Inside IALR
Inside IALR explores the ways that the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research (IALR) catalyzes economic transformation. Listen for a behind-the-scenes view of how our programs, people and partnerships are impacting Southern Virginia and beyond. Host Caleb Ayers and Producer Daniel Dalton interview someone new every episode, introducing listeners to IALR leaders and partners, promoting programs and highlighting opportunities to connect with us.
New episodes are published every other Monday.
Inside IALR
The Middle School Solution to Virginia's Workforce Challenge: GO TEC
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How do you build a stronger workforce pipeline? You start with middle school students!
In this episode of Inside IALR, host Caleb Ayers sits down with Telly Tucker, Dr. Melanie Lewis, and Jake Taylor to explore the origins, growth, and future of GO TEC (Great Opportunities in Technology and Engineering Careers). What began as a pilot program in three schools has expanded to 84 middle schools across Virginia, introducing students to careers in manufacturing, engineering, automation, robotics, welding, additive manufacturing, and many more in-demand career fields.
The conversation explores how GO TEC supports economic development, strengthens the talent pipeline, aligns industry needs with classroom learning, and helps students make informed decisions about their futures. The group also discusses plans for statewide expansion, national growth, and the long-term vision for GO TEC's impact on workforce development.
The Institute for Advanced Learning and Research serves as a regional catalyst for economic transformation in Southern Virginia. Our services, programs and offerings are diverse, impactful and far reaching.
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Why Applied Learning Sticks
Telly TuckerThe effectiveness of applied learning at an age appropriate level. We're hearing and receiving feedback from students, parents, teachers, counselors, industry like how this is enriching the educational experience of young people and preparing a better worker for tomorrow.
Meet The Inside IALR Panel
Caleb AyersWelcome to another episode of Inside IALR. Thanks for joining us today. And this is a fun one where we get a lot of the smart people in the building here. I guess now across multiple of our buildings. We have our president, Telly Tucker, a very regular guest on this podcast. We have Dr. Melanie Lewis, our vice president of advanced learning, who this is making her first appearance on the podcast, and Jake Taylor, who's our interim director of GO TEC and has been on this podcast one time. Thank you all for being here. I appreciate it. Thanks, Caleb. Yeah, thanks for having us. So really to today, just kind of want to talk through the story of GO TEC, of kind of where we came from, uh, where we are now, and where we're going. Um, I know this is a really exciting program. I'll kind of just open it up to um whoever of you want to take this, but kind of just tell me that history of GO TEC. What is, I always apologize to anyone I talk to for our number of acronyms. Great opportunities in technology and engineering careers. GO TEC's the short name. That's what we're going to stick with. But kind of tell me the story of GO TEC, how it started, what
The Economic Development Problem Go TEC Solves
Caleb Ayersit is.
Telly TuckerI think I've been around for for maybe the longest. Jake, I know you've been with the institute for quite a while, but um I can tell you my perspective from my with my economic development hat on, which I think is really important because it was part of the why behind the creation of GO TEC. And then anything I miss you, feel free to jump in with. But um, so thank you, Caleb, for for asking the question. Great opportunities in technology and engineering careers is a workforce training program, a a CTE applied learning structured program to expose young people to careers, one of some nine to 12 career paths that align with our growth and diversification plan, that it's aligned with our target sectors. Um, so um let me let me think back eight years ago or more, I was in the role of economic development director for the city of Danville, and we were trying to, we'd gone through a period of population decline, we'd lost major employers. We were trying to figure out how to make this region relevant for the new companies that we were trying to recruit. And we knew very quickly that we had to demonstrate the ability to provide talent and a future workforce beyond what our existing industry could absorb currently. And so we looked and profiled in inventory all of the training programs within a region, within maybe 30 to 60 miles. We knew how many graduates and how many which skill sets, and we quickly realized that this is not enough. Any company, any prospective company in the industry who's looking at the re at your region will look at your pipeline, training programs, and the students that are in it, and they will quickly determine if we come here, we won't have enough employees in the future. There just aren't enough people being trained in the skill sets we need. So this idea of we need to build capacity, we need to build scale across the region was uh evident from the very beginning. And we thought, how do we do that? We first went, okay, let's look at the high schools. Let's look at juniors and seniors because they're doing dual enrollment um courses at the community college, um, particularly the ones that are in um manufacturing skill trades, they can do in 11, 12th grade. And what we quickly realized after polling some of those students and talking to them about their future career aspirations is that many of them had already decided um what they wanted to do or had some idea. And we thought, well, that's not early enough. We need to get to students before they get to high school. And so um, working with who was uh Troy Simpson, who was then the um the director of the workforce and manufacturing division here at the institute, we talked about focusing on middle school, um, starting at you know, aged 11, 12, 13 years old, really exposing them to career paths that aligned with our target sectors. And how could we do it in a way that was meaningful, that was age appropriate, that would deliver material and a way where um that will resonate with them based on where they are in terms of their cognitive um growth. And so this idea that you could you could structure a program using the same competencies, um, the same industry competencies that are taught at the at the community college level, but that you could you could design a curriculum that would be age appropriate for middle school students to expose them to the same one such that it would be a continuum where they start in middle school and then when when they get to high school and continue on, that it would be they would build on those skills and and competencies that they learned in middle school. And so when we looked at what the first, I guess, eight or nine modules would be, it was very much aligned with our our uh target sectors. So manufacturing heavy and industrial kind of thinking, manufacturing engineering, uh machining, welding, uh, automation, robotics, um, additive manufacturing. I'm sure I'm missing a few, and Jake will fill in the ones that I'm missing. But these are the things that that we really focused on in the beginning. Why? Because those were relevant for the city of Danville, Pittsylvania County at that time, which was primarily the area that we piloted this program in. And so what started in three middle schools, I believe two in Pittsylvania County, one in the city of Danville. Today, Jake will tell you, is in 80 plus schools across Virginia. And I think it's a it's an incredible validation of the skills, the applied, the effectiveness of applied learning at an age appropriate level. We're hearing and receiving feedback from students, parents, teachers, counselors, industry like how this is enriching the the educational experience of young people and preparing a better worker for tomorrow to in preparing them to go into a career. So I'll stop there and I'll let um Jake and and Melanie maybe fill in anything that I've missed.
Jacob TaylorNo, Telly, I think that that frames it, you know, the kind of that origination story very well in terms of, you know, identifying the problem that GO TEC was intended to solve. Um, you know, the challenge that that GO TEC initially ran into was just, you know, how do you take that, how do you take that problem and successfully solve it? How do you embed that solution in the middle school classroom? How
Building A Middle School Career Continuum
Jacob Taylordo you validate those outcomes and then get to scale? So I think that's that's part of the story from origination to where we're at today that's you know, that we celebrate, you know, that we're very proud of. Some of the things that we talk about a lot in terms of, you know, where we're at now is like, you know, what is GO TEC and what makes it, you know, unique, what makes it uh better than other uh educational programs. And I think, you know, we we always go back to how it's the complete package in terms of curriculum for execution of those activities in the classroom, training that trains the teacher on a continuum, whether it's the same teacher every year or whether it's a teacher who's taking the place of a teacher who happened to take advantage of another opportunity. So in up, you know, in situations of turnover, we're there, you know, we're providing that training, providing that continuity. So programs continue in schools and all the other wraparound services that go along with it, from lab installation, troubleshooting, curriculum updates. Um, that's that's one of the things that, you know, when you look at GO TEC and you want to talk about that value add and what separates it from other programs, it's it's that package. So, you know, a lot of times we talk about what is GO TEC and what is it, you know, what is it not? It's it's tough to separate those individual components and call them GO TEC because they they don't um bring about the same impacts and outcomes in as an individual service or product. It's that cohesiveness that gets us the outcomes that that this region and this state need. Um Melanie, would you like to talk about maybe where we're headed in the future?
Melanie LewisGO TEC definitely has a positive outlook for the future. Um, right now we're in a process of um securing bridge funding for the program. And then from there, we are in just this year started our revamped curriculum. Um our curriculum is industry aligned, also aligned with um CTE standards for Virginia Department of Education, which is very, very important. So knowing that we have that collaboration from the state, but we also have that collaboration from industry, um, it matters because our students are not only able to get that curriculum bookwise, but they're also able to practice it hands-on with the equipment in the classroom. So from there, um, our curriculum updated, um, our processes, our procedures, all of those things are currently being updated, and we are moving towards a national presence. Um, we're going to continue to expand in the state of Virginia. Our goal is to be in every single middle school in the state of Virginia. And I do believe we have the possibility and um the bandwidth to get there, and then from there move into states outside of Virginia because what we have is a product that is not just going to benefit Virginia, but can greatly benefit other states within the U.S., exposing students to those high-demand, high-wage careers that if we don't reach them in that sixth to eighth grade level, they may never know anything about it. So exposing them to these careers early, and then as they continue to get maybe more exposure through high school is only going to not only shore up what we're doing here in Virginia, but also um throughout the United States.
Caleb AyersThank you all for that good summary of kind of where where we came from, what what those differentiators really are for GO TEC, and kind of on a big picture. Yeah, the big picture where where we came from and where we're going. Um and Telly, I appreciate that background. Because I've, you know, I've heard people talk about GO TEC and how important it is for economic development. We've even seen some of those examples, I know it's with uh Tyson Foods or with Microporus, where GO TEC played a real role in their uh decision to locate here and how they set up their operations. But knowing that like from the beginning, that was the goal, that it wasn't how do we get in front of middle schoolers, it was how do we get companies here? And to do that, we need to train middle schoolers. That's cool to hear that kind of how how we got there. Jake, I'll I'll give this one to you. So, how did we go from the three starting, because you've been here from the beginning of this, how did we go from those three starting schools in in Danville and Pittsylvania
Scaling From Three Pilots To 87
Caleb AyersCounty to now being in what I it's 87 schools we'll be in this school year, correct?
Jacob TaylorYeah, 87 labs, 52 school divisions. So um, you know, the the original pilot programs were were funded through a Go Virginia grant initiative. And I'll I'll just correct you just one second on that too, Caleb. Those pilots took place uh the year, a year before uh GO TEC staff were officially hired. So those pilots kind of proof concept, tested different uh curriculum, tested different equipment, and really tried to build uh some best practices and and and those resources so that it was uh ready to scale. I'll add that, you know, the original plan from those that um that formulated the project that funded the pilot, they had expansion in their sites the entire time. So when staff were first onboarded in 2019, you know, we had the three pilots uh that were finishing up their first year. We went to uh eight schools the following year as a total. We expanded into five additional middle school classrooms. Um expansion was part of the story all along because the the partners, the organizations that had the vision and generated the idea of creating this program, they knew that they didn't just want to see it in in Danville and Pittsylvania County schools. They wanted it to be a regional initiative. So that planned expansion was part of a three year, the first three years of this program is really where the the region three Go Virginia, kind of the IALR footprint and a little bit beyond, was was at the you know, at the focus.
Caleb AyersThat is very fast. I mean, that's that's cool what you're saying, that's from the beginning that you know that idea was there, but it's awesome to see the the scale at which that has gone. That at you know, 87 middle schools all the way from southwest Virginia all the way to Hampton Roads, basically stretching along Southern Virginia from east to west. Go tech is there. Um, so it's really, really cool to see that. And Jake, you touched on this a little bit, but for for all three of you, what kind of stands out about GO TEC compared to other workforce development initiatives, other education programs, and particularly with with the modules and the curriculum? I know that's I mean, you walk into GO TEC lab, and you can describe that for for someone who hasn't seen it. I mean, what what are those things that that stand out, those key differentiators?
Jacob TaylorThinking, you know, the moment you walk into a GO TEC lab space, you're gonna see industry-like or industry equivalent equipment that's being deployed in that
What You See Inside A Go TEC Lab
Jacob Taylormiddle school space for hands-on activities. So the variety of equipment that you'll see, you'll see different robotics platforms, some that very well mirror like industrial robotic arms. Um, you're gonna see additive manufacturing equipment, you're gonna see subtractive manufacturing equipment, you're gonna see welding simulators, you're gonna see a variety of electronics and different electronic uh microcontrollers, things that um allow students to do activities in electrical engineering and that translate into uh like programmable logic controllers inside of a manufacturing space, measurement tools, the same measurement tools that are used in metrology lab and dimensional inspection processes across industry and in other training programs. So you're gonna see that uh connectivity from uh different stages of training programs. So if you think of the pathway that's established with GO TEC, there's connectivity between the same equipment that they're gonna see in next levels as they move up from eighth grade into ninth, 10th, 11th, and 12th as they go into the community college and the different higher ed centers for those programs. They'll see that connectivity. And also they'll see that, you know, these are industry-like machines. So they're getting a sense of what is it like to work in those jobs? What are the skills that are important? Do I like this work? And can I make that decision now so that I can make a decision that I stay with for the next six, seven years as a student for future employment? So that's kind of what you know, when you look into that space, you're gonna see that, you're gonna feel that. If you see students engaged with that equipment, you know, you'll definitely see how um how that that changes the student perspective, their level of engagement. Um, it's completely different than when you walk into, say, a core class or you know, traditional K-12 settings. Um, it's just it's just completely different.
Melanie LewisI was gonna add to that question, um, Jake, as along the lines of the curriculum. The curriculum isn't a, as Jake says, a box on the shelf type of curriculum. It is a curriculum that is dynamic, that is constantly being updated, and that is beneficial to our students, especially when we have the types of equipment that we have in our labs, and we are having that constant alignment with industry. So as industry changes, we are ensuring that we're keeping up with those changes to make sure that those changes uh match our curriculum. So as students transition from middle school into high school and then into the workforce, they've already potentially seen some of those changes within industry and are able to adjust a lot faster because our curriculum has been updated to keep up with those changes. So I really do believe that's one of the things that sets our um our program, GO TEC, apart from other curriculum-based programs because of the fact that the curriculum is so dynamic and that we are aligning it with industry standards and ensuring that we're updating it on a frequent basis to um make sure that students are getting the best and most updated information.
Telly TuckerMaybe standing back, I know we're gonna have probably some listeners from outside of Virginia. And I'm just thinking about people who may be new to understanding and have never seen a GO TEC
Making Manufacturing Feel Modern And Bright
Telly Tuckerlab before. We were very intentional about what the space looks like. When you say manufacturing to certain age groups, and a lot of times when you ask a young person, you are you interested in manufacturing in your future career choice? They go, no, I'm not interested in doing that. You say, Well, how about like additive manufacturing? They go, No, I'm not interested in that either. Well, what about 3D printing? Oh, yeah, I like 3D printing. Yeah. Um made us realize sometimes manufacturing has a negative connotation because of its history. People associate manufacturing with dark and dirty spaces, uh, oftentimes, sometimes they associate it with um layoffs, um, you know, maybe jobs going away or going to other countries. Um they don't always consider it associated with modern technology. And we, those of us who are in the space and and industrialists, um know that the future of manufacturing is very different than what it looked like in the past. And so when we thought about how we design a classroom that starts to change the hearts and the minds of those people that we need to influence, primarily the young people themselves, so that they can see a future in it, their parents, their counselors, their teachers, we knew we had to be very intentional about the space. So when you walk into a GO TEC classroom, you're gonna see bright colors, right? We chose the the really bright green, the the logo, the power button, the chairs, the um many of our labs have natural light that come into them. They're very bright spaces, colorful spaces, such that when a student walks by the classroom, they kind of do a double take and they go, hmm, what's going on in that classroom? There's something cool going on there, and I want to know more about it. Similarly, the technology that Jake talked about, it's relevant. Um, we've developed, we've had industry partners that have developed prototypes for the GO TEC classroom. So, for example, we there was no tabletop CNC um subtractive manufacturing machine that was age appropriate for middle school when we started GO TEC. Um, we worked with an industry partner to help develop a prototype that was safe to be in the classroom. And so we wanted to do by by putting relevant modern tech technology in the classrooms in a bright and attractive space. When you look through the window of that as a parent or a counselor or a student, you can now say, okay, this looks really cool. This looks like something that's that's futuristic in some ways. Similarly, an industrialist or a company representative can look through the window and say, yeah, this this training, this workforce development program is relevant. It has real, um it has real alignment and application with the future of where manufacturing is going. And that's a differentiator. Um, one other one I'll highlight is that it's not meant to just it's not meant to be a maker space in the sense that like scoot students go on and and just tinker with a few things for, you know, 30, 45 minutes, an hour, and then they move on. As Melanie was mentioning, it's very intentional, it's very much aligned. Um, there are mapped competencies from industry that are mapped and aligned with with the Virginia Department of Education competencies such that it builds on those skills that students will need to learn as they further their education. And in addition to the technical training, students have an opportunity to learn more about how much education do I need for this for a career that uses this particular skill set? Um, how, you know, where are there jobs, maybe in my region, that hire these particular skill sets? How much money do they make? Do I need a college degree? Do I just need a certification? Do I need some community college? So there's an awareness component that's baked into the curriculum and activities that helps young people start to connect dots between and maybe see themselves in the future working in an industry in the region, particularly when we have a lot of young people who historically felt like they had to leave our region to find a job. Well, now their jobs that are relevant, we're making them more aware that they're jobs that are relevant and available right in their in their region, so that if they want to choose to stay there or move back to the region when they're older, they can do that. That's a little different and can be customized to each region which the program is in. That's different from other workforce development programs. Uh, it's not just um activities that expose someone to a technical skill, but it's it's really more strategic thought of how do we expose students uh and get them to think about their future careers, the paths that they're choosing, the jobs that they in the careers that they may go into. And oh, um, by the way, we're doing this in a in a space that has relevant technology to um that gives me confidence that I'm gonna have a job in the future if I go into this field. And and we do some fun things with students too, you know, competitions and um we talk about the AR and VR welders that are in the classroom and and how a lot of times the girls are are are kicking the boys behind because they they are they have better better. Their coordination and their attention to detail is uh maybe more well developed at that age than than than the boys. And that creates another fun factor in terms of that competitive spirit that many of our young people have. And then it creates some some uh maybe some determination and and inspiration for us to get better, right? I want to be better at this. I want to be better than the rest of the students in my class. And what we start to see is certain students go, you know, I'm pretty good at this thing. Um I know I can do this in the future. I know there's a job waiting on me. I know that the money that can be made. I know how much education I need to have. Now I have a I'm making a much more well-informed decision when I get to high school and I'm talking about what electives I want to take and whether I want to maybe do um early college, an engineering uh program, pre-engineering program, whether I want to do a CTE skilled trades program. Um, all those are much more well-informed decisions and and hopefully um maybe give parents and students uh a more well-informed and well-educated decision about how they want to invest in their educational future. Because we we we see lots of folks that graduate with degrees and significant amount of debt that can't find jobs that help them repay those student loans and and uh and and it that's a real sad situation. So we want to expose students to a broad array of skills, careers, sectors, and then um hopefully that informs their decision making in the future.
Caleb AyersAs you were talking, Telly, because like when when I take people in the GO TEC lab on a tour, you know, it's obviously with the middle schooler, that this is the idea I have that you want it to be hands-on and fun and engaging. If you just tell it to them from a book, they're not they're a lot less likely to remember it than if you're actually doing it hands-on. But what you just said about that, it's not just a maker space either. They're not just going in there to tinker with stuff, but it's those two things connected. It's that career information with that hands-on part brought together and connected. And that's where I see, at least from from my view, I that the the way you said that just made me kind of see that really, like that it's it's the career awareness and the career hands-on actually touching it, that it's those two things together that really brings that strength. What are some success stories of I think being in 87 middle schools? I mean, to me, that seems like a good that's a good success story, but what are some high-level big picture success stories or individual level success stories that we've seen from GO TEC so far?
Jacob TaylorI'll kick it off. I think um, you know, the the expansion that we've had across the state, the adoption of the program beyond the Danville, Pittsylvania County region
Statewide Expansion As A Success Story
Jacob Tayloror the greater IALR footprint, I think is, you know, one one part of our success story. I'll reserve a few of the others for the other podcast participants today. But I think um, you know, going back in time to that original expansion plan, you know, we we've had kind of region three saturated early on the first three years of this program. Um, but but then we were able to expand in southwest Virginia. We've added uh almost a couple dozen schools in far southwest, uh kind of a combination of Go Virginia regions one and two collectively out there, uh several labs in operation now, but kind of spreading east where we've um kind of crossed the 95 corridor into the Hampton Roads area. So the, you know, the the south side of Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Suffolk, um, and on the peninsula at Newport News in Hampton, and even across the Bay Bridge Tunnel into Northampton. So, you know, those expansion, I think that's that's success that we celebrate. Um, that's that's going into Richmond and the Greater Richmond area, uh, the crater region up there, several uh over a dozen labs in operation in the greater Richmond area and and recent expansion into central Virginia towards Charlottesville with Albemarle and Green. Um, so you know, I think that's one of our success stories. But um we've got we've got many others. That's one, I guess part of the program is that the success stories are multifaceted. So, you know, the economic development success stories that we've had have also, you know, added to that.
Caleb AyersTelly, could you add a little bit more on the uh I mentioned Tyson and Microporus up front. Can you can you speak to that a little bit more?
Telly TuckerCompanies um in the region, Tyson Foods, Microporus, have cited GO TEC as uh one of the um influences
Tyson And Microporous Workforce Wins
Telly Tuckerof the decision to locate in the region. Uh maybe let me start with with Tyson Foods initially, who were looking at the region. Um and it was, you know, there was there was a project, and I can't remember exactly the project parameters because I didn't work specifically on the recruitment of that industry, but you know, obviously it was millions of dollars of investment in a new facility, building a new facility, new manufacturing lines, and hiring, you know, some 600, 500, 600 employees or so, I believe. They came and they toured the region. Um, they toured all of the training programs. They started with GO TEC to see what we teach in middle school. They went to the high schools, they went to the community college, they went, came to the institute, they got to see just about every training facility in the region. And part of what they realized leaving um the region after their first prospect visit was that they had the region had was much more technologically savvy, and its training was much more um technologically advanced than what they had previously anticipated. And so what they ended up doing was revising their um their job numbers and the skill sets that they were going to need to fill this plant, um, which became much more technically advanced. It reduced the number of jobs that they needed overall because they were gonna be able to use more things, things like automation and robotics in their manufacturing lines. Uh, and so it reduced the number of people overall that they thought they were gonna need. However, it was gonna raise the wages of all those jobs that they were gonna need. So um when we when we think about economic development, we think of um it's not just job generators, but it's it's job generators at a at a wage uh well above the average prevailing wage that gives people the disposable income to then go out and and support other businesses. And that's where you get the indirect and the induced impact of what a what an economic development prospect brings, right? If I if I earn twice the average prevailing wage, now I've got money to take my family out to eat, to do shopping, to to invest in other things in the region. And that's where you see the multiplier effect of an economic development website uh of a of a project that that um has uh those jobs that are well above the the average prevailing wage for a community. Um and and one of the really bright success stories is today, uh Tyson Foods actually doubled. Uh I think there are over 700 jobs now in the region. They've more than doubled what they thought the initial projection was going to be, even with the technological advances. So um we end up getting more jobs and a much higher salary. Um, and and some of what they utilize, the the the skill sets, those are directly aligned to um to GO TEC, right? Like those those competencies that they that you would learn if you were going to work in in uh in a Tysons plan have some applicability um back down to middle school level. And what what kid in in in the middle school doesn't like dyno nuggets, right? To know that, okay, wow, the the the people who who make dyno nuggets actually know how to, you know, they've they've had some manufacturing engineering and some automation robotics training um in a program like GO TEC, and maybe I can work there and get free nuggets one day, right? I mean, you got to think like a sixth grader um and what motivates them. So that's one example of success. Microporous, another one. They are building a new facility, investing over a billion dollars and hiring more than 1,500 jobs in this region. And they provided a quote, they directly attributed their decision to locate in this region, in part by um what they saw in our training programs, which included GO TEC. And it's you can't pay for that kind of endorsement. Um many companies, one of the first questions they ask when they're making a location decision, it's about workforce. And um, if you check every other box, if you've got a site, if you got a building, if you've got, you know, power and water and all the other things that they need uh in the right business climate, um, it still doesn't matter if you can't find workers. And so this region's made an incredibly um aggressive bet, an investment on workforce. Uh and we believe that that that investment in workforce is going to change this region's future and that industry will want to be closer to that well of talent. Um, MicroPores is just another success story, an example of why investing in programs like GO TEC help you accomplish your economic development goals and strategies from an attraction standpoint.
Caleb AyersThose are some awesome stories. I want to take our last few minutes and focus on the future. Uh, Melanie, you had mentioned the whole um we're looking for bridge
Bridge Funding And A Sustainable Business Model
Caleb Ayersfunding now. You mentioned the idea of national expansion. Um, so on a big picture, kind of walk me through, I guess, how we're how the GO TEC business model is shifting right now and kind of what are those ways that that different organizations can can get involved with GO TEC, whether that be in education or in industry, in the nonprofit sector. I mean, whatever, whatever sectors are out there, I think there are ways for them to get involved in GO TEC. So kind of go big picture of where are we going and how can different groups get involved?
Melanie LewisSo GO TEC is making that transition from being an education initiative. Um we're still going to be focusing on education, but on the back end, the our business structure is changing, our business model is changing, and and we're moving to a model that will allow us to be completely self-sustained. So uh bridge funding that we're seeking right now are from other organizations to help us um give us the runway that we need to get to sustainability. And once we reach that sustainability, then we're able to not just then, but now as we're getting to sustainability, tap into other organizations to help us continue to keep GO TEC going. So looking at different types of businesses and industries, um, those have an ability to be able to partner with us. And that could be partner with us sponsoring some of our curriculum. Um you could potentially be a sponsor within our curriculum. It could be a partnership with us with our mobile lab. There are a number of different ways that businesses and organizations could get involved with GO TEC. And we are currently in a process of exploring okay, how could an industry or organization, a foundation, um, they've heard about GO TEC and they really like what we're doing. Um, how can they get involved? And we want to be open to that so that way we're not leaving anyone out. But we do want that industry partnership there, we want that business partnership there because we know moving forward, a lot of these industries and businesses that we hope to have partner with us, these will be the places that our students will be working at in the future. And this is a great opportunity for them to get exposed at a younger age. But I always think about it's not just the students that we're exposing now, we're also exposing their parents too and their family members. Because, you know, say for instance, we just mentioned Tyson and Microporous, who's mentioned specifically about GO TEC being a part of the reason why they came into this region. So if a student is in a GO TEC classroom and you have a business or industry who's sponsored that section of the curriculum, they can go home. Hey, mom, dad, did you hear about such and such? Did you know about this business? Did you know about this industry? And it piques the interest of not only the students, but now it's also piquing the interest of the family members that they're having conversations with. And that then allows them to be able to have that curiosity to hopefully want to find out more about those businesses and industries that are within not just our regional footprint, but also within the regional footprint of wherever that GO TEC classroom may be located. It seems like we are statewide right now. So we're definitely taking that aim where we're we're gonna be partnering more intentionally with businesses and organizations to be able to help us with that. As we're moving forward with our new business structure, um, we will have a cost-sharing model where there will be a number of different organizations, whether it is state funding, business, industry, foundations, philanthropy, will be involved in helping schools share that cost of the program for GO TEC. Um, GO TEC is an awesome program and there's definitely value there and helping our school system see that value that they're getting that they will be helping share the cost on. So as we move into that model, it will help us be able to continue to expand in the state of Virginia. And then as we expand nationwide, um that those costs will be able to help us offset the cost in Virginia.
Caleb AyersAgain, cool to see the growth from three to 87 to we're talking about not just Virginia anymore. Um, and for anyone listening, there are plenty of opportunities to get involved. As Melanie said, uh, check out the GO TEC website, um, gotechva.org, and there are plenty of information there about different ways to get involved. Last question, real quick before we go. Let's imagine ourselves, I was gonna say five years. Let's go eight years, since we'll double the amount of time GO TEC's been alive. Let's say eight years from now. It's a random number, but let's do it. Um,
The Eight-Year Vision For Growth
Caleb Ayerswhat do you hope is true of GO TEC at that time?
Jacob TaylorI picture, you know, much more saturation in the Virginia school market. So we would have more divisions, more middle schools implementing GO TEC cohesively across the state. Um, also in eight years, we'll have been able to have launched our national model and footprint. And in that time period, I would expect to have multiple out-of-state partners and regional saturations of GO TEC deployed in those states. Um, you know, in inside of that eight years, well before we get to year eight, um, a financial steady state to where we we know that we are, you know, have have reached sustainability so that we can support and provide all of the um all of the the portions of the project that that make it its, you know, that make it what it is, that make it great. When I look at the the five year to eight year plan, like you you you mentioned, Caleb, that's just really, really uh shoring up what we do inside of the state of Virginia and and increasing those out-of-state partners and that regional impact in those external states.
Telly TuckerI'll echo uh Jake's comments. I I hope we are, I hope in eight years we have completely saturated the Commonwealth of Virginia and every school system that would like to have GO TEC in their classrooms is actually a GO TEC school. Virginia is is and continues to be one of the leading states in workforce development from our, you know, from our rapid training programs and the talent accelerator all the way down. And I think uh the the state will continue to have economic development success if it continues to forward invest in workforce. And then, you know, eight years from now, hopefully we'll we'll have a much more mature um, I would say maybe a commercial model where we can franchise Go Tech to other states that want to be a part of this as well. It's all part of the business and sustainability plan, but it takes time to execute that. And so um we are not um we're we're not in a rush, but we are anxious and eager and excited about the future um of the program. And and we certainly have gotten incredible interest from all over, not just in Virginia, but even outside and from for a few other countries as well about the program.
Melanie LewisI would say for me, in eight years thinking about GO TEC, it's definitely what both um Telly and Jake just said about GO TEC, but also expanding what we're doing when it comes to GO TEC. Um, in my mind, I see us in potentially eight years where we uh have ninth and tenth grade, not just sixth through eighth grade, but we are ninth to tenth grade saturated in the state of Virginia, and potentially working on fourth and fifth grade, upper elementary school, uh, maybe even some adult goal tech programs, helping adults realize the opportunities in technology and engineering careers, manufacturing, IT, coding, those careers too, because there's definitely a need for um upskilling and helping people who may need to upskill or unemployment. So I see there's some opportunities that we could also expand into, but once again, making sure that we're saturating um Virginia with our sixth through eighth grade definitely in the next eight years. And ideally for me, it would be ninth and tenth grade also.
Caleb AyersThat's awesome. Um, thank you guys for being here. Just to recap, I mean, GO TEC is an incredible asset to Virginia, an incredible program that has been developed.
How To Get Involved And Next Steps
Caleb AyersTalent development, economic development, it ties into all of that. It's not, it's not just a cute little middle school program. Like this has real, real implications here. Um, and even as the model is evolving and as the business model is evolving, um, I know this program will continue to make an even greater impact for Virginia. And as you guys are talking about, beyond beyond that, even and expanding, whether that be expanding into other states, uh, expanding into different age groups, like there's there's a lot of potential and ways to go with this. So thank you all for your time and for being here and for those listening. Uh, like we said, go check out gotechva.org for more information. Thanks. Thanks.
Melanie LewisThanks, Caleb.
Caleb AyersThank you.