[Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] thank you hi I'm Melanie Marie Boyer the executive director of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area Hispanic chamber of commerce thank you for tuning in to our Latino Pittsburgh digital speaker series sponsored by Coca-Cola today we're going to be speaking with the inaugural CEO of the Midland Innovation and Technology Center charter school we are so excited to welcome Chet hi Chad good morning Melanie how are you good morning Chad nice to see you thank you so much for being here I know you've been a long time member of the chamber we did your own speaker series but today we're here to talk to you about something new yes we yes indeed um it's an exciting uh new role uh I'm very humbled and honored and privileged to serve as the inaugural CEO for the Midland Innovation and Technology Charter School located here in Midland Pennsylvania Beaver County and the school is really um comes in response to the growing Trend and need for young people to have the necessary skill sets to participate in the manufacturing skill trades Traditional School trades equally some of the high-tech Career Tech skills that many companies are going to have a need for uh today and for the foreseeable future so uh we're really excited to be a part of that and I'm looking forward to working with many of the students parents and families throughout the Pittsburgh region to make this uh opportunity affordable to many young people well we are so excited about it tell us a little bit about what makes your school different from other schools that are more traditional absolutely I think it's in the word Midland Innovation plus technology and Technology Charter School Innovation when you think about the fact that over the last several years so many young people have fallen between the cracks and that's that's a fact they get a high school diploma in some cases you know they may or may not go on to college they incur large student loan debt in some cases they don't finish college but what's really the problem is they're not able to really you know get involved in so many of the job opportunities that are available throughout Western Pennsylvania and as a result what makes our school so unique is we're here in response to that growing need so our school is made up of four academies and what makes it so unique is that we're going to not only provide the students with you know the basic arithmetic Reading Writing we call it the three R's and that's like most kids they're going to get that at all high schools throughout America but more than that we're going to provide young people with the Hands-On skills that's necessary for them not only to get the fundamental and conceptual uh training in the classroom but we have Laboratories where students can actually engage in purposeful play as well as just Hands-On training through skilled industry experts Carpenters plumbers welders where they can actually get those Real World skills it's going to make them job ready upon graduating from high school so imagine you graduate you can get your CDL you're 18 years old you have a high school diploma in hand you might decide I don't want to go to college right away but guess what I have an offer with a trucking company logistics company and I'm making 60 70 000 a year just coming out of high school or in some cases we have students that may go through the aviation science path we have the unmanned drone uh where they can learn to fly drones and drones as you know they're used in everything from uh criminal investigation to many industry segments are using drones uh for example cell towers they need drones to get up high to you know manage and maintain the cell phone towers and things of that nature so imagine having the the skill sets to where you can be gainfully employed at a company making a good living for you and your family and more importantly rather than having our young people leave the area of the region we get to keep them here and they can contribute to the tax base and that's going to be good for everyone you know what Chad I love that and I want to point out that this isn't just for students who don't think that they want to go to college if you go into college with these skills you're ahead of the curve you know everything is going in the way of innovation and technology so by going and what Chad just described I don't want people to think oh well if my child wants to go into a trade or that that type of technology that this would be perfect and if not then not I think that this puts them way ahead of the curve number one and number two how many employers are out there especially technology companies that are offering to pay for education so you can be making money having your education paid for and being way ahead of the curve Chad why don't you tell us a little bit on your view on that you hit it on the nail Melanie I mean you know and I and I've said this many times I mean we have to change the narrative I think too often uh we think that when you think about the traditional trades we think of oh it's dirty industry you know it's not as glamorous as being a lawyer or a doctor well you know that's that's a misnomer because we know that people that are in the trades attritions plumbers they do very well they have access to uh being in middle class or even higher earners I mean they're business owners and they participate uh quite frankly uh just as effectively as doctors lawyers and others and contribute to our you know economy locally regionally and nationally so I think we have to change the narrative and we have to make sure that young people are given as much information as possible so they can make informed decisions because guess what this is about the rest of your life you know this is not just okay something temporary you're actually building a future for yourself your community and and that's what's important so I think it's important that young people are afforded the opportunity and the skills that they need that's going to really change their overall life outcomes and that's what middle and Innovation and Technology Charter School is really positioned to do and it's going to really help to not only you know improve their lives but it's going to also help to improve the region the community everyone around us and that's what's important I love about students having information and having wrecked relevant numbers there of what students can make coming out with these skills I have a friend who received her master's degree has full-time work experience and took a job making forty thousand dollars a year and felt lucky because there were jobs that were 30 and 35 and that's that's the world we're living in if you don't know technology if you're not in the Innovation you know Network atmosphere World um you know we're going into all these other jobs and even people with those High degrees are making way less than that so I think that students actually expect the opposite so having correct and relevant and up-to-date information especially in today's society is so important so I love that you brought all of that up I want to talk a little bit about your mission um by offering authentic Hands-On learning opportunities to a diverse population of students mitcs will serve as a generator of sorry Innovative thinking deep learning and collaborative engagement to build better Futures I love that if you want to expand especially on the Hands-On learning part I would love to hear it absolutely Melanie so as I mentioned before you know so again they're going to learn rhythmic Reading Writing you have to have those core skills to succeed in life regardless of what you do but more importantly we're going to have students engaged in real world Hands-On learning with real world mentors industry skilled experts so for example we have carpentry Plumbing heat and air conditioning Refrigeration students will work closely with these skilled experts to learn before they actually put a well a welder in their hand they'll learn conceptually what is welding and they can use it you know using virtual Tools in terms of how welding works and then they get that purposeful real Hands-On learning throughout the course of each day not many schools offer that and what's really nice is we're a full day Career Tech high-tech school so unlike the you know votec where students will go to their home District school and then you know maybe spend the the next half of the day here they're there for the whole day so it also you know improves their socialization skills it doesn't interrupt their day so students are actually engaged with other students teachers industry experts and they're getting those Hands-On skills that's going to make them job ready when they graduate and that's a huge that's a big Advantage when you're 18 years old in some cases 17 compared to some adults who are in their mid to late 20s thinking okay I want to learn a trade but imagine you're 17 or 18 you have an advanced standing in a carpenter's union and that's not a very easy thing to do we have those relationships already built in as part of our curriculum and that's what separates us from our competitors and I wanted to ask you I I'm these Partnerships and building up so that you can get students right into that pipeline I would like for you to talk a little bit not just about what that pipeline is but again why that was so important to you that's important because I think what we need are mentors apprenticeships so we have a relationship with the Northeast Carpenters Union what we have is a situation where young people and I believe in apprenticeships where you have mentors that are skilled experts that are going to you know create these key touch points when they start out our school and throughout the course of their study upon graduating these individuals can guide and provide the necessary guidance and oversight to make sure that many of our students are going in the right path so they're not only learning the concepts from the book but they're actually able to engage real world experts you know they can uh you know go to these companies during the course of their study and meet you know business owners and others in the industry and that's going to put them in my opinion A Cut Above most of their peers that are going through the traditional brick and mortar school and it's not bashing the other schools I think as we said earlier this is being Innovative and this is in response to the growing need that we see not only in our region but nationally let me just add a quick point if we look at just the data over the next 10 years there's going to be over four and a half million jobs Loan in the manufacturing skill trades of which there's going to be a two and a half million person skills Gap imagine that so there's all these jobs that are going to be that will go on film school like the Midland Innovation and Technology Charter School is positioned to fill that Gap and provide opportunities for young people to secure these really good paying jobs earlier than later and that's what's significant oh Chet that is so amazing and see and hearing the numbers for that skill Gap you know I think it's really obvious if it wasn't already obvious that this is so needed exactly and this is based on data from the Allegheny conference 2017-2018 uh study deloitting touch Consulting Group as well as the manufacturing association of America so this is substantive data it's real world data and many corporations small and large are really looking for people to fill uh their daily work needs and if we don't have anyone to fill these needs then what so we have to create Avenues to enable young people to empower them to secure these jobs and anyone who's hiring knows what a challenge that is without these different skill sets you know companies are paying for you know a long about out of time for some of these different things to get people the licenses the training Etc so they're paying them they're paying for the trainings meanwhile you know I think we've we've found a great solution here that can really give students a leg up and also help companies build those pipelines much in a much easier way so um build a pipeline and we want to build a pipeline and that's what's important exactly but and you know we always talk about that it's so important to get in with students early especially with the way technology is going um but I love that you guys have built your own facility tell us a little bit about the design what brought you to that and what makes it unique well what makes it unique is so uh the middle and Innovation and Technology Charter School is located in Midland Pennsylvania um Beaver County which um as everyone knows that this area was the epicenter for steel I mean it was you know We Grew From heavy dirty uh steel making and you know there was a time when people say the sky was great well now when you look at for example the shell plant that's not far from our school it's a modern facility and it's very clean technology but it requires not just a strong will and a strong back but it requires individuals with you know high-tech skill sets to actually run and manage these new modern day plants if you will and so to that end what makes it so exciting is that this school is going to allow young people to do so again the school was actually donated the land that was the school of building was sitting on is actually donated by Mr Charles J betters and the school is actually named after Mr betters and it's actually it's an industrial looking architecturally designed because it's in keeping with the industry uh the industry symbol of Midland Pennsylvania and that's what makes it so important and when you do come tonight you will see what makes the school so unique in terms of its sort of industrial steel you know look with a very modern uh touch and that's what makes it so unique students will be able to engage again as I said you know traditional teachers math English teachers and so forth while they're also engaged in Industry skilled experts in a very modern day facility with high tech uh you know infrastructure and things of that nature but yet it's in a very sort of a you know that Old Mill but yet very modern building and that's what makes it a great marriage and it'll be an awesome uh environment for young people to learn you know at the same time appreciate the history of Midland Pennsylvania in its history and more importantly his contribution to this country in terms of Steel making I love that you bring the history into it and the look of the building and the feel of the building and adding that modern in I think it really creates a wonderful environment for especially the type of curriculum that you guys are doing exactly so I know that you guys take a balanced and holistic approach to your curriculum why don't you give us a little bit of a description of how you developed it why and how that's going to benefit students absolutely so we developed it based on the need as we said the growing need based on the data as we mentioned um one of the things that we want to make a note of is we have four collaborative academies we have the transportation and Logistics Academy the forensic science and Justice Academy the Community Development and sustainability Academy and the skilled trades and Technical careers Academy as I mentioned students can take a host of courses in each of these respective academies but as they mature as they evolve 9 through 12th grade as they get into the higher grades that's where they're going to really get into if you will the core fundamentals and core uh curriculum that they need to have the skill sets that when they do graduate they have the licenses the certificates and all of the different uh training that they need that they can show an employer when they graduate because you know young people are not just going to graduate with high school diploma they can actually graduate with certificates licenses and things of that nature that's going to really speak to their knowledge of the subject matter and that's what makes again the curriculum so unique because it's going to afford them real life skills with certificates licenses and things of that nature and that's what's really important I love that on your website you bring up even getting the students resumes ready you know I know so many college students even graduate school students um who have never been actually shown how to make a resume how to do a job interview and all these things and I think that that is a major Gap that you guys are feeling yes and it's fun you ask because while at rmu and Community College of Beaver County I taught first year seminar I taught communication skills most students are decent writers but many students didn't know how to even you know develop a resume didn't have a resume didn't know how to interview so one of the things that we've built in our curriculum and it's part of the very first day of their class from 8 30 to 9 and give and take the time period we have what we call home base that's where we actually engage students and we teach them those core lifelong skills adulting skills as we call it my learn how to write a check balance in a checkbook cultural competency skills learning how to work in a team learning how to work with people that don't necessarily look like you agree with you those are key law lifelong skills that regardless of your skill sets that's going to keep you gainfully employed but more importantly will provide you with an upward trajectory because too often young people they go to college but if they don't understand how to you know like craft a letter in email communicate orally verbally body language that could be a detriment so what we want to do is start early as early as 14 or 15 years old where essentially we're grooming young people while at the same time we're providing them with these skill sets that's going to be meaningful and purposeful and again as I said options students can graduate with a certified Pennsylvania high school diploma they can go on to a two-year four-year college or university or they may end up working for you know the union carpenters union in a manufacturing company they have options and more importantly as we talked earlier they get to minimize whatever debt they incur they decide to go to college because they can earn college credits while they're actually navigating through our school and so it's a win-win situation for all students and their families I absolutely love that I love everything that you guys stand for I just I think this is the direction that education needs to go in general um so thank you for everything that you've been working on before we wrap up I would like to talk to you a little bit about diversity I know that diversity is very important to the Midland Innovation and Technology Charter school and I would like to hear a little bit about why and what you're doing to increase diversity in your student base absolutely well think about it uh Melanie diversity is critical and diversity of thought diversity in terms of ethnic background diversity in terms of religious affiliation gender it doesn't matter we live in a world that's very Dynamic and it's ever changing and people have to understand and be sensitive to the growing needs of companies in terms of how people have to you know have to work together I often say to people um it takes a team it takes a village right Teamwork Makes the Dream work so when you groom young people and then in a diverse environment and they learn earlier that it's all about working together towards a common goal that is what diversity is all about and it's trying it's making every effort to not only you know speak the language but actually live it each and every day it starts with me as the CEO of the middle and Innovation and Technology charge School working with everyone being sensitive to everyone's needs working as a team taking into account everyone's input because no one person makes anything work or succeed it takes everyone working together in a collective manner in a diverse setting of people thought ideas that can contribute to the overall well-being of not only the institution but equally to employers to their community and that's what this diversity is all about this school is built on diversity it's important it's important to me it's important to the board and it's important to the Midland Community Beaver County and the region at Large I always say that Talent is spread equally but opportunity is not so I very much appreciate the work that you guys are doing to level the playing field it's all about leveling the playing field providing opportunities for young people not just for today but for succeeding generations to come uh if you knew how much I used that line that's something we have very much in common because it's not about now it's about our children our children's children it's about Society in general to make sure we're going on a sustainable path foreign exactly otherwise we're failing our kids well and and anxiety exactly well thank you so much for being here we very much appreciate being able to learn a little more about the school um for those of you who didn't see it we did do a speaker series on Chad um in 2020 when we started the speaker series and it was fascinating you can hear about his Latino backgrounds how he grew up and how and how he got to where he where he is now we hear a little bit about his education and his career background he is a fascinating and wonderful individual that we are definitely blessed to have a part of our organization as well as as a friend so thank you for being a part of Everything Chad and thank you Melanie thank you for this a tremendous opportunity and uh I thank everyone listening to me in the audience and again it's going to take all of us to make this thing work and that's what this is all about it's a collective effort and I I really appreciate it they [Laughter] said bye and thank you to our digital speaker series it happens every Wednesday at noon on our Facebook YouTube and my LinkedIn page the Latino Pittsburgh digital speaker series is an initiative of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area Hispanic chamber of commerce its goals are to share relevant information Inspire growth and Foster opportunity speakers at workshops include Community leaders and members as well as other individuals and programs that have a positive impact on the Hispanic community and the region at Large thanks for tuning in and we'll see you next time bye [Music] [Applause] [Music]
2022-12-12