plus job for a student is 20 years old. That's insane.
Maroun Nehme:Level one, entry, level two, right? I mean that, yeah,
Matt Kirchner:exactly. And the sky's the sky's the limit for that student, right? So as they continue to gain even more skills, and as opportunities create themselves in that employer, I mean, they're going to be exponentially growing their income and and that is one of the messages that you know, I can say that over and over and over again as a former industrial employer, as someone who spends a lot of time in the education space now about people just not understanding the incredible opportunities available in advanced manufacturing for students, and find if you want to go get a four year engineering degree or study beyond that, nothing wrong with that, but you don't have to, if you don't want to, if school is not your thing and you're more comfortable getting into the workforce, you don't have to start at the bottom. Here's a student that you know, 20 years old, making that kind of money. I just I absolutely love those kind of examples. That's absolutely perfect. I love the way you're bringing this to your students as well. Maroon as you know, you and I were just talking as we were warming up for the show that we met each other for the first time in person in San Antonio. I think it was at the end of last year we both were at the same conference. But be honest with you, when you walked up and said hello, I felt like I already knew you, because you're all over social media. You're always telling these the same kind of stories you're telling today. You're telling stories about your students. You're really broadcasting to the entire world the great things that are going on there at Buena Park High School. And so I wanted to just talk a little bit about your social media presence. What platforms are you on? Let's start with that. I see you on LinkedIn. That's where I spend most of my time. A little bit on some other ones. But which ones do you want tell us that
Maroun Nehme:so LinkedIn, I am as myself, maroon Amy, and I share things about my students for the program itself. I started I want to see it on Twitter about three years ago. Or, okay, yep, it got some traction, but my audience is not that much on Twitter. So, like industry might be, but almost everybody's on Instagram these days. So a few months after that, I started an Instagram account, and when I make a post on both, I probably get 10 times reaction on Instagram the day. They don't X interesting, do you really? Yeah, so we're on both, and the handle is the same for both. So if somebody wants to look us up, and I recommend that you do, I'm not trying to gain more followers, but I think you might find no please. Really fun stuff that the students are doing the class. So the handle is at B, P, h, S, underscore, arm. So bueno parks, High School. Underscore arm, as in my shirt, advanced robotics, yeah,
Matt Kirchner:ar, M, Yep, yeah, cool. And we'll make sure that's in the show notes as well. So it sounds like, yeah, absolutely. Instagram. What's now? X. And when are we going to stop saying X, formerly known as Twitter, right? People are still saying that it's like, Okay, I think we got it,
Maroun Nehme:yeah. I think it just weird to say it's what's on X, like, what's x, what? Yeah,
Matt Kirchner:now we know, right? Yeah, in LinkedIn. So we'll make sure we point everybody to both the high school and to you individually on those platforms, so they can follow the great things, as I did, and continue to do that are happening in your classroom and beyond for your students. So when did you start this whole idea of sharing all this on social when
Maroun Nehme:I took over the program and I met with my principal, he gave me a task is, I want you to grow the program. I didn't have any directions. It was a very, very unique program. There was nothing like it in the district. The closest one geographically was about an hour plus away driving, and that's the program that Joe Russo had left, and then another teacher was teaching it, and I'm good friends with her. We always talk, because she's my closest PLC person. Okay, I just did what I know how to do, and that's using my experience in sales. I know how to grow something. And like I said earlier, I'm not afraid of what I don't know. And I think that also gained me a lot of trust with student. I was very transparent. The same kid who applied for the 50 hour dollar job, always remind me, goes Mr. Name, and when you first walked in, I was scared because you said, I know nothing about robotics, but you turned this into, like, this amazing program. You got a certified and I don't know how you did it, but you did it. So it's, you know, great to hear that as a teacher, obviously, as an educator. But my goal, I wanted to do three things with this. Number one, let the students get noticed, let their achievements and the actual work that they're doing in the classroom get noticed by parents, by admin, and even by industry, local industry. I try to reach out to industry. And if you've been in the classroom, you know your time is limited by the time I'm out of here, everybody's gone home, sure. So that was one way to connect with them and let them see it, not just hear it from me. And I'm sure when they get an email from a teacher, we're probably at the bottom of their email list, because we're not another prospect. So it was a great way to do it, and the feedback was great. I remember the first couple of months we were on x the city of Bonaparte, one of the councilmen saw what the students are doing. They saw these soccer certifications that see our success with skills. USA reached out to me and invited about 25 of my students, all of those who have earned something for a city hall meeting, and they received a ton of certificates of recognition. That's awesome, amazing for them and their families. You know, they all got dressed up and came out there just to get that kind of recognition. And it was a really nice moment for them and for myself as well, to see them receive these things. So
Matt Kirchner:are other educators now picking up on that? I mean, when you get that kind of a recognition from your local politicians and from your local council, what have you, I've got to believe other high schools are looking at this and saying, How can we do something similar? Are you getting questions like that? Sometimes
Maroun Nehme:I see some that are popping up, they've seen my success or have heard about it. You know, I've always had a supportive admin and district here, but it was last year, during CTE month in February, I was recognized in the district and received an award. So congratulations. Thank you. They see it. They know about the success of the program, and more and more new accounts I see pop up in our district, and I'm excited about that. I'm willing to help them, because I think the more programs like this there are, the better it's gonna be for everybody. It's still very unique, but we're seeing more of it around here.
Matt Kirchner:That's so terrific. And I love the way, by the way, that you engage your students, and you feature your students in your social media activity. I mean, it's just that is the way for me to connect to you know, it's one thing to hear a teacher, it's another thing to see a piece of equipment, I mean, and that's all great, and not taking anything away from that. But when you look at the twinkle in the eye of a student that's holding a soccer certification, and you just see that level of pride that you can't pose that in a picture, that's a genuine sense that that student has, it absolutely provides that message to anybody that volunteers or works in and around technical education that that work is worth it. When you feature students like that, What do your students think when you publicize the great work that they're doing and the things that they're learning and the certifications that they're earning in the classroom, they actually
Maroun Nehme:want it, so obviously the certification you have to earn it to get that recognition for sure. Yeah, but then others want to demonstrate their work, whether if they programmed UGV to drive autonomously, or they operated or mechatronic station, or any of the robots behind me, they want to be on there, like, are you going to put me on Instagram? That's awesome. I think for them, it's similar to the way I use Facebook. I'm not so much on social media myself, personally, sure, but I use Facebook to post things about, and I say pictures of my own kids, so families that I have around the world can see them. And I think this is for them to share their success with family members that may not be able to come down and see it in the classroom
Matt Kirchner:and in a way that adds credibility to the work, right? Because it's like a third party that's featuring them. And so the students are whether it's their family members, whether it's their friends, people that they're interacting with in the community now see them as earning these certifications, and understand, I think, because of the work that you're doing and explaining the value of those certifications, what went into earning that and then the pathway that the student can be on as a result of holding those certifications that you're so instrumental in helping them earn, and then they can take credit for it, since. Thinking of taking credit. I know you had a student who I want to give credit to, created a whole video around some of this stuff and so and again, we know that because we follow you and we know the work you're doing. Tell the story about that video,
Maroun Nehme:one of the things that inspired me to do this is, again, the program is called, you know, advanced robotics and mechatronics. And I think a lot of people stop at the word robotics, and they have a different vision of what the classroom is. They think maybe mostly like the mind's eye stuff, or Vex, if they did Vex in middle school. And those are great things, but this program is a lot more and a lot more that can lead you to a great career, a lucrative one as well, right? So I wanted to really focus on the advanced manufacturing side of it tell the story. And I figured what best way to do it from a student's perspective? Obviously, I was interviewed, because I have to explain some of the other things. We got our principal involved, right? I asked the students, and the student who did it, his name is Robbie. He's a capstone student right now, third year I've had him, he's also in our video production. And he said, Well, I have experience, because I go, I'm not an editor. I can barely videotape well, even though my wife trains me, but, you know, still not that good at it. We're only so trainable, right? Exactly. But he brought in the camera, he worked many days, and came in and took different shots, interviewed a few students, put the whole video together himself, and then showed it to me. And I was like, Oh, this is pretty amazing, a lot more, a lot better than I certainly would have done. And then we decided to publish it and make it public on YouTube and hopefully share it with as many people as possible. Maybe it inspires other school systems to create something like this, other educators or other students to enroll in our program here.
Matt Kirchner:I love a few things that you just said there. You know, the first one is talking about, and you mentioned VEX Robotics, and I love VEX Robotics, and it's a great way for getting younger students excited about these kind of technologies. First Robotics is big in the Midwest. Here, we actually sponsor, personally, a number of FIRST robotics teams, because I love what students are learning in those endeavors as well. But let's be honest, there is no like job in FIRST Robotics, right? I'm not. Nobody's hiring anybody to go out and build, you know, maybe if you're working for some humanoid robot company or whatever, but there aren't a lot of folks that are going out. Yeah, exactly. If you're working for Battle Bots, there's a job there, but there's a lot more people needed to program industrial robots, to understand mechatronics, to build programs and PLCs, to write in ladder logic, to understand pneumatics and hydraulic circuits. That's where the jobs are right? And so we have to graduate, figuratively at some point, from the first robotics programs, which are amazing, and at least in parallel, if not thereafter, get students into training. That's actually going to lead to a job, and that's exactly what you're doing. Am I hearing that right? Like we can take this inspiration that comes from first or from Vex and then translate that into real world skills and technologies that are going to lead to opportunities after high school? Is that kind of the idea absolutely
Maroun Nehme:and there's a reason why. In my first year, I do the suck up before the mind's eye, okay? Because during the mind's eye, they are going to have to do some print reading, sure, during the mind's eye, they have to use a digital multi meter. During mines are they have to take some measurements during mind's eye. They have to understand mechanical advantage. And I know they want to jump into the car first, because that's usually, that's what they sign up for. But I go, you need to have that knowledge before. So it makes a lot more sense when you apply it. And I say the same thing you just said. I said, Look, you're not going to go out there and build maybe if you work for NASA, work on perseverance, or our next Mars rover right at two theme parks next to us. Guess how these roller coasters operate on PLCs?
Matt Kirchner:That's awesome. My daughter and I, every year go to we have a Six Flags Great America about an hour from our house, and we can't we have this tradition of every August and we go get a great America. And I actually, a couple years ago, as we were going through, I took pictures of all the PLCs, all the mechanical drives, all the fluid power circuits, all that stuff at an amusement park. And it sounds like you're using that same example with your students of look at all these different technologies, very, very cool. So let me ask you this part. You're making all this noise. You're on social media explaining all the great things that you're doing. Your students are getting credit for it. They're making their own videos about your program. Really cool. We talked about what you're hearing from, for example, this city council member. I talked about what you're hearing from your students and employers. How about parents? How about administrators? Talk about what you're hearing from those folks. Well,
Maroun Nehme:parents love the program, beginning to get brothers and sisters come through. Now, even though we've only been here, you know, four or five years, my wife, on the other hand, she's been teaching 25 years. She's getting kids of her of students now, that's awesome. Yeah, I got a long way to go, but the parents love the program again, regardless of which pathway their kids are going. I think they like how engaged you could tell that the kids are going home and telling their parents what they're doing. And as a parent, that's what you want to hear from. You want to know what your students are doing in school, right? So you're probably not going to share today, and I love math, but you might not share, oh, I learned about the Pythagorean theorem, the parent, right? When I hear about that, I'm the type of parent that would because I love math, but when you're telling them, oh, today, you know, I made a car drive by itself, right? Today, I programmed the machine. I used a screen to operate a manufacturing machine. So. The admin. Love the program because obviously it makes the school very attractive, and it really feeds into the vision that our principal has. We call this a destination school, not just from the CTE programs, but also from athletics and academics and even our performing arts. So it is definitely great for the school and the district. And again, I just always put it back on the students, really the ones who have helped get this program where it's at with their engagement. And I pull them. I pull them every year, so I keep improving the program again. I'm going to go back. I came in here not really knowing what to do. So what's the best way to do it is to pull your audience and figure out how to keep improving this.
Matt Kirchner:I get the question all the time, well, how do we win the hearts of parents when we talk about careers in advanced manufacturing, I tell people, I've seen everything. The best way to do it is to win it through their kids. Every parent, we talk about this all the time on the podcast, I wanted two things for my kids. I wanted, number one for you to find your way into a career whatever comes after high school. Make it count for a career that you're going to find fulfilling, that you're going to enjoy, and that is going to support the lifestyle that you want. And number two, regardless, you're not coming back and living in the basement, and, oh, by the way, it's actually in the opposite order. Number one, you're not coming back and live in the basement. Number two, I hope you enjoy your job. But the truth of the matter is that what you really want for your students, or for your kids, I should say, is for them to be happy and fulfilled and content and to be on a, you know, on a pathway that they find valuable. And the truth of the matter is that if you have a student that goes home and sits at the dinner table and talks about programming a robot, talks about building a PLC program, talks about visiting a manufacturing employer, talks about earning a certification, then the parent starts to see the excitement and the enthusiasm on the face of their kids, that is how you get a parent excited about advanced manufacturing. You seen it the same way I do.
Maroun Nehme:And I think one of the ways I like to get the kids involved and I do is the way we do different events, like open house or recruiting events. It's a lot of work. We they give me the whole small gym. We take probably two thirds of the equipment I have in here. We do it there, and I have a student representing each station, and the best compliment I received was from one of our English teacher. He goes maroon students are the best salespeople. Well, when you're passionate about something, you don't have to try, you know, just gonna talk about it. And those kids bring their parents, and then the middle school kids come, the middle school teachers come, and they get to see my students talk about it, not me, and see the passion in their eyes. And that alone sells the program. Yeah, for
Matt Kirchner:sure, we in the in the sales world, and I spent a lot of time there. We call it third party selling. I can try and sell something all day long, but if somebody that somebody trusts and believes sends the same message, it's totally, totally different in terms of sending messages. What message would you have maroon for other educators who are either trying to promote their program or trying to get a program like you're started, what are the few things they should be thinking about? I
Maroun Nehme:think in the beginning, if it's a brand new program like this one, it's quite a bit of work. It's quite a bit of work. Obviously, if somebody comes with more knowledge than I did, it makes it easier. But I think today you have to use social media for kids. If it didn't happen on social media, it didn't happen. Obviously we have to be aware of all the fake stuff, but if you're using social media, keep the focus on the students, what they're doing, what they're achieving, not so much about yourself. I mean, you could say one thing or another here and there, but the majority of it should be on the students, because that's what the parents wants to see, that's what the community wants to see. And then, you know, other students want to see, right? So students want to see. And then you know, you're doing your part of elevating that community because of what they're learning here. And stakeholders take note.
Matt Kirchner:Yep, absolutely so, so sending that message, I love the idea of focusing on the students, and that, frankly, is what caught my eye. In all the work that you're doing, we see a lot of posts of like I said, equipment, classrooms, those kind of things. But when you see a student that their eyes are lit up because they're inspired about what could be, and that's really the magic that a teacher works, whether it's in the classroom or in the lab. That's the real value of a teacher instructor, and that's what absolutely sells the program. So I feel like I could sit here and maroon all day and ask you questions. You're doing so many innovative things. You know, unfortunately, we only have so much time here on The TechEd Podcast, so we're gonna wrap up here with just a couple of questions, or questions we love posing to every one of our guests, and so I'm really curious to hear your answers. The first one is, we all have our own education journey. I certainly had mine. I won't bore the audience again with it, because they hear it almost every week, but then they know what it is. But we all have our own journey, and we all come through education having some certain opinions about it or views that might surprise other people. What are some of yours? What's something that would surprise others about your paradigm or your belief about education? I
Maroun Nehme:feel, and I'm sure I'm not the only one, that our education system just needs a major reform. I feel like we've been teaching the same thing since the Industrial Revolution, through the nuclear race and the Space Age race. And not that those things are not important, math and English and all that. They're very, very important. But we need to have students ready to be employed. We need to have them be financially responsible. One thing I'm really big on. They need. Get out of high school knowing and be very comfortable using AI rather than keep slapping the risk. You know, don't use AI. And I encourage my students. I go, here is how to use it. Here's how I use it, because I think we're gonna fail them. You know, we need to teach for their future, not the present, because the present is not their future, exactly. And I think the other part that surprises people is, when I was in high school, I never took a CTE course. I know, shame on me, but I wanted everything honors. I was trying to get the high GPA, top rank of my class, and I had a, you know, a very interesting journey, but I sit in front of my students and I tell them, I wouldn't be standing in front of you if I didn't go to college. But it's not the only answer. And I go, it could be, and it doesn't have to be immediately after high school. What if you can take these certifications, get a good job, make yourself valuable, and now maybe that company will actually pay for your education, because they see value in you, and now you're getting out debt free experience, and you already have made quite a bit of money, and you're going to be ahead of the curve.
Matt Kirchner:All of that was really, really insightful, I think, in the whole idea of teaching applied artificial intelligence, which, by the way, as you know, your students are already learning in your course, because, you know, you think about the technology you're putting them in touch with, whether it's smart sensors and devices, control systems, data sets, the robot behind you will predict its own future failure and order its own replacement parts using AI, if you'll Let it so really, really cool ways to teach applied artificial intelligence, you and I agree we absolutely have to be using it and teaching it in the classroom. It still blows my mind that there are some schools that are trying to figure out how to prohibit it and try and lock it out. And it's like, yeah, good luck with that. So 100% agree on that particular observation. And then secondly, this whole idea that, yes, there should be students going to four year universities, but making sure. And to me, it's just all about awareness and not having any judgment around what those choices are right. So if four year university is right for you, you go do that. That's awesome. But technical college, community college, military service, direct to workforce. I mean, there's just, you know, other certifications you can earn post secondary. There's so many ways to build a competency portfolio for the future and to show in a future employer what you're capable of doing. University is one way, but it's not the only way. And for a lot of students, it's not even the best way. There's other ways, based upon how they learn or what their life goals are, that they can achieve those goals without a four year degree. So I love the way you characterize that time. For one last question sure for maroon Navy, and that question is this, it's another one we ask every single guest on The TechEd Podcast. We invite them to go back in time and go back to that that time when they were 15 years old, the sophomore in high school their whole life ahead of them. If they could give that person one piece of advice, what would that piece of advice be?
Maroun Nehme:That's a tough one. I mean, part of me wants to say nothing, because if I altered anything, I wouldn't be who I am right now. But let me give an answer, and I preach this in my class, as much as I've loved math and technology and stem I cannot stress enough how important the ability to communicate and communicate. Well, be out there. Talk to other people. Stop being so shy, put yourself out there, because you need to learn how to communicate with your co workers. You need to learn how to communicate with your bosses, with your subordinates. You need the communication is key and in relationship. You know, I've been married, what, 16 years now, and I had the students the other day. Goes, What's the secret to a long marriage? I go honestly, if you communicate, you have to communicate, but it's hard because I have a 15 year old who's a sophomore, right? You know, he's actually way more personable than I was when I was his age. So I'm happy to see that, and my wife is happy he can talk to anybody, adult peers. But I definitely highly recommend myself to have done that a bit earlier
Matt Kirchner:as we record this, I celebrated my wedding anniversary 28 years, as a matter of fact, congratulations, ago. So I certainly recognize the importance of communication and in a relationship. No question about that, and that whole idea and the ability to communicate, whether that's written communication, verbal communication, communication, on social media, whatever it is that ability to communicate with others, build those bonds, explain and defend what it is you believe in and what it is you're doing super, super important. I think that's absolutely terrific advice for any 15 year old. And on the topic of communication, you've done just a wonderful job, maroon On this episode, of communicating the incredible value that you're adding to your students, communicating to them in the classroom and showing that there's a lot of different ways to learn, that hands on, learning is really important. The value of third party certifications, and then all the ways that you're telling your students stories and sharing this with the world. I'm glad that you agreed to do this on The TechEd Podcast as well, with us to communicate to the world all the great things that are happening there at Buena Park High School. Thank you so much for being with us. Thank
Maroun Nehme:you both very much, and I appreciate the opportunity to be here and share my story even more,
Matt Kirchner:absolutely, really, really appreciate you doing that, and appreciate the audience being with us as well. On this episode of The TechEd Podcast, we had a number of different resources that came up over the course of this episode, not the least of which is that website on which the students found the certifications that they were earning and recognize the incredible value of. Those certifications. We will link all of that up on the show notes. You'll find those show notes which, by the way, are the best in the business at TechEd podcast.com/name me, I'll spell that for you. TechEd podcast.com/n e, H, M, E, when you are done there, we talked all about social media here as well. We talked about LinkedIn, we talked about Instagram, we talked about xe, we talked to it. We didn't, but we did talk about LinkedIn. I don't know that we talked a ton about Facebook, although I believe that came up as well. All of those platforms are where you will also find The TechEd Podcast. So while you're there, interact with us. Let us know you're out there. Tell us what you think. We would love to hear from you, and we would love to see you again next week on The TechEd Podcast. Thank you so much for joining us. I'm Matt Kirkner. You.
