Can your company help fill the remaining gap of 54 student experiences in the 865 Academies?
The Knoxville Technology Council hosted a lunch at Bearden High School to encourage companies to commit to tech-related job shadows or capstone experiences for students. They have 54 remaining experiences to fill.
What age were you when you decided what you wanted to do as a career? Some people point at college, or their first job experience, others follow in the footsteps of their parents and mentors. Regardless of when, the exploration of career pathways and experiences can shape a young persons understanding of the opportunities that are out there.
Matthew Kittrell, a Board Member of the Knoxville Technology Council (KTech) and Director of Consulting Delivery for CGI, sees career pathway exposure as a personal and community mission. He points to the Knoxville Chamber’s workforce development surveys, which show large talent gaps in technology-related fields.
To help bridge the gap, KTech paired up with the 865 Academies and the Knox Education Foundation to find opportunities for high school students to engage with tech-related career paths. And on Wednesday afternoon, a few dozen tech professionals in the library of Bearden High School to learn how they can get involved.
“Our goal is to fill 152 critical gaps in technology and innovation-related job shadows, internships, and capstone projects,” Kittrell said. “We’re calling this session – the push for 152.”
Tanisha Fitzgerald-Baker kicked off the session by sharing a bit about how the Knoxville Utilities Board (KUB) works with the 865 Academies to provide student experiences. They were one of the first companies to support the program, and continue to fill a large need in the 865 Academies.
She encouraged companies to examine four key areas.
- Alignment. Which career pathways would be the bets fit for the 865 Academies? How can your company show different sides of the business?
- Capacity. How many students could you take on, while still providing an enriching experience?
- Time Commitment. Baker said KUB allocates about two hours to give a group of students a job shadow experience. Individual companies can decided if they want to commit more time, or less.
- Resources. Do you have the staff capabilities to continue day-to-day operations, if one person steps away for a quick job shadow?
“When we invest in our students, we invest in a stronger future,” Baker said.
Kittrell then welcomed two Bearden High School students: Leo and Holly to the front of the room to share the benefits of their 865 Academies experiences.
Leo was interested in coding and had a job shadowing experience with Oak Ridge National Laboratory. By the time he wrapped up the day, he realized that coding was only a small part of his interest. He got to see firsthand how cyber-physical systems research is conducted and how vulnerabilities are identified on a network.
“I walked away realizing that I was more interested in cybersecurity and general computer science concepts,” he said.
Holly had the opportunity to shadow her father, who works at AGI as a project manager. She used to think her dad just attended meetings and sent emails all day, but upon arriving at her job shadow experience, she got to learn about all that goes into planning and managing an engineering project.
Both Leo and Holly were interested in tech-related fields, and in the initial role out of the 865 Academies, corporate partnerships for those types of experiences hadn’t been established yet. Both students found, set-up, and coordinated these 865 Academy external experiences on their own.
“We as a community need to step up and make these experiences accessible to more students,” Kittrell said.
At the beginning of Wednesday’s event, 2,077 GSEs were needed in technology-related pathways with a focused gap of 152 Job Shadows and Capstones in four academies focused on Coding, Cybersecurity, and Technology.
As of 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Kittrell said 98 of those 152 job shadow and capstone positions have been filled by eight new tech industry partners. Additionally, hundreds of tech-industry partners were open and willing to serve as guest speakers, which helps cut down the large 2,077 number across the school district. But, there are still 54 critical positions left to fill.
The impact of the guest student experiences have the potential to to create a pipeline of prepared, confident, and tech-savvy students who feel equipped to contribute to the workforce.
Learn more about the 865 Academies.
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