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“Thinking Difference” brings together educators, innovators, nonprofits, and industry leaders to explore how collaborative action can solve our most pressing challenges—from workforce readiness to equity in opportunity.
So yay, welcome, I am so happy to have you here today. Hey, thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to be here and thank you for such a warm introduction. Yeah. Do want me to read the question? Yeah. Let's get started. can you first, Ryan, be on your bio? Just tell us a little bit about an educator who was incredibly impactful on your career or just kind of on your journey through education overall. Yeah, I I think about one that sticks out real particular to me would be my US high school US history teacher, Mr. McKinney. I still remember him to this day and he had a huge impact on me, not only really like how I conduct myself as an individual. in my education but my
One of the most powerful things he did with us in the class, and it's gonna sound crazy if there's educators hearing this right now, they'll probably think that would never work, but I tell you it did. Mr. McKinney would leave class when we would take tests, and he would always say, there's two things you're gonna get tested on today. Number one, do you know the material, right? But the second test is gonna be kinda who you are as an individual and your integrity. So he would basically say, I'm gonna leave. in the classroom and those that want to cheat, you can cheat and those that don't want to cheat won't cheat. And he would leave the classroom and you would see kids. I remember looking around and you could see the kids who would be cheating and then the kids who wouldn't. And that was so powerful. I, and I, I just have a super guilty conscience. I've always been a very honest person. Obviously not wanting to cheat, but that There were
Yeah. That exercise meant a lot and it impacted me. think obviously my knowledge of US history, but also kind of you're in that formative mode in high school, really asking yourself, who are you? Right? Like what kind of person are you and who are you trying to become? And I think without an exercise like that, Mr. McKinney did us a great favor because without an exercise like that, I don't think we'd ever really taken a hard look. get ourselves like that? I an honest person or am I a liar? You have to answer that. When he left the classroom, he said, you'll see around who's around you who are honest, and you'll see around you who are those who are dishonest. And gosh, that was so powerful. So if I think of my one single teacher, it'd Mr. McKinney coming out of... Grand Park High School, Carrows.
Yeah, that's incredible. I'm thinking of, you know, there's a difference between those teachers that have that poster that we've all seen it, you know, in any waiting room or in any classroom that says like integrity is who you are when no one's watching. But for that teacher to give, you know, high schoolers an opportunity to exercise that integrity muscle and decide, you know, and I'm sure there were kids that cheated one time and then you know, how to deal with the ramifications of feeling so guilty within the elves. then, you know, eventually by the end of that semester, that school year had grown to say, I don't want to deal with the guilt. I'm just going to put in the work to study. Yes. Like peer pressure, like I'm often like, what am I going to do if that kid's cheating and my friend over here is not cheating? like, just overall, what a great like, we call soft skills test and like, who are you and who are you letting influence you at the same time? But you hear the
Yeah, yeah, it's, you know, we do a great job at education teaching curriculum and skills, but sometimes I wonder, you know, do we put that other effort into building, you know, just good humans? You said it so beautifully, you know, giving somebody, giving kids a chance to exercise that muscle, right? Like, you know, cause I look back to where I am now, like I think about those and he did it throughout the year. wasn't just a one-time thing. really did. was trying to teach us a large lesson. I try to embrace that when I work in the job that I do and when I work with kids. Yeah, I want you to understand certain things, but there's also larger things that education has an impact on. And I sometimes think we lose sight of that. large
Yeah, sometimes we do. It also gives kids an opportunity to explore who they are as a person, what integrity means to them in a space where the worst thing that's going to happen to you is you're going to fail a test right now. Instead of kids waiting until they're not given that opportunity until they get to college or graduate school or God forbid their first job or second job and then the opportunity to cheat to get ahead. comes and they get caught doing it or, you know, and there's huge consequences to it. Right, right, yeah. Thank you for sharing that powerful example. Like what a highlight in your experience. Let's slip it a little bit. Can you tell us a time or something you tell us about something you wish would have been different in your K-12 educational experience? Well, I hope that's kind of maybe what we get to dive into today is maybe the the meat and potatoes of this this recording. To, you know, career and technical education training and also access to, you know, real meaningful work based learning experiences, whether that's internships and apprentices. You know, some way to get kids involved. I wish I had the opportunity.
to practice some things I learned in high school and then actually go into the field and try them. have a kid who was doing an internship at a credit union and got, I don't think the account balanced when the customer was checking in or out. I'm not sure the proper terminology here, but we all know what happens if our balance. isn't what we think it is and how somebody reacts and that young man. some of that from that customer and understood. maintain composure, how he needed to get, you this is out of his scope. He needs to go get his manager, you know, but that learning with that kid, saw tremendous growth over the semester. And that was one example of something that really did help elevate him. You know, we can't replicate that in the classroom. Kids get to know who your teacher is and you know, your teacher can get mad at you, but it's way different if it's somebody you don't aren't familiar with and you don't know.
experience talking
And it's those situations that I've seen kids just take the elevator to the top. as far as their maturity. I think we need to pay attention to that in education. From an employer standpoint, there's some real concerns with kids coming into the workforce right now, lacking some real... for my mom.
skills that are and it's across the board. Yeah. So I think, you know, being able to help develop those, just wish I had those same opportunities. And I went through a really traditional education. I'm sure many of our listening went through your traditional high school and you took your core classes. You you tried to find some electives that maybe would fit something you're interested in a career, but that's vastly different than what we do. And I wish I had. because I did it. Probably.
and your electives and
that access. Yeah, absolutely. I also think of that traditional. I also attended a very traditional high school in Oklahoma. And I think of all those things I didn't get to explore because I went into high school very committed to my track career. That was my identity. And, you know, I kind of formed that I got in. I started running track when I was six. And so by the time I was in like middle school, I was traveling for me. I an eighth grade ran up on the high school team. So by the time I got to high school, there was no space on my plate. to try drama class or to try any musical instruments at all. There was just not a lot of space for exploration because I had my core classes and I knew I was gonna have cross country and track. And that gave me space for like one, two electives. And then you also have those, you have to take so many languages classes and arts classes and those sorts of things. And I didn't get a lot of space to play and explore and figure out who and what I wanted to be and do. Absolutely. You know, that's so funny. So I built an apprenticeship with, the name of the apprenticeship. don't run it through Cherry Creek schools, but it's the athletic atelier. And the idea of this, the apprenticeship, and the, the individual I built it with was that high school in your situation that are always competing, they're missing a line that is designed within their athletes that are.
I mean, I just don't think it's fair to sit here and look at public education and say that's what's broken when we're the ones feeding into the system. Right. Yeah, I would absolutely agree on that. would I would also say I think we in education can lean in a bit on that and figure out ways to work with students. You know, at the CCIC where I work, 30 % of the kids grade is based on soft professional skills. So we are grading kids on being able to collaborate, being able to handle critical feedback. students on those and I'll.
those 30 % that's cool professionalism on
I mean, it's a and so. We are very intentional about that at the Cherry Creek Innovation Campus about not only giving kids constant feedback on those professional skills, but then coaching them to bring it up. So I always say, like, we don't do lunch detentions here. We don't do Saturday schools or after school. If you're not acting in that professional manner, it's going to reflect on your grade, which I think that is a creative way I think education can shift a little bit. on 30 % of
Yeah. I meet those needs. I think that's, don't think education's failing by any means, but I do think education, we need a bit of a facelift. We need to do something differently. got a lot of things that are working, but, that's where I love the work I do. I can be part of that small adjustment of change, and then we can really amplify what we are good at. And, but it takes, it takes some doing things a bit differently than we've seen historically. Yeah, and how awesome for those kiddos that, you know, their math muscles in their brain aren't very naturally strong or they're reading comprehension skills or are looking for some improvement, but they have excellent, you know, patience and collaboration skills. Getting graded on that. I mean, I'm just thinking of so many friends and family members that would have excelled so much more in the school format if they had been graded on those skills in like in conjunction with not just how they did on their science test, but how they acted in that group project and how they treated their partners in that group project. One, think two, at least the work I do as well, it's attractive for companies and organizations to know that those skills are being worked on. If you interact with private industry in my role, that is something you hear loud and clear. So to be able to say to somebody, listen, we are paying attention to this, and then to hear the feedback when our kids come back from or.
from an apprenticeship or job shadow and they go, wow, your kid's really stuck out. Well, talk to me about why, you know, and they You know? They will go into those things. You know, they came and shook my hand and asked me how my day was. Like we just don't see that. You know, it's those little things that we can help students get a bit of an edge up on. If we're making intention, addressing those things, which industry is being loud and clear, please work on these things. I I can't tell you how many times industry will tell me I can build the technical skills. Can work with the kid on the technical skills. can't, I don't know how to build. first.
I can't.
the soft skills, the resiliency. An employer shared an example of an entry level employee he had, and he said that, and this isn't one of our students, this is him giving me an example of what they're up against. he said, we put this young individual on a task, it was to work on this machine, and we left him there for half the day. And so his team comes back about five hours later, and this new employee, again, skills.
Yeah.
machine.
and tell someone come and check on it. It's a different world. that we're looking at. Yes. And one of the opportunities with those kids, I currently learn that now, like you don't know, you don't know until you're in it and you're doing it. I think about like, had a very traditional education as well. I became a teacher and I didn't know what I didn't know until I was in first day of school with 25 kids looking at me. And I was like, oh no, it's just us now. there's no one else that's going to come in and save me at this moment in time. And you don't realize like, you're like, oh, I think I know all these things. Oh, I can do that. I can do this. And you don't realize I put like those lack of their app or the people are looking for that. you know, don't, they would know that employees are looking for the handshake, the eye contact more than like, they want to know that I'm an expert in this field or in this industry. And so I think just bringing the light to that for kids is so a helpful ability for a step. So, And then we see a lot in that traditional school model, because I relate to that kiddo from, I'm remembering my very first professional job and I was one of those kids that did really, really well academically.
So I was in school forever. I didn't have my first like professional career job until, you know, after I'd gone on and gotten other degrees after. And much to my dismay, it did not benefit me to know everything. I didn't know that I was supposed to be asking questions. I had to learn the hard way in my first job. And I was really lucky to have a very patient and kind and great leader at my first career job who told me like, hey, you gotta ask questions, it's okay. Because in that traditional school model, you're rewarded for knowing the answer to the questions. You're not rewarded for asking the questions. Right. Yeah, that's great point. I had not thought about that, but that is a really, really good point. Ryan, I'm still glad you couldn't touch on some of the importance of why industry partnerships and this experience for kids is so important. Can you speak a little bit to like, what does that look like for kids in Cherry Creek in their classrooms and like, what does that role of CTE really play for them? So are you curious about like CTE within a student's kind of high school experience or how we incorporate CTE and industry partnerships?
and their work-based learning. Like how does that all? both. Yeah. So whatever kind of way makes sense to talk about. Yeah, kids, Cherry Creek's a large district and we have CTE programs embedded in all of them. In 2016, we passed a bond to build a standalone career and technical education center known as the Cherry Creek Innovation Campus. And it just really kind of expands on what's available to students. a bunch of CTE within the home high school students that want to access something a bit different. high schools.
others.
a bit more advanced can apply to come over here. The application is way for them to express interest. We don't have barriers for kids to come here. You know, to be honest, kids learn in different ways. I've seen kids when I was a counselor that struggled at the home high school and came over here and, you know, rolling A plus is an auto mechanics. They just they had a different way and a different interest. And so process is merely.
strength.
students beginning 10th grade can come to this building or they can access from their home school and then what we do or what I do is I work to establish partners with organizations, private companies, government agencies, around taking those kids that have certain specific skills within CTE, many of them have earned industry credentials, and working with them or speaking with employers about them considering working with these students as ships.
nonprofit.
say interns, entry level employees, the job on the entry level space, know, I think I'm older than you guys by a lot, but in our age group, it's still pretty competitive. think the job at entry level space is wide. I've not seen opportunity like this for kids in my whole career in education. so speaking with those companies and then right now.
in our activity.
market however that entry And I mean
we have an internal system, but let's say a kid passed mechanics and they got their service excellence one, those kids have real skills. And you look at auto mechanic shop, they're just struggling for to find, you know, talent, find anybody who's interested. Their are wide open and they say, Hey, let's give us a chance to work with the student. They obviously can't do everything, right? They're an intern and, but is automaking your auto service.
trying to find their ears.
But it works out really well because that employer now gets access to a student with the skills needed to work in there. They just haven't graduated. They're still continuing their education. And so that student will go over and work as an intern. We'll customize that schedule for that student. Right. The big thing is everyone thinks, well, how are you going to do this on a school schedule? And you go, well, you work with your home high school counselor. You have good relationships with them and you kind of custom build those schedules. So, you know, a kid may have, we work on a .
Yeah. Block schedule, but a kid. you know, you know, all of their classes on day. The next day we put them in, you know, their, and then their rest of the day and work and tell, you know, six experience and the next day they're at the. core class on one. auto to class that gets over at noon, heading off to their internship site for the clock at night getting some home high schools doing their core classes are not at the shop. Next day, boom, take some auto, go in and do their internship. And those will lead to many of the partnerships we build have either youth apprenticeships attached to them or.
adult apprenticeship. So, of talent. Now the industry is engaged with us, providing a great experience for a kid. we're very happy because that kid is putting those say muscles skills around their technical skills. They're getting access to a workplace learning environment, which is safe. I met that companies I go do site visits, I make sure these places are safe for our kids. I mean, that that then becomes part of the we typically place kids in internships between summer, junior, junior summer and seniors. Sorry, between junior and senior year. So that's to work on exercise.
summer.
Talk to them first.
intern of these are paid. The days of unpaid internship, I still have some industry partners who are able to pay and we don't. It's it's that's a new wrinkle that I've seen when I was going through high school like there was no such thing as a paid internship. Now kids are actually going and working and making money and there's they're learning. are kind of behind.
pride in what they do. They do and they don't always work out per. But I actually think imperfect is kind of perfect because if you do an internship and you go wasn't for me. Bad. You figured that in early That's not out of age that maybe this isn't what you want to do. So it can help kind of help steer that student. so, you know, we'll customize schedules, place kids. It's really, really cool to see. then you watch, then, then you watch the maturity just happen. It just takes over. You're just, I've always said this, if you give kids real responsibilities and getting the class on time, is not a real responsibility, right? Getting to your job on time is a real responsibility.
Um, being there for your shift and engaged is a real responsibility. And when you give students that they. Why I feel like as educators, we doubt our kids and I'm like, don't doubt them. Believe in them. They are going, you're going to stretch them, but they are going to, they will make it. will always. Yeah. I've not seen a kid go in and not do well. I've seen sometimes a site isn't a good fit, right? But as far as like kids take these very seriously, they know they're given an opportunity to do something and they. rise. It's unbelievable.
is like.
those partners are probably so thankful that those kids are coming back with those skills. And so it's just a win-win across the board. And that's so great. And we've seen those economic reports, you know, the folks that are working in the trade industries, like those are our ex-millionaire and billionaires. And we're, you know, we're all part of that generation where we were steered away from those kinds, you know, in so many words and, know, in so many ways, we were kind of geared towards, you know, you want to go be a professor and a doctor and a lawyer, all great careers, but they're no better or no, you more or less lucrative than someone that can, yeah, a great mechanic or, you know, HVAC or any of those. Go get your phone number, how much they charge you for just showing up at your house. It's even doing the repair. It's like $100 to get them to your house. and tell me how much Oh, you're a f***ing idiot.
Yeah, I backed into my garage recently. That's expensive. And the things that we need daily or very often like imperatively to some other other fields. You know, I, some statistics that will make your, you kind of wake up if you're listening to this, but we need to produce 80,000 electricians every single year for the 10 years just to keep up with the retire. see the next years. Yeah. mean, who cares about the guy and quantum and all these other things if we have no electricity, we have no electric arrows. Well, and the scary part is when you really start to think this out, you think about that.
college lost if we're not producing that many elect So these tradesmen that are working and going into retirement, if they're not handing that knob, it. off to the next one in line, we're in trouble. All trades are looking this similar age fact 300,000 well You know they the next wave of millionaires are going to be the students who decide to go into the trades perhaps do an Get a little work experience and then open up their own business
elders by 2030.
apprenticeship.
YUM I preach this all the time to students. And I do think the generation, I think it's Gen Z that we're seeing kind of make their way through. They are paying attention. They're a much more savvy generation. They're thinking about debt in college. What's my ROI when I'm done with this and does it make sense? Do I need to do an internship first? before I go to and see if this is for me. You are seeing kids ask those questions and that is something new as a counselor. I started my career in counseling at the high 2010-ish, 2009 and you weren't hearing those questions being asked. Kids, they're paying attention and they're, they're,
school.
I'm really proud of this generation. Yeah. I'm with STEM Blazers and I'm a chapter leader at one of the Cherry Creek schools. It's super cool. It's a great opportunity. But to echo what you just said, these are high school girls who they're all very interested in STEM careers. And so we did a medical field day and brought in eight different women that work in eight different spaces in the medical fields. Cool.
The second question that came from these girls is, can you guys go around the room and tell us how much you invested in your education and what it costs? And I mean, the stark difference, so many points here. One of them, the stark difference between one of the women who has been an OB-GYN for about 10 years, she's top of the line at her hospital. She's writing curriculum for medical schools. She's really, really in there. She said that her education cost her around $200,000. One of the people on our panel is a current medical student and she busted out laughing when she heard that and said, I take out $200,000 in student loans every year and I eat ramen for dinner every night. It's wild. And I mean, for these high school, you know, these 16 and 17 year olds to ask, what is this actually going to cost me? And to think about that. And then the career they ended up being the most interested in was a good friend of mine who came to be on the panel. She's in medical device sales. and she does the demonstrating for the doctors. And then she scrubs up and is in open heart surgeries because the product has, it's something similar to like a pacemaker. And so she's in there like helping the doctors, making sure it goes in correctly and it's working correctly. And all of the girls were like, never heard of this career. And she was the one who had invested the least amount of dollars into her education and was making the same amount of money as these doctors and just as happy with her career, if not happier. Yeah. I'll add something and just because you had mentioned your work with STEM Blazers, to the female audience out there, one thing I would really pay attention to is you should be part of this story as well. Just because these are certain jobs, stereotypes towards males doesn't mean anything. was just at an audience, I won't say the name, but as that have been.
shop. I'm talking to him about apprentices that are on the staff, number one apprentice is a female.
and oftentimes they do it better. Yeah, they bring a whole different perspective to that space, you know, like you mentioned the attention to detail and some of those skills that are just Inherent and biologically, you know, yeah, we're all you know, all that science behind those sorts of things. Yeah You got to count the girls in all Yes, absolutely. Yes. So Ryan, just open it honestly. Do you think higher education still delivers on the promise it once did and still has the same value maybe it has traditionally?
So I'd say, it's a tough question. will say, think through some gross growing pains right now, I think they're having to relook at how and they are having to adjust. you're seeing some of that. You're seeing, you're actually seeing the community lead that if you look at what community college Laura is doing to community, uh, uh, wrap up community college change. There are some really cool things that community colleges are doing. If going
the model they have had.
colleges.
college to front-range
If there's any students out here listening to this talk, consider the community colleges. I think the four years are a bit behind the wheel and I think you are going to see them. I'm not sure what that means. I think some of their endowments, I think we'll get them through where they need to be. But, know, I'll say I came from a career in corporate finance and I do think there is something to be said about I would say
person.
having to reinvent yourself. There's a saying, steel sharpen steel, Community college got a great leg up and it's forcing the four years to go, what are we doing? And we're starting to see them adjust. I think they're a little bit behind the wheel, but the fact that I think that they're kind of waking up to this is good. That said, I do think that we in the high school space need to do, keep pushing students to really consider I think
time.
$1,000 a year
I an idea.
support kids who go to college. College was great for me. I just think that they need to do some of their they're going through some adjustments, some growing pains right now. And that's the thing. Businesses go through that. Right? You're starting to see that with Google. They've traditionally been a search base engine. That's where they generate revenue. You see open AI come on board. It's pulling that away and Google's having to go, whoa, whoa, how do we stay relevant? What are we going to do differently? And they're changing. I think the same thing happened with That's not a bad thing.
college they're gonna have to figure they're going to have to do that facelift piece. And I hope they do. I think college is a great experience for kids. And then I also think the other thing they need to pay attention to that they're, think you're going to see is that the cost. It's like, if you look at the acceleration of the cost, you up with this. You're have to figure that out too. So I think there's some good, some good pressures being placed on the, on the university system. I think they'll answer that. know, colleges and in the
to some of the skills that they've learned at the university. think that's a big, big. win for them. And I think if they continue to lean in that direction, they're going to be fine. Yeah. So to piggyback on that, there other alternatives to traditional schooling that you would suggest kids consider besides new college and college? What do those look like? Well, you know, I think there's a few things. number one, I don't think if you are a student and you don't know what you want to do, I don't I would honestly choose some different. Gap year is something that you should consider gap year. can if you you structure it in a way that makes sense, whether that be volunteering experience, there's gap programs that kids can get involved. Maybe
with if they're not quite at that maturity level yet, college or they don't know. to enter college. You know, I don't think it's bad to get a job and start working some, see some different things. Obviously, I'm a believer in the apprenticeship model. That is taking the nation by storm. It's only going to get more relevant if you look at what college ship model.
done and what Governor Polis has done through this apprenticeship. state agency, they've actually created an agency to help intermediaries and businesses and individuals like me build these things so that there's actually something in place that's registered with it. In fact, if you were to go and you can Google the state apprenticeship agencies and see all that kids can go and get some experience and try out apprenticeships are a bit longer in duration. the internships always Department of Labor.
all of the apprenticeships that are out there.
for the right student.
seem like wow like I know
now and for him and her. And then also, you know, just getting an entry level job, you know, companies now are, you know, they're so desperate for workers, as long as you're willing to show up and, you know, put your work ethic in and questions like there's some great companies that are. In fact, I'll tell you this, I, there's a, there's an engineering company that I, in partner specifically don't for their interns, they don't want students who are going to. They want to train them first. I oughta-
ask questions hiring.
with and they
First, college is. Yeah, and determine if th and they College bound. I'm thinking, what? That's so bizarre for all of us. Okay, we'll market that.
because a lot people are clogged up in... process first, right? And you don't even know if it gets in front of a human. All right, for the listeners out there, copy the job, put it on your resume, and then make it white. Right? So it's page two of your resume. Submit it because it's going to have every single word they're looking for because it came from the actual job description itself. No one will know because it's white it out, but the data is still being collected as it's processing through the system. description.
Thanks.
description.
Honestly, even if they did find out, I think it would give you a leg up. That's creative. later. Talk about innovation. I think a lot about I have a cousin, younger cousin, and we both grew up in Oklahoma. We both went through Oklahoma school systems. And we're from the same families. We're from the same gene pools. We're still very, very different. And he went through an traditional model. He is dyslexic and struggled with the traditional schooling, kind of was a little bit left behind, but the soft skills, Yeah.
you
incredible soft skills. And a lot of that happened from my dad is an entrepreneur and does a couple different things. And one of the things that he used to do is own a landscaping business and my cousin would work for him. My cousin now runs a landscaping business and makes double what I make. And I've got a law degree under my belt. He didn't go to any type of traditional school and he went straight into the workforce after, but he had that opportunity to develop the soft skills and explore alternative options. And I come from a family with European background and you my dad's African American. So college was important and it was stressed to us as important, but it wasn't any less important as what my cousin decided to go to, you know, no one looks at him and thinks that he's less than I am because I've got degrees under my belt. They look at that those soft skills. and I just think of how many kids don't necessarily get that experience. And it's not that all it's just, you know, parents are parents grew up in a different generation. But yeah. Luckily we've got kiddos whose parents are probably still paying student loans and they're like, wait a second before you use data for that for you in college. Thank you. You know, that taps on an interesting piece too. I'd also encourage the students who are listening to this as well. Consider the community. A lot of people don't know that the community colleges have an articulation agreement with the four. They basically, your two year kind of guaranteed. You can take classes if you're like, Hey, I want to go to what I want to do. Right.
colleges. colleges first years will transfer up. Yeah. college but I don't know what to Maybe it's not time to move out of mom and dad's house and go spend 40 grand a year. Maybe you live at home another year and take some community college, get some access. It's much more affordable. bury yourself in debt and you can still explore what these classes are still get an idea. And then, you know, after a year two, if you think, hey, I'm ready to go after this engineering degree, great. Jump up to the four year university. mean, there's things you would want to do. You'd want to meet with both institutions, make sure your classes will transfer. mean, do it this way, but that's available.
have.
on smart way when you get your first 60 credit hours as such a cheaper price. . A lot of yummy. After two years, you're like, this is nuts. I'm not doing this. Then you didn't go into debt. You didn't go into debt. Where if you went away for the four years and you came back after two, you're going to, I mean, assuming your parents don't pay for it you don't have, you know, you're going to, you're going to. And that's actually, if you look at, there's something called, I think.
Yeah. Right in the-
you know, of those hundred, you know, 85 graduate of those 85 that graduate, you know, and I don't know what the numbers exactly are, but it starts clicking down, right? Of the, you know, 85 graduate, have 60 that go on to the first year of high school. And after the first year, it dramatically dropped. And so you start thinking, you go, okay, so these kids went to college, took out debt, grad.
like a.
Yeah. And I mean, that as thankful as I am for my educational experience, I do sometimes think when I see friends my age by houses, I'm like, I guess I'll just live under my two degrees because that's my house. That's my mortgage payment. Yeah, yeah, right? Yeah. I know at one point in time, the state of eye produced a documentary, I believe it was called Broke Busted and Disgusted. it's a good, I believe they had every single high school senior, it was. school graduates. Part of the requirement, they had to watch this movie and it talked about the debt. I believe it was produced by the banking system in Iowa because they were the private industry was trying to get in there like young it's that education piece and
How do we help?
It's hard, you know, when kids are in that college, there's dreams. It's hard to talk to them about affordability. senior year they're they're thinking about college teams.
Yeah, it's a national con. And I think it's a good one. Yeah. We've also spent decades, you know, I'm glamorizing it. I'm thinking of just the social aspects of college. So many kids that, you know, they're not really thinking totally and who can blame them? They're 18 years old. They're not thinking about their future in terms of debt and money and income and strategy and those sorts of things. They're thinking about what's relevant, their social life. And we've glamorized that college experience for decades. You know, think of all the movies and that's what there's a lot of undoing to do. Right. That's a great way to say it, an undoing to do. There is a lot of undoing to do. Yeah, without a doubt. Without a doubt, there's some undoing to do. Like I said, college is a great thing for the right kid. That's why I say I'd land. And I'm happy that we, at least in Cherry Creek, are talking about what are the... ...
options are there for kids than just feeling like they're Yeah. one thing you can look at if you think this is, if you want to see some data, go look up. I'm not sure if you guys know what summer melt is but When kids leave high school, high schools typically will have kids apply. for college, right? That's part of role, right? So they're getting kids to apply to college.
Well, when you look at the data of kids that have applied for year and they're leaving compared to the number up, Fight for college that senior that show up. That summer melt is a lot of it melts off because. Were those kids really serious about going to college? Did something change and what is their backup? Do they have a backup? I mean, with these kids that melt off, that's one thing I really want to pay attention to is what are we doing with those kids? up or was it just what has happened?
Why are they melting? Are they melting off because they can't afford it? Mom and dad changed their mind or are they melting off? I had to fill this out because I'm, you know, school. because it's I'm graduating high school and I gotta put this in and I don't really know what I'm doing and I really scary when I look at summer meltdown. and had a real conversation about that. Totally. On that kind of same coin then to kind of gear it up up here, what's one challenge or opportunity, especially education, you would suggest listeners tackle head on right now? And why is there no time at the present to get started? You know, if I could do, and this is just my opinion, I'm gonna be biased on the role I have, but if I think there's a challenge, but I think it's the same opportunity if I was in education, if I was a traditional class teacher, if I was an elected, would to connect with industry and figure out how are my skills that I'm teaching kids be relevant in some type of job, okay? And I think that requires innovation, requires different thinking.
There's tons of opportunity within it. You know, I had a conversation with few teachers and I've spitballed, know, foreign language. Who does translations? Right? Hospitals, there's translations going on in districts, there's translation going on in the courts. How is this foreign language in the workforce? a few language. there's translations going on in school.
And I think when you incorporate the industry, I think it kind of pierces, you know, we all know this, you know, you probably know this with your parents. You know, we tend to kind of come out those people that we know care about. I don't know why, you know, I'd have parents say, I say it the message to you. I'm like, it's a different, it's a different person delivering the message. I'm no better than you. me. about us, know.
father, but I am a different person in their life that delivers a message differently. And they do pay attention to that. I think industry can do that for our kids too. And it doesn't cost us, I'm not paying industry anything. A lot of industry It's just anything right. are this.
wants to work with our kids. want an investment. in the next future and especially if they're an industry, you know. part of an industry that is just dying for workers, there even more. wanting to get into and work with you. Say, you know, the challenges, how do we, you know, make public education the strongest force that we have. Then I think we need to pivot a little bit and start bringing in industry and not be so just. perfectly with college. think you can have a bit of both.
Terry, can pass another?
Thank you. You know, an event center. mean, and these are all. those jobs that we're talking about that college you may need to go You don't necessarily need to go to college, go through an apprenticeship, which by the way is, in my opinion, I actually tell parents of college.
model, you know, before they had traditional, I mean, for myself personally, before they had traditional law school and of our exam, it was an apprenticeship. Yeah. Europe never let go of it. It's the most, it's the most widely available, proven model that works in this last of the test of time. You know, if you're a kid and you go up to a college, you live in a dorm, you're maybe going to have an RA. You know, in the RA, really, let's be honest is to like resolve. They're not trying to mentor you. you
conflict. No, they're also probably a junior or senior that are- free place to live, right? That's why they get it. And so then you may have a professor who knows your name, right? Some of the bigger universities you go through an apprentice. You're going to be next to people. You know, let's say you were to go into, you know, welding a bunch of welders who are going to really mold you. They are going to invest in you. They are going to mend you. You are becoming one of them and they take a lot of pride in apprenticeship.
We're gonna be around.
for you.
if you show up late, they're going to probably be like, we don't do this. Yeah. Way we operate in here is this. And, that's the mentorship that an apprentice. I you get that. The only problem with the apprenticeship right now is it's not scaled out enough where everybody can get access. That is where you're seeing my, my principal and I flew out to Washington DC last year and he delivered Senate testimony to governor Hickenlooper. for you. Yeah.
and you know, don't think that in college, right?
who's trying to push like I think it's like $500 million. Companies. to incentivize companies to do this work with education facilities, right? And so I think once that scales up, we'll see much larger numbers, but I believe in it. I think it's an awesome. Yeah.
Yeah, I-
opportunity for kids and you know, I'm thankful to be. able to speak with you guys and get the message out the best I can because I do think the more. talk about it, the more we acknowledge it, just national conversation. I think it's important for our now. Yeah. And this is the right crowd. mean, the majority of the work that we do here at MindSpark, our bread and butter is going into schools as early as that, you know, K through five space. We work, you know, all through K through 12, but our work is primarily focused on going in, upskilling teachers, figuring out how they can get industry professionals into their classroom and shifting that learning model into, we call it PBL, problem-based learning.
and having kids sit at the table with industry professionals and try to workshop how to solve real problems that affect their community that these industry professionals are currently working on. Because the thing is, a lot of times these kids are personally impacted by this. One example, we're about to engage in some work with Weld County around food insecurity. it's one in three kids are relying on public services or the food bank to get their dinner. Why not have those kids be part of that solution and sit down with those, you know, economists and grocery store planners and owners and managers and figure out, know, what are the solutions here? Where can we find them? And letting those kids' be at the table and be heard and let them have agency over their education. They know it best. We're in that situation. So I'll say two things. First, I'd invite you guys out to the CIC, take a tour. We could record. to the season. Our second podcast if you want it after more content. Welcome to come on out and then. The second thing I would say is one of my goals for next year is to tap on what you did. So we actually refer to it as...
like a work sponsored. Yeah. And so an industry partner has how do we push that into a classroom? And now, you know, four sections of 30 kids are getting access to this. It's a different form of entrepreneurship and you know, one that came through was like, how do you just project. than they're trying to solve.
well, some of these still are. because those kids that might think that they're drawn to the art classes or maybe they think they're drawn to, you know, whatever subject it is, find themselves so immersed in that, their, you know, whatever class, whatever teacher it is that's using that model. They're like, all of a sudden, I think I want to be a scientist, or I want to be a veterinarian. I never thought that before. thought I was going to be an artist. Yep. Yep. And I think that's where there's opportunity for our elected teachers. it's just, how do you think differently than what you've done before? if like, if you are, you can get with industry that needs those. You show those to your students, pull in a product that you can work on in the year. now is creating value for the kid that would follow them into work. to teach.
You know, that art teacher, you get involved skills, right? how do you.
force rather than just on the mark to get into college. Click on Yeah, they're also working with those industry professionals developing those soft skills because they're presenting their solutions to, you know, not a principal, not a teacher, someone who they might work for one day. It also opens up the doors of networking for kids that, you know, maybe they don't have a lawyer or a doctor in their family and maybe they never saw themselves as a lawyer or a doctor. And then this industry professional came in and all of a sudden they were like, wait a second, I kind of want to be like them. Thank They're building their social capital, that network of people that I recorded.
with a rocket scientist and I had two of our interns with us and they were so excited to be in the room when I recorded it's... I was like, it's no big deal, but come with me guys. And when we left, the individual was like, you guys should add me. Yeah. I looked at them both. said, go create an account. me as a friend on LinkedIn.
Do it right now. Gosh, I remember Matt, you know, I remember our contact. I'm going to reach out to her. They remember. There's gonna be a day where you may go...
And they may, they remember you guys. Like those small things are. We've never talked about that in education and we're starting to. It can be intimidating and overwhelming a lot of times for those teachers that have been in the education space for a really long time. And, you know, we, we talked with someone yesterday who pointed out that, you know, teachers are one of the only careers where you've already spent 18 years seeing what that's supposed to look like. So you kind of already are, you've got some preconceived notions on, what that's supposed to look like. so. A lot of the work that we do, and know, Lauren's a past educator, most of our facilitation team, if not all of it, they're all past educators. They've been in that classroom. And we believe in this model so much because we know it works. We know it, and we also know and recognize how many hats teachers are already wearing. And so we point out to them, when you bring those industry professionals into the classroom, that's one hat you get to take off. Right. You know, and I think the challenge teachers run into,
into on that is how to get those partnerships. That's why I'm thankful. I am so lucky to work with Cherry Creek Schools that supports the work I do because I couldn't imagine working in district and I'm a teacher. Find them. We need somebody full time doing that for us and handing them to us and that's a partner who's doing for. and I'm like, I'm supposed to go f- Yeah.
That's what I try and do. have good part in getting in touch with this photography teacher. I have somebody. Let's do a call together. I'm gonna do a warm introduction, right? And we're gonna talk about these things. We try and. and saying hey.
things and slowly pass that up. The management then becomes their job. Like I can't manage all of them. You need to go out and bring those people in. I don't know how you do what we do with that. The one piece that I do hope as districts start paying more attention that they consider funding a position like this because I do think it's... But I mean...
that and that's the
lot of value. Thank you so much for that. well, Ryan has been a breath of a fresh air conversation and really how much you're transformative thinking your upscaling and the work that both you and your team are doing for kids. There's you pointed to some examples of how it's working for students. And I hope this inspires others to kind of jump on the same board for advocate for their for their local public schools. You know, go to your school advocate for the kind of this kind of model. Yes. Amen. So for follow up work and listeners find you moving forward from this podcast. You know, I have my own podcast conversation. and the idea of my podcast is that I, the work I do, I get access to this unique individuals, know, F 15 mechanics to, I went to a, a bioengineering and saw them engineering skin and bone for bunion surgery. So I have access to all these unique individuals in my podcast.
record it's called Career Connections. Yeah.
lot of. Yeah.
around interviewing them. So if people want to tune in, it's career conversations we're on. It's been a while since I've done a recording just because some things happening at my building, but I try to keep it for our students. as you guys touched on, sometimes I think come, know, families are doing the best they can. Mom and dad are working there. They don't to the exposure. I can provide some exposure by doing simple interviews with people from unique careers. all the major platforms.
Keep it live.