1. What originally inspired your GO Virginia project, Classrooms to Careers?

The initial thought process was a conversation with Dr. Scott Tate, who held an informational session about GO Virginia in June 2019. The GO Virginia board was interested in helping the next generation of young workers and creating economic growth in the Commonwealth through opportunities for students in the region. The one question Dr. Tate posed to us was, "How can the GO Virginia Board help?"

Generally speaking, the most difficult piece of public education is getting employers to hire teenagers, especially in our area, when there is so much available labor in terms of college students and young adults. Frequently, college students get hired to do the jobs our high school students are capable of, but they simply don't have the resume or the college experience other applicants have. When Dr. Tate mentioned GO Virginia could help us employ high school students, that got the gears rolling and we started talking about different options.

2. What companies have signed up to participate in the program?

We have five companies that have signed on to hire students within the Classrooms to Careers grant. They are Ozmo; Citizen's Telephone; Automation Creations, Inc; Virginia Tech's IT Department; and the Montgomery County Public Schools IT Department. We have significant IT needs here as a school system, especially now during the pandemic where we've been working hard to expand internet access and Chromebook access to all students.

3. What have you accomplished with the project so far?

We started the project in June of 2019, were approved in April of 2020, and our signed agreement went into effect in January of 2021. Last month, we held an informational session with Ozmo, which does a lot of contract work related to IT customer support. We will host an information session about technology jobs with Montgomery County Public Schools and are also working on a similar information session for students with Virginia Tech's IT department, specifically regarding cybersecurity. Later in the spring, we'll have student information sessions for jobs at Citizen's Telephone, a communications provider in Floyd County, and Automation Creations, Inc, a company at Virginia Tech’s Corporate Research Center in Blacksburg. Teachers are walking students through the process of applying for jobs, teaching them about writing resumes and what to expect in interviews. By the time summer rolls around, we plan to have 20 or more students employed in IT jobs across the New River Valley.

4. Can you talk about the significance of the project and why it is important to retain talent in Virginia?

We hear a lot about how retaining Virginia Tech and Radford students is difficult. One of our different perspectives, that makes this grant successful, is we want to hire students who are from this area originally and have deep roots here. Hopefully, IT companies can recruit them more successfully and possibly save money in terms of HR and salaries because they're not competing against areas such as Northern Virginia that can pay higher wages. Also, this way we have students who understand the benefits of living in Montgomery County. A big part of our grant is trying to make sure that companies understand the value of hiring teenagers in the long run. They may not turn into full-time employees for 3-5 years, but when they do, they're much more likely to be a successful long-term employee than a student at one of the universities might be.

5. What do you like most about getting to collaborate with other school systems in the region?

It's always interesting to see how different school systems can be. We work together with Floyd and Giles school systems and share ideas and thoughts on the best ways to implement curriculum. In Montgomery County, I feel a certain responsibility because of our larger school system and stronger economic situation to be leaders in the region, especially in the areas of IT, healthcare, and advanced manufacturing. I used to be a principal and CTE director in Giles and so I recognize they may not have the time or the staffing to go after a grant like this one that would impact their curriculum and their work-based learning opportunities for students. I was happy GO Virginia was interested in bringing in multiple school divisions so we could help out smaller school systems that may need more resources.

6. What else is Montgomery County Public Schools doing to expand IT curriculum?

The GO Virginia grant, Classrooms to Careers, is a major part but it is just one part of the expansion of IT curriculum in Montgomery County. We have added three-course pathways in cybersecurity and we have a four-course pathway in computer science. We're also teaching robotics in grades 6-12, and we have a two-course sequence in coding at the middle school level. These courses allow our students to try out IT and STEM careers as a whole. The earlier we can expose students to careers in IT and STEM, the more likely they are to consider those types of careers and see them as something they can do. We've been recognized as a school division of innovation from the Virginia Department of Education and have received some grant money from them. That, paired along with our Classrooms to Careers grant, has us going down the right direction in terms of equitably offering additional access to all of our students who are interested in STEM careers.

7. A challenge for some students in Montgomery County is broadband access. How has the school system addressed this problem?

During the pandemic, we’ve worked with the county and we’ve done a great job getting MiFis out to students. Anybody that can get a cellphone signal from their phone can use a MiFi to connect to the internet. Montgomery County has also implemented Wireless on Wheels, or WOW carts, which are internet hotspots placed around the county. We have been able to limit the number of students in Montgomery County that have no internet access to less than 100 students. We hope that a year from now the number of students without WiFi will be zero. The pandemic has shown us the importance of internet access as a utility. It’s required for our students to succeed within their education and not just something nice to have within their home.

8. What advice would you give to a student who is interested in a career in the IT Sector?

The advice I'd give to any student is to try lots of different things. If they think they want to be involved in IT, I would encourage them to pick multiple courses and multiple experiences across a variety of IT pathways. Most of our teenagers and high school students are not figuring out what they want to do for a career; they're figuring out what they don't want to do. They might like the idea of working with computers but when they get into computer science, they realize it’s not for them. But networking, cybersecurity, or customer support and sales related to computers might be a great fit. IT is such a large field, there's a fit for just about everybody, and it's just a matter of finding your niche.

9. What is your favorite part of your job at Montgomery County Public Schools?

My favorite part of my job is publicizing the cool things our students and teachers are doing. I get to work with a wide variety of curriculums, from culinary arts to cosmetology to welding. Being able to inform our students and parents about the wide variety of opportunities in Montgomery County is an exciting part of my job. I enjoy sharing what's inside of our classrooms with the greater community so everybody can see what activities and events are taking place in Montgomery County.

10. What is your favorite place to visit?

Our family visits the Outer Banks quite a bit in North Carolina to go to the beach. With the age that my boys are, that's a fun family trip at the moment. The boys are at a great age to go hiking, play in the water, and build sandcastles so we're enjoying our family trips to the beach.