Full Transcript for Employability Skills Gap

project based learning, but that's 69 00:04:55.399 --> 00:04:59.399 something that has been a tested strategy or in a 70 00:04:59.480 --> 00:05:04.279 trusted strategy in that CAA twelve setting. So what kind 71 00:05:04.319 --> 00:05:09.360 of I guess, what distinguishes your program project based mentoring 72 00:05:10.199 --> 00:05:14.439 from other mentorship approaches that are out there that people 73 00:05:14.480 --> 00:05:16.920 have going Because everybody says, all, I had a mentoring here, 74 00:05:17.000 --> 00:05:19.360 I had a mentor doing this and doing that. So 75 00:05:19.920 --> 00:05:24.319 how does project based mentoring, in the way that you 76 00:05:24.360 --> 00:05:26.319 have fashioned, in the way that you have built it, 77 00:05:26.600 --> 00:05:30.040 how does that differ from all the other types of 78 00:05:30.079 --> 00:05:32.439 mentoring that exists currently. 79 00:05:33.279 --> 00:05:36.160 Oh, there's a lot of ways it differs, but I 80 00:05:36.199 --> 00:05:39.240 don't have enough time to tell. I'll try to be brief. 81 00:05:40.399 --> 00:05:44.399 First of all, In my model, the student is the 82 00:05:44.480 --> 00:05:50.759 leader the student driven project, and I have mentor training. 83 00:05:51.560 --> 00:05:54.519 I've written a book about it, and I have a 84 00:05:54.759 --> 00:06:00.399 video training that employees from the mentoring companies can take 85 00:06:01.279 --> 00:06:06.839 and at the outset, everybody understands their role. There's an 86 00:06:06.879 --> 00:06:12.639 employee role a mentor role for that employee that clearly outlines. 87 00:06:12.720 --> 00:06:15.639 And I can tell you I have done this myself. 88 00:06:16.120 --> 00:06:19.399 I have been a mentor for twenty years with a 89 00:06:19.439 --> 00:06:23.680 program called a Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship. So I have 90 00:06:23.720 --> 00:06:26.879 an entrepreneurial background. I can give you an example with 91 00:06:27.040 --> 00:06:30.720 me with my mentees, and they actually were in high school, 92 00:06:31.199 --> 00:06:35.759 though this is also very relevant to college. But I 93 00:06:35.759 --> 00:06:38.639 would sit down with my students and this is what 94 00:06:38.680 --> 00:06:44.319 the training is inclusive of, and I would say to them, look, 95 00:06:45.319 --> 00:06:47.759 I have a lot of experience. I built a company 96 00:06:47.800 --> 00:06:52.120 from the ground up, blood, sweat and tears, hard hard work. 97 00:06:53.120 --> 00:06:57.439 I'm going to make some suggestions to you. But I'm 98 00:06:57.480 --> 00:07:01.800 not your boss. I'm not paying you, I have no 99 00:07:01.920 --> 00:07:07.120 authority over you. I'm not your minister, i'm not your parent. 100 00:07:07.920 --> 00:07:11.439 I am here to help you and I want to 101 00:07:11.480 --> 00:07:15.319 create a safe space. And if I suggest something and 102 00:07:15.399 --> 00:07:18.560 you don't like it, you can throw it out. This 103 00:07:18.639 --> 00:07:24.920 is your project. So I did this in the entrepreneurial space. 104 00:07:25.240 --> 00:07:28.879 Each student came up with their own idea of what 105 00:07:28.959 --> 00:07:33.959 they wanted to build. So the mentor's role is playing 106 00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:40.240 a devil's advocate, asking hard questions, maybe asking them to 107 00:07:40.279 --> 00:07:45.639 develop a budget. I find this is something I have 108 00:07:45.759 --> 00:07:52.480 found very very often, particularly in high schools. Students really 109 00:07:52.519 --> 00:07:56.319 don't know how to plan their time. And we could 110 00:07:56.360 --> 00:07:58.920 sit there and say, okay, let's map out what's going 111 00:07:59.000 --> 00:08:01.959 to get done about the time I return in two 112 00:08:01.959 --> 00:08:04.720 and a half three weeks. And I come back and 113 00:08:04.800 --> 00:08:10.399 nothing's done. So then I find I'm sitting there looking 114 00:08:10.439 --> 00:08:14.839 at their calendar and saying, Okay, you know we've developed 115 00:08:14.839 --> 00:08:18.079 together what you want to get accomplished. When are you're 116 00:08:18.120 --> 00:08:20.480 going to plug it in? And we take their calendar 117 00:08:20.519 --> 00:08:26.240 and actually plug in timelines for when they would accomplish 118 00:08:26.279 --> 00:08:31.319 this because there's a deadline. So the other sort of 119 00:08:31.439 --> 00:08:35.519 value of project based mentoring there's many. First of all, 120 00:08:36.080 --> 00:08:44.080 I think that we as professionals differ from teachers. They're 121 00:08:44.120 --> 00:08:48.320 out in the field and we've done it, so we len. 122 00:08:48.519 --> 00:08:51.679 I know this because I have probably I probably have 123 00:08:51.759 --> 00:08:55.240 three thousand letters from students that I've worked with, and 124 00:08:55.279 --> 00:09:00.240 when I tell them my sort of hard breakstory, hard 125 00:09:00.559 --> 00:09:03.320 hard story of building a company from nothing, and my 126 00:09:03.440 --> 00:09:08.360 steps I took. You know, they show respect and then 127 00:09:08.440 --> 00:09:12.840 they listen in a different way. I'm lending them my time. 128 00:09:12.879 --> 00:09:17.679 I don't want anything from them. So there's clearly defined roles. 129 00:09:18.399 --> 00:09:22.879 There's a sort of more of a motivation. Motivation, I 130 00:09:22.960 --> 00:09:28.720 believe sometimes and I've read this from the letters students say, gosh, 131 00:09:29.399 --> 00:09:33.679 if she could do that, I could do that. There's 132 00:09:34.039 --> 00:09:39.440 a transference. I've actually been with somebody who did their 133 00:09:41.879 --> 00:09:50.000 PhD defense on exactly this. They studied how mentorship affects students, 134 00:09:50.919 --> 00:09:55.399 and she actually was also in Kosovo. She did her 135 00:09:55.399 --> 00:09:59.519 whole PhD on this exact subject. And she said, these 136 00:09:59.559 -->

00:10:02.519 students and sort of live in place A, and they 137 00:10:02.559 --> 00:10:09.600 have their own experience, their own realm, and they see 138 00:10:09.639 --> 00:10:13.279 place B, but they have no idea how to get there. 139 00:10:14.600 --> 00:10:19.080 Like they might look at Obama or Beyonce or you 140 00:10:19.120 --> 00:10:22.240 know whoever that they look up to, but they're not 141 00:10:22.440 --> 00:10:26.519 normal people where they've heard their pains and their steps. 142 00:10:27.159 --> 00:10:30.519 And she said in her research that when they see 143 00:10:30.519 --> 00:10:34.879 this and hear it from somebody who's lived it, who's 144 00:10:34.919 --> 00:10:39.399 a regular person, and believe me, I don't look like 145 00:10:39.600 --> 00:10:42.919 or sound like these kids, but I've learned how to 146 00:10:42.960 --> 00:10:46.159 make myself accessible. And that's what I'm trying to teach, 147 00:10:47.000 --> 00:10:51.000 how to make a safe space so they begin to 148 00:10:51.240 --> 00:10:55.559 relate and find themselves looking at place B that they 149 00:10:55.600 --> 00:11:01.039 can reach. And the idea of building up plan together 150 00:11:01.879 --> 00:11:07.919 around the student's idea and making the mentors subordinated. That's 151 00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:11.639 the key elements of project based mentoring and that's what 152 00:11:11.720 --> 00:11:13.480 makes it, that's what makes it different. 153 00:11:13.840 --> 00:11:16.200 Yeah, and you know what, it's funny that you say, 154 00:11:16.279 --> 00:11:20.080 because as you are talking, I'm thinking that the project 155 00:11:20.080 --> 00:11:23.120 based learning model that is again that is we see 156 00:11:23.120 --> 00:11:27.120 that in schools all the time. That is exactly the 157 00:11:27.159 --> 00:11:29.840 model that you have just described through project based mentoring. 158 00:11:29.879 --> 00:11:33.720 Because in the project based learning model, the student comes 159 00:11:33.799 --> 00:11:35.720 up with the problem that they're that he or she 160 00:11:35.799 --> 00:11:39.039 is going to solve, and that therefore the teacher now 161 00:11:39.080 --> 00:11:42.080 becomes the guide on the side as opposed to the 162 00:11:42.080 --> 00:11:44.679 sage on the stage, so they have to kind of 163 00:11:44.799 --> 00:11:49.039 guide the student through the process of solving their own problem, 164 00:11:49.279 --> 00:11:52.120 going through going through the ups and downs and so forth. 165 00:11:52.440 --> 00:11:54.720 And what you have described is the exact same thing, 166 00:11:54.799 --> 00:11:58.639 but now we're doing it at a at a higher level, 167 00:11:59.399 --> 00:12:02.000 and where I guess we're also kind of solving that 168 00:12:02.200 --> 00:12:07.440 disconnect because, as you say, teachers work with curriculum, so 169 00:12:08.200 --> 00:12:12.799 they're teaching the theory of something, whereas whereas mentors are 170 00:12:12.840

--> 00:12:18.240 operating from a mode of experience, and so they're giving 171 00:12:18.279 --> 00:12:21.879 you the practical aspects of what that theory is going 172 00:12:21.960 --> 00:12:24.279 to show you. And that's what students want. They want 173 00:12:24.279 --> 00:12:28.679 that hands on stuff because besides, isn't that what employers 174 00:12:28.720 --> 00:12:32.440 want when they go through the interview process. It's always 175 00:12:32.559 --> 00:12:35.559 behavioral based interviewing. So they want to know what have 176 00:12:35.720 --> 00:12:38.919 you done? Not just what you know, but you how 177 00:12:38.960 --> 00:12:41.720 have you applied that knowledge? And I think that's what 178 00:12:41.759 --> 00:12:42.519 this gives them. 179 00:12:43.039 --> 00:12:46.000 I'm going to add to this, Kevin. By having the 180 00:12:46.080 --> 00:12:50.519 mentor there, I'll say several things. I would say that 181 00:12:50.600 --> 00:12:53.559 the student's project will be better than it would have 182 00:12:53.559 --> 00:12:57.759 been without a mentor. They will be more professional, they 183 00:12:57.799 --> 00:13:04.559 will present more professionally, and they will excel. And if 184 00:13:04.600 --> 00:13:08.080 you think about anything, we start off in life, we 185 00:13:08.200 --> 00:13:11.720 all come from fear. We don't know how to do 186 00:13:11.840 --> 00:13:15.519 what it is we're starting to do. So having that 187 00:13:15.600 --> 00:13:22.519 sort of built in support system helps you over the hump. Lastly, 188 00:13:22.879 --> 00:13:26.399 when you go into a job interview, you're not talking 189 00:13:26.440 --> 00:13:31.799 from theory, you're talking from you've done it. I'd love 190 00:13:32.039 --> 00:13:34.759 to share with you one example. I wrote about this 191 00:13:35.000 --> 00:13:40.600 actually in an article for CEO magazine about a student. 192 00:13:40.960 --> 00:13:44.440 This sort of gives you a nice example at a 193 00:13:44.559 --> 00:13:50.720 mentor company. SAP was our mentoring company, and this was 194 00:13:50.759 --> 00:13:56.480 an entrepreneurship class with tech and each student was asked 195 00:13:56.519 --> 00:14:00.679 to build an app. And one student came up with 196 00:14:00.720 --> 00:14:06.519 this idea and it blew me away. This student, he 197 00:14:06.639 --> 00:14:09.039 was in high school at the time, and he wanted 198 00:14:09.080 --> 00:14:14.879 a sports app. He wanted to know in immediate time 199 00:14:15.679 --> 00:14:22.360 where soccer, baseball, basketball, football was being played in his community, 200 00:14:23.399 --> 00:14:27.399 where was the event, when was the event, and who won. 201 00:14:28.320 --> 00:14:35.039 So the SAP mentor helped logistically build the app, but 202 00:14:35.120 --> 00:14:39.399 the student gathered the data and went to the schools. 203 00:14:39.840 --> 00:14:47.840 But that app ended up getting sponsorships fast food sports authority. 204 00:14:50.120 --> 00:14:54.679 Think of the audience that they garnered from families and 205 00:14:54.919 --> 00:14:59.360 teachers and schools all wanted to know. It built a 206 00:14:59.440 --> 00:15:04.440 huge audience its share. So this kid it changed his 207 00:15:04.519 --> 00:15:08.440 whole trajectory of his life. He wanted to go into business. 208 00:15:09.279 --> 00:15:12.480 And I guarantee you had SAP not been there, it 209 00:15:12.519 --> 00:15:16.320 wouldn't have been quite as successful. But if you think 210 00:15:16.360 --> 00:15:20.879 about the skill sets that he has learned from building this, 211 00:15:21.720 --> 00:15:26.200 not only was he doing contracts and delivering on contracts, 212 00:15:27.039 --> 00:15:32.799 his idea was critical thinking, creating something that wasn't there 213 00:15:32.960 --> 00:15:38.600 before based on what he thought was missing. He was organized, 214 00:15:38.799 --> 00:15:44.320 he was forecasting, he was doing master planning. He figured 215 00:15:44.360 --> 00:15:51.960 out market penetration, he was collaborating with his mentor. He 216 00:15:53.480 --> 00:15:57.919 had grit, you know, he stuck with it, and then 217 00:15:57.960 --> 00:16:00.720 he had to stand up and present this know eating 218 00:16:00.840 --> 00:16:06.240 class and to his sponsors. So those are the skill 219 00:16:06.399 --> 00:16:10.399 sets that I'm trying to point out that he took away. 220 00:16:11.080 --> 00:16:16.440 And I guarantee you that kid is more hirable and 221 00:16:16.480 --> 00:16:20.519 he's going to sit in that interview and sell it. 222 00:16:21.559 --> 00:16:24.840 He's done it. He's done it. It's different than theory. 223 00:16:24.960 --> 00:16:26.480 It's different than writing a paper. 224 00:16:27.240 --> 00:16:30.240 You are listening to instruction discussion on the Voice of 225 00:16:30.279 --> 00:16:34.519 Nasal Community College ninety point three WHPC. My name is 226 00:16:34.600 --> 00:16:37.360 Kevin Boston Hill, and our guest today is Patty Alper, 227 00:16:37.679 --> 00:16:40.799 founder of the Teach to Work Foundation and creator of 228 00:16:40.919 --> 00:16:45.039 project based mentoring. Now, you are absolutely right about that 229 00:16:45.039 --> 00:16:47.519 that that young man is going to be able to 230 00:16:47.519 --> 00:16:51.799 sit in whatever interview, whether it's for a graduate school 231 00:16:51.840 --> 00:16:55.000 program or for a job or something, and be able 232 00:16:55.039 --> 00:16:59.080 to speak to the experiences what he has already accomplished, 233 00:16:59.080 --> 00:17:02.519 what he has done as proof that he is able 234 00:17:02.559 --> 00:17:06.119 to handle whatever the responsibilities are of the job that 235 00:17:06.160 --> 00:17:09.240 he's applying for. And that's what employers looking for. They 236 00:17:09.279 --> 00:17:12.359 want to know. How do I know, or how well 237 00:17:12.400 --> 00:17:14.519 I know that you're going to be able

to satisfy 238 00:17:14.599 --> 00:17:16.680 this job and I'm not going to have to worry 239 00:17:16.720 --> 00:17:20.160 about replacing you in six months totally. 240 00:17:20.480 --> 00:17:24.519 I mean, I understand it. I'm with you. I understand 241 00:17:24.559 --> 00:17:27.279 from the employer's point of view. I understand it from 242 00:17:27.319 --> 00:17:29.880 the teacher's point of view and the kid's point of view. Right. 243 00:17:30.880 --> 00:17:34.799 So the question is how do you get educators to 244 00:17:35.079 --> 00:17:39.720 open up and welcome. I mean, I'm trying to create 245 00:17:39.759 --> 00:17:45.079 a marriage. I mean, I've done extensive interviews with corporations. 246 00:17:45.200 --> 00:17:47.680 It's in my book, you know. I wrote this book 247 00:17:47.799 --> 00:17:52.200 called Teach to Work, and the opening chapter is major 248 00:17:52.400 --> 00:17:57.759 corporations that love mentoring. They want to do this, and 249 00:17:57.799 --> 00:18:02.319 that's a message I have to educators that companies benefit 250 00:18:02.400 --> 00:18:06.240 from this too. They want to build a pipeline just 251 00:18:06.319 --> 00:18:09.880 as much as schools do. But schools need to invite 252 00:18:09.920 --> 00:18:15.720 them in such a resource of willing, ready, willing and 253 00:18:15.799 --> 00:18:21.319 able partners who want to help build the next generation 254 00:18:22.319 --> 00:18:25.440 if only educated, which is sort of what I'm trying 255 00:18:25.480 --> 00:18:28.079 to do, is educate them on how to be a 256 00:18:28.160 --> 00:18:33.039 mentor with a sort of cross generationally to share their skills. 257 00:18:33.680 --> 00:18:38.640 This is not social and emotional mentoring. This is very 258 00:18:38.680 --> 00:18:43.319 skills based and tactical. And I also feel that this 259 00:18:43.440 --> 00:18:49.079 is a path for tech and engineer, you know, AI, 260 00:18:49.640 --> 00:18:57.039 I think it's all related and easy for employees to 261 00:18:57.319 --> 00:18:59.240 take on this because it's in their wheelhouse. 262 00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:02.319 I think you're absolutely right about that. And in fact, 263 00:19:02.400 --> 00:19:05.759 there are there's a whole cadre of schools, or in 264 00:19:05.799 --> 00:19:08.839 niche of schools that do this type of work anyway, 265 00:19:08.960 --> 00:19:13.960 the career and Technical education or CTE schools, where they 266 00:19:14.039 --> 00:19:17.319 do an hour or so, an hour and a half 267 00:19:17.400 --> 00:19:20.400 or so of theory where you're going to learn how 268 00:19:20.440 --> 00:19:22.440 to do things, and then you have another hour and 269 00:19:22.480 --> 00:19:25.119 a half two hours of actual practice where you're doing 270 00:19:25.200 --> 00:19:28.519 hands on So there's the marriage of the two. And 271 00:19:29.640 --> 00:19:34.640 from a traditional school perspective, the students who have been 272 00:19:34.720 --> 00:19:40.319 involved in those CTE programs have actually outperformed regular students 273 00:19:40.319 --> 00:19:42.960 when it comes to standardized exams, when it comes to 274 00:19:43.200 --> 00:19:47.880 those types of tests, because they're able to connect the 275 00:19:47.880 --> 00:19:51.519 theory to the practice, which now gives them that experience 276 00:19:51.680 --> 00:19:53.839 to be able to handle anything that comes their way. 277 00:19:54.400 --> 00:19:59.720 Totally, I'm in complete agreement. So how do you get 278 00:20:00.119 --> 00:20:04.000 how do you give students more experience while they're learning? 279 00:20:04.319 --> 00:20:07.200 How do they get experience before they get on the job. 280 00:20:07.599 --> 00:20:09.799 Well, now they have to get the they have to 281 00:20:09.839 --> 00:20:12.559 go through, whether the project based things that they have 282 00:20:12.759 --> 00:20:16.319 or someplace. Now, I know some schools have turned to simulations. 283 00:20:16.519 --> 00:20:19.279 They figure, let's give them a simulation because that's going 284 00:20:19.359 --> 00:20:23.839 to represent or replicate the real world environment. But I 285 00:20:23.920 --> 00:20:28.799 find that simulations can be skewed and manipulated to suit 286 00:20:28.880 --> 00:20:33.759 a particular student's need. So how do we therefore create 287 00:20:33.920 --> 00:20:37.039 that project or have students come up with that project 288 00:20:37.160 --> 00:20:40.039 that's going to really give them the experience that they need. 289 00:20:40.440 --> 00:20:43.920 You know, I've come up with I've talked with the people. 290 00:20:44.200 --> 00:20:47.400 It was formerly the Buck Institute. Now I have it 291 00:20:47.480 --> 00:20:51.200 on my website. It's sort of a resource for helping 292 00:20:51.240 --> 00:20:57.440 to design projects. Yep, there's so many kinds of projects 293 00:20:57.480 --> 00:21:01.240 that business people can take a mental role in doing, 294 00:21:01.920 --> 00:21:08.079 from developing websites and marketing and graphics, which is true 295 00:21:08.119 --> 00:21:13.559 in any kind of business, to this is very cool. 296 00:21:13.759 --> 00:21:17.759 In a Civics class, this was a really neat assignment. 297 00:21:18.480 --> 00:21:23.000 They had lawyers as mentors, and the class had to 298 00:21:23.039 --> 00:21:29.000 look up the county laws and find laws they disagreed with, 299 00:21:29.680 --> 00:21:33.000 and they had to write up what was wrong with 300 00:21:33.039 --> 00:21:36.079 the law and how they would change it. And they 301 00:21:36.119 --> 00:21:40.440 had input from their mentors, and the professor happened to 302 00:21:40.599 --> 00:21:46.359 know people in the state legislature, and they sent the 303 00:21:46.400 --> 00:21:50.119 whole packet of laws and suggested changes and do you 304 00:21:50.240 --> 00:21:55.519 know five laws got changed. Oh wow, So that's tactical 305 00:21:55.720 --> 00:22:00.759 and

real. And think how that class felt, know, making 306 00:22:00.839 --> 00:22:02.039 a real change. 307 00:22:02.440 --> 00:22:04.240 And I'm sure they, like you said, I'm sure they 308 00:22:04.279 --> 00:22:08.279 did feel empowered. Now and we and in a society 309 00:22:08.359 --> 00:22:11.319 where a lot of our young people don't feel that 310 00:22:11.400 --> 00:22:15.119 their vote counts for anything, and they're not making it, 311 00:22:15.200 --> 00:22:17.400 they don't have an impact on what happens to them. 312 00:22:17.680 --> 00:22:20.960 Now here's proof positive that they actually did have some 313 00:22:21.079 --> 00:22:21.920 kind of impact. 314 00:22:22.200 --> 00:22:23.200 Perfectly said. 315 00:22:24.160 --> 00:22:25.640 So let me let me ask you this before you 316 00:22:25.680 --> 00:22:28.680 move on. How do you or where do you find 317 00:22:29.000 --> 00:22:32.079 mentors for your program and how do you match them 318 00:22:32.160 --> 00:22:33.160 up with your students? 319 00:22:33.480 --> 00:22:37.160 Well, everybody has to cross that bridge. That is, there's 320 00:22:37.200 --> 00:22:41.359 not always an easy answer. So I helped build the 321 00:22:41.440 --> 00:22:46.440 mentor program for nifty. Okay I came. I came at 322 00:22:46.440 --> 00:22:51.519 it from entrepreneurship, which was my area of interest. So 323 00:22:51.640 --> 00:22:56.559 I actually started it in the Washington, DC market, and 324 00:22:56.599 --> 00:23:01.000 it grew all across the country in different chapters of 325 00:23:01.119 --> 00:23:08.039 the nifty courses. So I would find entrepreneurs and I 326 00:23:08.039 --> 00:23:11.359 would bring them to class with me and let them 327 00:23:11.400 --> 00:23:15.759 introduce themselves, and I would coach them because I learned 328 00:23:16.799 --> 00:23:19.880 that many of them, as much as they love being there, 329 00:23:20.519 --> 00:23:27.680 talk over the kids' heads. So finding them is you know, 330 00:23:27.799 --> 00:23:31.680 I would say, I have a marketing background, so this 331 00:23:31.839 --> 00:23:35.000 is easy for me. I know everyone doesn't have that. 332 00:23:36.119 --> 00:23:40.279 There's so many, such a wealth of in every community 333 00:23:40.400 --> 00:23:45.799 of potential mentors. There's the economic development, there is the 334 00:23:45.920 --> 00:23:50.680 chambers of commerce or boards of trade. There are alumni 335 00:23:50.880 --> 00:23:53.920 from the school who would love to come back and 336 00:23:53.960 --> 00:24:02.200 take on this role. Every department has reach and relationships 337 00:24:02.240 --> 00:24:07.960 within their discipline and their industry. I'm talking chemistry, I'm 338 00:24:08.000 --> 00:24:13.240 talking journalism, whatever it is. I think the professors have 339 00:24:13.359 --> 00:24:19.240 their own reach. Then you have donors, you have boards 340 00:24:19.559 --> 00:24:23.519 on the schools, you have the state. You know who's 341 00:24:23.559 --> 00:24:27.759 behind these schools, like there's lots of and then there's 342 00:24:28.039 --> 00:24:34.960 neighboring communities of business people that want a pathway for 343 00:24:35.039 --> 00:24:39.640 students to join them. They're looking. It's the sort of 344 00:24:39.640 --> 00:24:43.480 the answer to workforce development, got you, But I think 345 00:24:43.640 --> 00:24:49.000 it's also up to the schools to learn what industry 346 00:24:49.119 --> 00:24:56.960 wants to learn. That this is where computer science is 347 00:24:57.000 --> 00:25:01.599 going and it's no longer coding is so important. What 348 00:25:02.160 --> 00:25:06.359 is this skill set you are looking for? Mister employers, 349 00:25:07.559 --> 00:25:11.960 Let us work together to build a student body that 350 00:25:12.039 --> 00:25:16.839 fills your needs. That's sort of marketing one on one. 351 00:25:17.119 --> 00:25:19.680 And you know, it's funny that you mentioned that, because 352 00:25:19.720 --> 00:25:23.400 I've always said that the purpose of education, especially in 353 00:25:23.519 --> 00:25:27.839 this day and agentisclimate. The purpose of education is to 354 00:25:27.880 --> 00:25:31.880 prepare our students for jobs that don't yet exist. 355 00:25:32.480 --> 00:25:35.559 Yes, and it's a tall order. 356 00:25:35.440 --> 00:25:40.680 Yeah, it is. So where can or how can schools 357 00:25:40.799 --> 00:25:44.839 and other organizations find out more about this teach to 358 00:25:44.880 --> 00:25:48.240 work foundation and project based mentoring so they can bring 359 00:25:48.279 --> 00:25:50.920 it into or they can partner and bring that stuff 360 00:25:50.960 --> 00:25:52.440 into their schools as well. 361 00:25:53.079 --> 00:25:57.559 Okay, so I have written a book. It is called 362 00:25:57.599 --> 00:26:01.000 Teach to Work. How I mentioned or a mentee and 363 00:26:01.079 --> 00:26:05.920 a project can close the skills gap in America. One 364 00:26:05.960 --> 00:26:09.200 of the proudest things I would say about the book, 365 00:26:10.920 --> 00:26:15.880 it's not just my experience at all. An opening chapter 366 00:26:16.160 --> 00:26:20.119 is why would companies do this? Which I think is 367 00:26:20.119 --> 00:26:23.880 what schools wonder. Why would a company want to do this? 368 00:26:24.559 --> 00:26:28.079 So has great answers to that question. And then why 369 00:26:28.160 --> 00:26:31.720 would employees want to do this? I mean it's management 370 00:26:31.720 --> 00:26:35.559 training for them, and it's building a pipeline. I mean, 371 00:26:35.599 --> 00:26:38.319 there's many reasons why they would want to do it. 372 00:26:38.960 --> 00:26:42.279 And then the whole middle section is what is project 373 00:26:42.279 --> 00:26:46.440 based mentoring and how do you do it? That the 374 00:26:46.480 --> 00:26:49.279 bulk of the book, and then I have a website 375 00:26:51.079 --> 00:26:53.920 Teach to Work dot com. But what I was going 376 00:26:54.000 --> 00:26:57.160 to say, what I'm the most proud of is the 377 00:26:57.200 --> 00:27:01.759 head of Workforce Development and Education for wrote my ForWord 378 00:27:02.839 --> 00:27:08.680 and they completely concur that for students to have a mentor, 379 00:27:09.480 --> 00:27:16.960 to endorse ideas and dreams, and to apply that to 380 00:27:17.279 --> 00:27:21.279 long term projects where they're applying what they're learning to 381 00:27:21.400 --> 00:27:24.640 the real world is one of the best forms of 382 00:27:24.759 --> 00:27:30.400 education there can be, so they highly recommend this as 383 00:27:30.480 --> 00:27:33.119 a good answer to where education can go. 384 00:27:33.839 --> 00:27:35.680 Great, great, thank you, and we're going to have this 385 00:27:35.759 --> 00:27:38.279 in there for now, but we would certainly like to 386 00:27:38.319 --> 00:27:41.680 thank our guest today, Patty Alper, founder of the Teach 387 00:27:41.720 --> 00:27:45.160 to Work Foundation and creator of project based mentoring, for 388 00:27:45.240 --> 00:27:46.319 coming onto our show. 389 00:27:46.799 --> 00:27:48.799 Thank you once again. 390 00:27:48.880 --> 00:27:51.279 My name is Kevin Boston Hill, and thank you all 391 00:27:51.319 --> 00:27:54.799 for listening to instruction discussion right here on the Voice 392 00:27:54.839 --> 00:28:00.839 of Naslau Community College ninety point three WHPC you cant 393 00:28:01.240 --> 00:28:01.440 keep