Episode 107: CTE Month: Aligning Schools With Workforce Needs

Imagine if schools prepared students for college and the world of work. Imagine if students graduated from high school with more than a diploma but also college credit and the credentials needed to immediately land high-paying high-tech jobs. 

 You might be imagining what’s known as Career and Technical Education (CTE), an educational model already firmly embraced in Canyons. From specialty programs like the Canyons Technical Education Center, to classes taught in CSD’s high schools in partnership with local businesses, CTE is an increasingly popular learning emphasis for students — and employers love it too.

 “CTE is basically where you’re taking all of the learning from your other core subjects and applying it to a real world context,” says Mark Mataya, Administrator at Entrada Adult High School. “we’re providing a seed for that student to say, ‘I can grow this into whatever I want.’ The bounds are endless.”

 February is National CTE Month and in this episode of Connect Canyons, Mataya lays out the ways CTE courses can help students, whether they aspire to study at one of the world’s leading universities or are looking to inherit the family business. 

 Every student should take at least one CTE class, Mataya says, noting these courses can open doors to unexpected futures. 

 One student, he recalls, attended a lecture by a chef in a culinary class and took the initiative to talk with the chef after, securing an internship. Now that student is the head chef at one of the top restaurants in Utah. “You can take your alpha type student, your Sterling Scholars, you put them into one of these trades and they would dominate, maybe learn to start their own business,” says Mataya, “I think most parents would be happy to have a child start their own business.”

 Mataya also talks about his excitement for the possibilities at the newly purchased eBay building which the District is transforming into an innovation center to house and build upon many of the District’s existing CTE learning pathways.

 “One of the pillars of the District is innovation,” says Mataya, “There’s something about when you take a learning environment and make it as real as it can be. It brings gravitas to it. When a student walks into those situations, they know something is different. We’re here trying to make it relatable to students and provide skills for them to go out there and have success.”

Episode Chapters

01:12 Business Collaborations and Programs

Our expert, Mark Mataya shares how Canyons School District works with a number of local businesses to provide real world experience for students while opening doors for internships and jobs directly out of high school. 

04:47 Real-World Experience through CTE

Mataya expands on how that real world experience can help students to make the transition from the classroom to the workforce. He shares his excitement for the newly purchased eBay building which will become the District’s new innovation center. 

 

07:41 Entrepreneurial Spirit in CTE

Some may think CTE classes are just for someone who wants to join the family business or learn a trade. Our expert explains how CTE classes can help everyone from someone who is looking to learn a specific skillset to a sterling scholar with their eyes on beginning their own business.

 

10:32 Inspiring Student Success Stories

Mataya shares one success story on how attending a single class led a Canyons student to a be the chef at one of the top restaurants in the state, and encourages other students to consider even one CTE class to help them on the journey to achieving their dreams after high school.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Connect Canyons, a podcast sponsored by
Canyon School District.
This is a show about what weteach, how we teach and why we
get up close and personal withsome of the people who make our
schools great Students, teachers, principals, parents and more.
We meet national experts, too.
Learning is about makingconnections, so connect with us

(00:24):
experts, too.
Learning is about makingconnections.

Speaker 2 (00:25):
So connect with us.
The mission of Canyon SchoolDistrict is to ensure every
student, graduates, college andcareer ready.
Whether they have set theirsights on college, careers or
helping with the family business, our educators work to help
them reach their dreams.
Welcome to Connect Canyons.
I'm your host, Frances Cook.
This month is National CTEMonth.

(00:46):
Cte stands for Career andTechnical Education, an idea
Canyons programs embracefull-heartedly.
Joining me today is Mark Mattia, Administrator at Entrada Adult
High School.
He's also integral in a numberof programs that we have
throughout the district when itcomes to getting students ready

(01:06):
for their careers.

Speaker 3 (01:07):
Mark thank you for joining us.
Thank you, cte, one of myfavorite subjects.
Let's go.

Speaker 2 (01:10):
Perfect, that's wonderful.
Would you give us an overviewof what kind of business
collaborations do we have?
What kind of programs do wehave?
We know we have CTEK, but itgoes so much deeper than that.

Speaker 3 (01:22):
Yeah, so our businesses out in our local
community are vital.
They're part of our community,right?
We talk about connecting withour community and it's very
intelligent actually, if you'rethinking about preparing
students for their careers inthe future, to go actually go
out and talk to the employersand say, well, what are you
looking for, what are your needs, and then we can be responsive

(01:46):
and make sure that we train ourstudents so that when they
graduate and then go on to maybea training, a certificate
program or a college degree orstraight into a career, that we
have prepared them and they aremeeting what the demands of
local labor is.

Speaker 2 (02:01):
I would imagine that can be very insightful, versus
just getting a generalcertificate that you're not sure
if anyone's going to maybe havea need to fill that space, but
then being able to have thoseconversations, like you said,
with our local community, ourlocal businesses, knowing, hey,
we actually have a really bigneed in this area, but maybe not
this area.

Speaker 3 (02:22):
Absolutely.
Entrata, specifically, haspartnered with a few businesses,
local businesses.
We partnered with McNeil's AutoCare.
They're in 106 South and 70East there and they had a need
for mechanics because no one wasgoing into that field hardly.
They weren't replacing as manypeople retiring you might.
If you have two or three peopleretire, you might only have one

(02:44):
person coming up through theranks.
So we worked with them to makea pre-apprenticeship.
We have an engineering classthat we do with Focus
Engineering up in Midvale wherestudents can go to the business.
They go off campus, theyactually go to the business.
They learn computer-aideddrafting with the engineers
there.
They get to see what a businesslooks and feels like and

(03:09):
they're a very good business, bythe way and kind of really get
that feel for what thatprofessional environment looks
like and then, of course, getthat hard skill of learning the
very basics of AutoCAD.
And we also have right now apartnership with Merit Medical.
They're one of the largestemployers in the Valley down
here I want to say they have1,200, 1,300 employees and they
have a lot of employees who havelow literacy levels, english

(03:31):
levels, and so what we've doneis we got a federal grant, we
partnered with them and weactually put teachers at their
factory and right before orafter a shift a student can go
take English skills classes.
Now, it's not just aboutEnglish acquisition there, we're
actually helping them to buildsoft skills.

(03:51):
Where soft skills are show up,to work on time, how to have
positive interactions withcolleagues all these kinds of
things right and we also havehard skills, and those hard
skills are things like I knowhow to.
so at Merit Medical they makeIVs right, oh, okay, yeah Like
the little IVs, like if you goto a doctor and you need a
saline drip or whatever, theymake the little IV part of it.

(04:13):
And so, like a person there,they might start out you know
they're carrying around bucketsof these things around or
whatever but maybe the next jobup is some sort of quality
control level thing, and so whatwe're doing is that we're
working with the shift managersto say, okay, well, what skills
do you guys need where you'retrying to build your people from

(04:35):
the inside, be upwardly mobile,and so we're actually giving
those employees an opportunityto build those skills so that
they can apply for that next job, make a little bit more money
for their family.

Speaker 2 (04:46):
That's awesome.
There's only so much you canteach in the classroom and what
we're teaching in our classroomsis obviously important and it's
kind of the groundwork forwhere these students will be
going.
But getting them actually intothese businesses, getting that
real world experience there'sjust nothing that compares to
that.

Speaker 3 (05:02):
Absolutely.
Cte is basically where you'retaking all of the learning from
all your other core subjects andthen applying it to a real
world context.
So if you're getting some mathskills right, well, we want to
be able to take those mathskills into your profession,
whether that's going to beengineering or welding or
nursing Right, all those thingsrequire some level of

(05:25):
mathematics.
Right your English classes.
You need to know how to readinformational text at your job.
Right, you need to be able topull out the more salient
information.
All of the subjects to me leadinto a person gaining those
skills, putting those togetherand then going out into the
workforce and applying thoseskills in those real-world

(05:47):
contexts, and that's what thecore of CTE is.

Speaker 2 (05:51):
Now we've kind of been talking about
Entrata-specific programs andthe work at Entrata is wonderful
, but I think a lot of the timespeople may see a trade
certificate or some kind oftrading program as an or path,
not an and or path.
You can be an internationalbaccalaureate, but also it can

(06:16):
be beneficial to take thesetraining courses.
What are some of the other wayswe're integrating CTE across
the district?

Speaker 3 (06:23):
Yeah, so we have so many.
You just look at our CTEKlocation, where they have
cybersecurity, cosmetology,welding, diesel, mechanics, law
enforcement.
They have business.
They're a great business programand then you'll have it like a
lot of the other schools, thehigh schools You'll have.
Auto shops You'll have there isan engineering program over at

(06:45):
Alta, for instance, that I knowabout.
There's tons of those thingsall over the district.
I really think that CanyonSchool District has really where
the rubber meets the road whenit comes to careers, right.
I mean, look at the hugeinvestment in that eBay building
.
That eBay building is anamazing learning environment.
It doesn't feel like aclassroom, it feels like going

(07:08):
to work, and so there'ssomething about when you take a
learning environment and make itas real as it can be out in the
real world, that actuallybrings gravitas to it.
A student walks into thosesituations right or in that
environment and they knowsomething's different.

(07:28):
So I'm really excited actuallyfor the district to take a lot
of our CTE programs and put themover that innovation center and
really, like at light speed,get students prepared for that
next thing they want to do inlife.

Speaker 2 (07:40):
Absolutely, and earlier you were mentioning how
beneficial it can be to you knowa lot of people these days want
to start their own businessesAbsolutely.
Can you touch on that?
I?
Mean you need a degree, sure,but there are other things that
these CTE programs can helpprovide you.

Speaker 3 (07:58):
Well, and this is the thing like a lot of our
entrepreneurs never do anythingin a straight line right.

Speaker 2 (08:02):
Right.

Speaker 3 (08:02):
And I think that CTE is really, really married to
that entrepreneur spirit.
A lot of people, I think, arefor the trades.
It's hard to find someonethat's against the trades.

Speaker 2 (08:15):
Sure.

Speaker 3 (08:15):
But I think that sometimes it's this idea like we
love the trades, but that's formaybe someone else's kid.

Speaker 2 (08:21):
Sure.

Speaker 3 (08:23):
I think that that's missing the boat a little bit,
because these trades a studentsure, maybe they learn welding
and they go out and they'regoing to work for someone else
for a little bit.
But while they're in that tradethey might find an advantage or
they might find another avenueand so they got these skills
from the inside and then theycan take that skill and then

(08:44):
start their own business.
I bet you just about any parentwould sign up for their kid to
someday own their own businessright, and to make and to have
that freedom that comes withthat and the hard work and the
rewards that comes with that andthe hard work and the rewards
that come with entrepreneurship.
We're not just providing middleskills, right.
Middle skills are notnecessarily unskilled labor and
it's not necessarily aprofessional level like a doctor

(09:05):
or whatever.
Middle skills is like thatstuff that's in between.
And so we're not just providingthat, we're providing a seed
for that student to say I cangrow this into whatever I want.
The bounds are endless.
So my own son and daughter likeif they want to go into the
trades, heck, yeah, right, andhey, not only am I going to

(09:26):
support you to learn whatevertrade you want to what interests
you, but at the same time marrythat with some sort of business
training.
And I know that we have thoseopportunities here.
So I really think that that'san angle that most people don't
see.
They just say, oh, we're justmiddle-skill jobs and they're
going to work for someone elseforever.
No, no, you can take youralpha-type student.

(09:47):
that's like the unstoppablestudent right, that's our
Sterling scholars and you putthem into one of these trades,
they would dominate in thoseright Like go in there, learn
that, start your own businessand then next thing you know,
you have your second businessand your third business right.
So I really think that the CTEworld really lends itself to

(10:09):
people who want to go out there,find a unique way to solve some
sort of problem and to makemoney doing it.
And yeah, I feel like that's abig part of it.
I think that the limits thatpeople think about with some of
these trades sure, I mean, ifyou want to, you could- you
could end it at a paycheck.

Speaker 2 (10:28):
It's just a paycheck for you, or sky's the limit.

Speaker 3 (10:31):
Yeah, or sky's the limit, Absolutely.

Speaker 2 (10:39):
That's a really, really great way to look at it.
You know, we were talkingbeforehand and you mentioned
this really great connectionthat one of your students made.
Oh yeah, can you share thatstory?

Speaker 3 (10:44):
Yeah, so we several of these kinds of instances, but
we were talking earlier and theidea is is that sure you might
have a student that gets on oneof these paths?
Right, maybe they're.
They're in deca and they'redoing marketing and they're
going to go on this like forseveral years.
Take business and marketingclasses.
That's awesome yeah butsometimes just taking a just one
cte class can make a hugedifference.

(11:06):
So we had a culinary class andthe teacher of the culinary
class invited a friend of hersto come in.
He owned his own cateringbusiness, so he came in and
really the lesson of the day washe was going to explain how he
got into culinary and intoowning his business and he was
actually taught students how tospatchcock a chicken, which I

(11:26):
actually sat and watched becauseI wanted to learn it.

Speaker 2 (11:28):
Okay, that's hard, it is hard, it's hard to do well.

Speaker 3 (11:38):
Right, I've done it once and I don't know that I'll
ever do it again.
It is hard, it's hard to do.
Well, right, I've done it onceand I don't know that I'll ever
do it again.
It's worth it, but that is hard, it is, and, and you know so,
what was really cool about thisguy was that, you know, he was a
student, who, he was trying tofind where his genius was, and,
and I honestly believe thatevery single student has a
genius for something, severalgeniuses possibly, but we're
just trying to connect ourstudents with what their genius
is, right, I hope that that'swhat our goal is.

(11:59):
And so, anyways, this guy likenot the greatest at math and
English, but he found thispassion for cooking and he has
actually had a job in highschool.
And then one thing leads toanother.
Next thing, he knows he's themanager of this restaurant, or
top chef, or whatever it was,and next thing, he's owning his
own business, and he's like inhis 20s at that time.

(12:19):
So my students love hearingthis because they're like, it's
not just like, oh, this could befor someone else, no, they can
see that themselves afterhearing that firsthand account.
So, anyways, I had a student inthere and he really loved what
this guy was saying.
He actually asked the guy hey,do you have a job?

(12:40):
And he interned with him.
He learned a little bit about,he got to do some events with
his catering business and stuff.
And now that student, he cameback a couple months later after
he graduated and came to say hi, you know, and he was a sous
chef at one of the localrestaurants now, so having
taking one class led thisstudent to go and find a career

(13:02):
and happiness.
He was so happy, right, that hehad connected with something,
and so isn't that what it's allabout, right?
Absolutely.

Speaker 2 (13:11):
I think you're right.
I mean getting that experienceand just I think in a way that
can be what high school is aboutright.
Absolutely I think you're right.
I mean getting that experienceand just I think in a way that
can be what high school is aboutright Figuring out what do I
want to do in life.
But then also, you know, kudosto your student having that
forethought to walk up to thisguy who just happens to be
speaking at a class and goinghey, this was really interesting

(13:32):
.
Do you have an internship?
Can I get a card?
Can I email you?
You know, opening up thosenetworking channels can be just
invaluable.
And to hear that he's now asous chef at one of the top
restaurants in Utah.

Speaker 3 (13:45):
Well, and I fully expect someday I'm going to walk
into a restaurant and have awonderful meal and hopefully he
comes out and he is the top chefof the restaurant Top chef yeah
, or it's his restaurant youknow, I fully expect in five,
ten years, that's what's goingto be.
That's how excited he was aboutthis and that happens all over

(14:05):
the district, right?
So it's not just us likegetting a student into one of
those CTE pathways andcompleting them that's awesome,
by the way, and that will givesomeone a really high skill but
just all these other classesstudents can take that might
spark something, because I thinkthat it is very daunting to you
.
Know, we do talk to students.
What are you going to do therest of your life?

(14:26):
Oh my gosh.

Speaker 2 (14:27):
I don't know.

Speaker 3 (14:28):
And you know, I'm 48 and I've been tempted to try
different things.
I don't know what I'm going todo next week, and so I really
think that it's this reallydaunting task for someone who's
16, or whatever age they arewhen they're starting to take
some of these courses, to saythis is what I'm going to do the
rest of my life.
If, at the very least, we canexpose students to different
types of career classes, younever know, they might spark an

(14:52):
interest in something that theynever would have thought of
before, absolutely.
So, yeah, vital, vital that weconnect them and if we can just
get them to jump into somethingright, it might not be what you
do forever, but this is how youcan get a good start in life.

Speaker 2 (15:06):
Try it out, see how it fits and, like you said,
maybe you'll find something younever would have thought of.

Speaker 3 (15:12):
Absolutely.
Yeah, Like you said, maybeyou'll find something you never
would have thought of.

Speaker 2 (15:14):
Absolutely yeah.
What else do you want students,parents, educators to know
about the CTE programs here inCanyons?

Speaker 3 (15:22):
Well, they're top-notch.
First of all, you know, I usedto work for the State Board of
Ed before I came to Canyonsabout 10 years ago and I chose
Canyons as a place to workbecause I really saw that the
schools were supported by thedistrict, the programs were
supported by the district.
One of the pillars of thedistrict is innovation.
I love innovating.

(15:42):
I'm excited to prove folkswrong who think that public
education is just what it'salways been, forever and ever.
We're here trying to make itrelatable to students and to
provide skills and for people togo out there and have success.
No-transcript.

(16:04):
And also, I think we're in agood part of town, too right,
and where there's a lot of localbusinesses that we can use.
I mentioned a few that we havehere.
And I would also.
You know it is a requirement toget one credit.
If you're going to get yourhigh school diploma, you need to
earn 1.01 years worth of aclass of credit in a career.

(16:24):
And I would even say hey to astudent go beyond that one
credit, right, I would just saywe've got top notch programs and
to really, if you're a parentin the district, have your
children try something new and alittle bit out of the box.
I think that with all theoptions we have here in the
district, it's a really low cost, low investment for a student

(16:48):
to say, hey, you know what I'mgoing to take that digital media
class.
You know, I kind of like art.
I'm not that great at computersbut I want to try this out.
And you never know.
Next thing, you know thatperson might be working in
communications department atCanyon's district down the road
Exactly.
Yeah.
So, anyways, I would just say,hey, dive in, there's tons of
stuff out there.
So, anyways, I would just say,hey, dive in, there's tons of

(17:09):
stuff out there.
Don't necessarily feel likethis is what you got to do your
whole life as a student.
Dive into something, try it out, get started.
You never know where life'sgoing to take you.
Most people change theircareers six, seven, eight times
in their lifetime, right?
Fundamental, huge changes,right?
So don't be worried about thishaving to be what you're going

(17:30):
to do forever.
Dive in, try something new.

Speaker 2 (17:33):
I think that's a beautiful mindset to have.
Mark, I'm inspired, I want togo take some classes and learn
some new trades and skills.

Speaker 3 (17:40):
Oh, you don't even know how many times I wanted to
take welding.
And here, I am you know I run aschool with welding program and
I've never been able to do it,but when I do visit I'm really
jealous of all the really coolthings that people get to do in
our district and award-winningprograms in the district.

Speaker 2 (17:59):
So, yeah, well, thank you so much.
I mean, it's really great tohear the exceptionally wide
variety of options available tostudents.
You don't just have to go toEntrata or to CTECH.
You know, there's programs atevery one of our high schools
and maybe you do want to go overto CTECH, or maybe you just
want to, like you said, hang outat the engineering program at
ALTA.

Speaker 3 (18:20):
And the options are growing right when that
innovation center comes.
I'm excited to see what newprograms come from having that
new space.
I know at Entrata right nowwe're applying for a grant from
the National Science Foundationto increase our ability to
connect students with CTEoptions in adult education.
Specifically, our district hasgrants with the STEM Action

(18:43):
Center.
Entrata actually has a grantfrom the STEM Action Center
right now where we've gone inthere and trained teachers again
to provide better opportunitiesthroughout, actually not just
Entrada High School but ourgrant.
We've actually gone to otheradult ed programs across the
state to kind of do atrain-the-trainer situation.

(19:04):
So anyways, canyons leads theway right.

Speaker 2 (19:07):
Yeah, the future is now.
The future is now Well, mark,thanks so much for joining us.
This has been incrediblyinsightful and, to all of our
students out there, I hope youdo take that chance and try
something new.

Speaker 3 (19:20):
You never know.
Dive in, dive in.
You never know.
You never know what you'll find.

Speaker 2 (19:23):
Thanks again Thanks, and thank you for listening.
If there's a topic you'd liketo hear discussed on the podcast
, send us an email tocommunications at
canyonsdistrictorg.

Speaker 1 (19:35):
Thanks for listening to this episode of Connect
Canyons.
Connect with us on Twitter,facebook or Instagram at Canyons
District or on our website,canyonsdistrictorg.