Unlock the secrets of transforming education and community in Orange County with Felix Lugo, Executive Director, and Mark McLaughlin, Board President of High School Inc. This episode promises to leave you inspired as we explore how their innovative partnership with the Santa Ana Unified School District and the Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce has expanded from impacting just 90 students in 2006 to over 1,700 today. Discover the diverse academies in culinary, healthcare, automotive, new media, global business, and engineering, and how these pathways not only prepare students for the workforce but also build a strong community foundation. Felix and Mark share their personal educational journeys and motivations, revealing the powerful impact of dedicated individuals in shaping the future of education.
Felix recounts a teacher's unwavering support that propelled him towards a career dedicated to empowering youth, while Mark shares his transition from business to education, driven by a desire to provide students with opportunities for success. The episode offers insights into the significance of real-world experiences, with students gaining hands-on industry knowledge through internships, mentorships, and job shadowing. Learn about successful partnerships with industries such as hospitality and the growing connections in healthcare and engineering. This episode is a testament to the transformative power of collaboration and innovation in education, ensuring students are well-prepared for future opportunities.
Visit us at our Buzzsprout site for more ways to listen, links to our social media sites and any referenced materials, and complete transcripts of our full-length episodes: https://bit.ly/SAUSDAmplifyingLeadership
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Episode Transcript
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Bianca Barquin (00:08):
Welcome back to SAUSD's Amplifying Leadership,
where we dive into the heartsand minds shaping our
educational landscape.
I'm your host, Bianca Barquin,and today we have an insightful
episode for you.
Joining us are High School Inc.
's Executive Director, FelixLugo, and High School Inc.
's Board President, MarkMcLaughlin.
(00:29):
These two passionate anddynamic leaders are part of the
team driving educational changethrough High School Inc.
, providing our students withunique pathways to success
beyond the classroom.
Welcome, gentlemen.
Mark McLaughlin (00:43):
Thank you.
Felix Lugo (00:44):
Thank you for having us.
Bianca Barquin (00:46):
So I'd like to jump right in with a question,
and it's for you, Felix.
For our listeners who might beunfamiliar with the program what
is High School Inc.
, who does it serve and what isits mission?
Felix Lugo (00:59):
High School Inc.
is a unique partnership withSanta Ana Unified School
District, Santa Ana Chamber ofCommerce, and a nonprofit
organization which is HighSchool Inc.
, and we serve the students ofOrange County.
Its mission is to empower youth, strengthen communities through
education and businesspartnerships.
Bianca Barquin (01:20):
Awesome.
This is a transformativeopportunity for our students.
I love the connections that wereally have between the Chamber,
between High School Inc.
, between SAUSD, and all of thisis actually in our Graduate
Profile, so what a beautiful wayto help our students really
achieve those learner outcomes.
(01:40):
My next question is actuallyfor you, Mark.
Can you tell us some historyabout High School Inc.
?
How did the program come aboutand what has changed over the
years?
Because I know it has evolved alot to move the program forward
.
Mark McLaughlin (01:56):
Sure, thank you , I appreciate the lead in there
.
We have been involved in theschool district since 2006, but
even earlier, in the timeframe2003, 2004, we, as a chamber
organization came to school andsaid to the superintendent at
the time, which was Jane Russo,we said, you're not giving us
(02:18):
educated students that match upwith the industries that exist
in Orange County.
And that's been the core of ourexistence.
At this point in time, we havewhat we call the change
academies, so we have culinary,healthcare, automotive, new
media, global business andengineering, and all of those
academies have been set up sinceday one.
(02:38):
Now how did we get thoseacademies?
We actually solicited help fromDr.
Walrod, and he looked at theeconomy and the base and the
industries that exist in OrangeCounty.
First he looked at it back in2005, and then again in 2012,
and we found that there waslittle or no change in the
industries.
(02:58):
We just know that the changeswithin the industries were a lot
faster than what they were, andso it's the old adage that says
50% of what we learn today isgoing to be obsolete in five
years, and that's one of thethings that we feel that we have
to keep up with that pace, ifnot faster.
So that's been a challenge forus, but we've been lucky in that
(03:22):
we've been able to expand thesize of classes.
In fact, we started out with 50to 90 students back in 2015.
And now at Valley we've got alittle over 1,700 students that
are involved with High SchoolInc.
Bianca Barquin (03:42):
Wow, that is incredible 1,700 students.
From what was the number in 2015?
Mark McLaughlin (03:46):
It started out between 50 and 90 students.
At the end of the year it was90 students and it was across
the board.
Most of it was global business,because at the time, global
business was, in fact, still aLighthouse Academy for Valley
High School.
It was the only academy at thattime.
Then we added the other five.
Bianca Barquin (04:02):
So I'm doing a lot of work right now with the
Institute for the Future, andthat's something that we are
constantly thinking about.
You're looking at drivers andyou're looking at signals out
there to really figure out whatthe future looks like and what
the needs are, and you all havebeen doing this from the very
beginning, from its inception,which is incredible and really
(04:26):
looking at what the futureworkforce actually needs in
preparing our students.
What amazes me and reallytouches my heart is not only are
you preparing our students forindustry, but you're also
preparing them to support theirown community, which I think is
a beautiful thing, and the factthat now we have 1,700 students
(04:47):
involved is, wow.
It's just a huge number.
Mark McLaughlin (04:52):
And remember, in the next couple of days we're
going to be doing a ribboncutting for Century.
We'll probably have three,Felix, three or four hundred
students?
Felix Lugo (05:02):
Yeah, absolutely.
A t Century High School inSanta Ana we're doing our
ribbon-cutting ceremony,November 4th, Monday, 3:30,
starting specifically with theirbiomedical pathway program.
Bianca Barquin (05:14):
That is incredible.
So explain to our listeners whomay not be familiar.
So the affiliation originallywas with Valley High School,
right, and now talk about whatthe future—I mean, and we'll get
to it a little bit later.
But talk to us a little bitabout how did we end up at
Century as well, because what agreat opportunity for students.
Mark McLaughlin (05:34):
Well, actually, let's go back to Valley and if
you remember, back in thattimeframe 2005 or 2006, we had a
situation where we had fourschools that were
underperforming (05:43):
Saddleback, Valley, Century, and Santa Ana
High School, and the State wasthreatening to take control of
those schools if nothing wasdone and Valley took it upon
itself to take the High SchoolInc.
model and use that as theirrecovery.
And we've been very successfulwith that.
And what's happened now is thatwith the Century project that's
(06:07):
going to start up next week,the situation there was that the
principal came and said, 'Iwant to be able to offer High
School Inc.
to our students at Century.
' In fact, Jerry has mentioned acouple of times the principal
came to us and say she wanted tohave that done in the same way
Valley was doing High School Inc.
She wanted it a Century.
Felix Lugo (06:29):
And if I can add, Mark, you know 16 years ago
Valley High School graduationrate was in the 60 percentile.
Since High School Inc.
started the academies at Valley, their graduation rate is at a
steady 95 percent.
So when you look at thosenumbers it was no question that
(06:49):
High School Inc.
will do many wonderful thingsat Century and we're going to
start that chapter with theribbon cutting ceremony on
Monday.
Bianca Barquin (06:56):
I'm super excited about that.
So it's really about adaptingto meet the students' and
community's needs.
It's so important that ourprograms evolve with the local
community and business trends toachieve, you know, our mutual
goals.
So now I want to talk to you alittle bit about your
professional and personaljourneys.
So let me start with Mark.
(07:17):
What inspired you to getinvolved with High School Inc.
and its mission?
Mark McLaughlin (07:23):
I was at the time just new to joining the
Santa Ana Chamber of Commerceand they really took the
leadership role in the beginningto bring High School Inc.
into the school district.
And so just watching and seeingsome of the fabulous business
owners that existed andcorporations in Santa Ana saying
(07:44):
that they need that level ofsupport in the classroom just to
make the students become partof the economy in Santa Ana.
The fact was is that we had atremendously strong business
community through the Chamber ofCommerce and great leadership
and we were able to have severalpeople on our team become part
(08:07):
of the first team between SantaAna Unified and Santa Ana
Chamber of Commerce.
So we were able to put thattogether and, as we said, it's
grown from 50 to 90 students to1,700 students.
The fact is that with thisgrowth we've also brought on a
lot of business people on ourboard.
When we created our board inthe beginning it was half school
(08:29):
district and half businesspartners.
Now we have a board that is setup in such a way that we have
all business partners.
We've got 20 business partnersand we have one trustee from the
Santa Ana Unified SchoolDistrict, and so the growth has
been in many different ways.
It's gone from having morebusinesses supported by High
(08:51):
School Inc.
It's also brought in mentors,internships and programs like
that, and the growth of that isonly really starting to hit the
ground.
We've been working on it for anumber of years and I think at
this point in time you'll see abig change in that area where we
bring in more business partnersand more internships.
We're just trying to do ourbest there.
Bianca Barquin (09:13):
This is really beautiful work and it's amazing
to me the synergy when everybodycomes together and just to see
the evolution.
I am just in awe because I haveexperienced and seen personally
the incredible work that's donethrough the partnership with
High School Inc.
So, Felix, moving on to you,can you tell us about your own
(09:36):
educational journey and how itshaped your path towards
leadership?
Felix Lugo (09:41):
Absolutely.
So I remember in high school,freshman year, I failed--
everything.
I even failed PE.
Like how do you fail PE, it'sthe most easiest thing to do,
right?
But I remember a teacher whopulled me to the side and said a
couple of words I cannot say,but it was inspiring words from
(10:02):
emotions, and she said, 'I'm notgoing to let you fail, this is
never going to happen again.
' So she put the fear in God andme, right, but she was
passionate and I knew that shecared and I graduated because I
didn't want to let her down, andactually I graduated
valedictorian and I told her inmy speech you know what you did
(10:22):
for me, I don't have to say itand she looked at me and I
looked at her in the crowd andyou know it was a moment that I
will never forget.
So for me, I naturally startedhelping people in the field of
education because I wanted to beher, to continue to help young
people and never give up on them.
(10:42):
So I started my educationaljourney professionally.
I was working at a school inFlorida and I was originally
trying to find a job in themedical field, because I went to
school studying health servicesand so forth and I wasn't
finding anything.
And then someone told me well,won't you apply for something
outside of the health field?
(11:02):
And I applied to this schooljust to be a weekend recreation
staff member.
It's a private school.
And I did the interview and,long story short, they said, 'We
know you came in for this, butwould you be our residential
dean?
' I didn't know what that wasand that was basically in charge
of 60 students in the dormitory, 10 staff members, and it was
(11:26):
really just to amplify theirexperience as a student, making
sure that they feel safe, makingsure that we create an
environment where they can callthis place a home away from home
.
And ever since, and that was inthe early 2000s, I started
working in education and helpingstudents with activities,
(11:46):
homework, projects, and so forth.
And I continue working invarious schools, from working in
their residential, to marketing, to recruitment, and so forth.
And that's really what shapedme to continue this work that
I'm doing in servicing the youthand helping their careers and
really tap into potential,because it started when I was
young, someone not giving up onme, and I fell in love with
(12:09):
education not giving up on them.
Bianca Barquin (12:12):
I think that's beautiful, how you just fell
into education by wanting to payit forward, right?
Somebody actually believed inyou and did that for you, and it
reminds me in education thepower of relationships and just
how important that educator is,right, and they need to have
that relationship with a personor a child and deeply care about
(12:34):
them, and you're unaware thatyou make a difference, right,
for that child in their future.
And we're just blessed to haveyou working with students every
single day, so I'm really happyyou didn't go into the medical
field.
I think that you're exactlywhere you need to be.
Felix Lugo (12:51):
No, no.
And to add on that, in themedical field, normally you wait
until people get sick.
But what if you can educatepeople before they even get
there?
So that's how I look ateducation.
What if you can educate theyouth enough that they won't
make choices in their life thatwill end them in the wrong path?
And that's the way I looked atit when I made the switch from
(13:11):
the medical field to theeducation field.
Bianca Barquin (13:14):
Beautiful, that prevention is so important.
Okay, I'm going to switch toMark.
How has your work at HighSchool Inc.
impacted you personally, bothin your professional life and
outside of it?
Mark McLaughlin (13:27):
Let's start out by saying I'm retired out of
business at this point in time,but one of the goals that I had
when I finished working inindustry was that I wanted to
come back and do something froman education perspective.
I really felt that, you know,where I got to and how I was
able to see many differentthings over the course of my
(13:47):
career, I just felt that, youknow, that was due to education,
understanding.
And as a result, I figured thatI could do something back and
help the kids today which wouldgive them the same success or
same opportunity that I was ableto get.
So my wife and I both have saidyou know we're going to work in
education.
She's the CFO for Santa AnaUnified School District's
(14:09):
Foundation and, you know, I'mthe president of High School Inc
.
Foundation.
So,, you know we're there,we're working on it and, you
know, we're going to continue todo the whole thing.
Because from my standpoint,it's always great to watch these
kids talk and show the thingsthat they want to do, how they
want to do it, but recognizethat there's also a lot of
(14:30):
challenges that they go throughon a day-to-day basis and if we
can make it a little bit easierfor that student to succeed,
that, to me, is a hugeaccomplishment.
Huge accomplishment.
And I'll give you one littleanecdote.
I was in a group meeting abouttwo or three years ago and it
was the ambassadors and we weretalking about the ambassador
(14:52):
groups that helped to spread theword about High School Inc.
within Valley and outside ofValley, and it was interesting.
But one of the students turnedaround and said, 'If that old
guy back there can show up atthe competitions for us in
cooking up change, then I'mgoing to support him, as he's
supporting me.
(15:12):
' And I started out with first,'Where's the old guy in the room
?
' But it was true.
I mean, yeah, but this kid wasreally sincere in saying that he
felt compelled to do the besthe could do because I was there
supporting him and I thinkthat's, in and of itself, good
(15:32):
enough for me.
I'm happy with that and as longas I continue to do things like
that, I'm going to continue todo things like that.
Bianca Barquin (15:41):
Thank you.
That was an important questionfor me to ask you, because I
personally know just how muchtime and energy and dedication
and the longevity that you andJanelle, your beautiful wife,
have given to our community andgiven to our kiddos, and just
how much you deeply care aboutevery student in Santa Ana, and
(16:05):
we appreciate you.
So thank you for sharing your'why.
' Okay, Felix, back to you.
I want to know and I want totalk a little bit about
motivation what keeps youmotivated and energized in your
role as executive director of anorganization focused on high
school education.
Felix Lugo (16:24):
Thank you.
That's a great question.
If I can share a story where mytrue motivation comes from: So
in New York City I grew up nextto one of my friends and one of
my friends knocks on my door andsays, 'Hey, come to my house, I
have something to show you.
' And I went over and he showedme a guitar and he looked at me.
(16:45):
He said, 'I don't know how toplay this guitar, but I bought a
book to teach me the chords.
I'm going to learn how to playit.
' And he gripped that guitarwhile looking at it and he said,
'I don't know, Felix, I feellike with this I'm going to make
it.
'My friend today, fast Fast
forward, forward is one of thebiggest Latin singers in Latin
(17:05):
music industry.
That in itself taught me thatit's possible.
So when I'm in workingeducation, I look at the
students and say it's possiblethat no matter where you're from
, how you grew up, what cardscard you were dealt, it's
possible to change your life.
It's possible to reach success,to dream and dream big and make
(17:28):
it happen.
I've I seen it, I felt it, andthat's what really motivates me
to be in this work.
That's what motivated me to bewith High School Inc.
, is to help amplify theirexperience while in high school,
because in high school you onlyhave one experience, right, of
high school, and High School Inc.
is all about, you know,exposing them to many different
(17:51):
things.
Let them learn and touch andfeel and explore and think like
what I want to do with my lifeand being able to be part of
that journey with them, andthat's what motivates me,
because I know it's possible.
I know it's possible no matterwhere you're from that you can
make it in your life.
Now I intentionally left out myfamous friend's, uh, you know,
who he is.
(18:11):
.
.
Bianca Barquin (18:12):
Wait, I'm dying to know.
Come on, you can't just leaveus hanging here.
Felix Lugo (18:16):
All right, I won't leave you hanging.
His real name is Anthony.
We always know him as Ant.
His stage name is Romeo Santos.
He believed in himself.
I grew up in the same neck ofthe woods as he did, you know,
in his neighborhood, but henever stopped and he continued
to do his thing and he continuedto flourish.
And if you know him, you knowthat he's a huge star.
But that's what I tellstudents, that it is possible.
(18:37):
Keep dreaming, keep believing.
Let High School Inc.
help you.
We will give you opportunitiesto do internships, mentorships,
job shadowing, to really showyou what's out there in the
world, that you have anopportunity, and we will find
those opportunities for you andcreate those opportunities.
And it's your right to getthose opportunities.
And that's what High School Inc.
(18:58):
does.
And that's what motivates me tobe the executive director and
be in this work with Mark andeveryone else with High School
Inc.
, is to show the students that,you know, no matter what it is
in the world, you're able toattain it and be successful in
it.
Bianca Barquin (19:13):
I love it.
The themes that are popping outfor me are hope, relentless
belief, teaching children how toadvocate for themselves and
never give up, and it tiesdirectly to our theme that we
have this year, which is'Imagine the Unimaginable',
right?
So it's that same belief, sodirectly aligned.
Thank you.
I'd like to shift gears andcome back to High School Inc.
(19:35):
Mark, High School Inc.
partners with variousindustries to provide real-world
experiences for students.
What are some of thoseindustries and how do you build
and maintain those partnerships?
Because there are a lot of them.
Mark McLaughlin (19:51):
Yeah, and we're trying to add larger
populations to our list, as faras, it's not like a one-off type
internship or one-off typestudent getting out and seeing
what's going on, it's gettingmore of a group between 10, 20,
30.
And I'll give you one example.
We had Westin Hotel, one of ourbusiness partners.
(20:11):
Westin Hotel turned around andsaid we'll give your students a
week of internship at our WestinHotel in Palm Desert and yeah,
everybody wants to go there.
Initially we couldn't getguidance people or people from
the district to support the kidsfrom the standpoint of being
around there and being thementor for the day.
(20:33):
But anyway, we did get theopportunity and we had 10
students show up at the WestinHotel and it was an incredible
experience.
They stayed there, they ate allmeals, they cooked the meals.
They were really part of thewhole thing.
In fact, there was one lady whogot up at four in the morning
(20:54):
every morning and shadowed theworkers throughout the hotel
just to learn what it took to dothe things that you have to do
when you're in the hospitalitybusiness.
Everything was monitored by theHR manager for Westin and they
did a fantastic job coming backand feeding back to the student
(21:15):
what they did well, what theyneeded to work on and improve,
and it was a great partnership.
And we're going to do the samething this coming summer with
our interns.
We're going to get a team ofkids back there.
What's happening right now isbuilding the business
partnerships has been achallenge.
Some of it's internal.
We all know about the SAMinsurance and things of that
(21:37):
nature and liabilities and stuff.
So we're working through thoseand I think we've kind of come
to the end of the road to beable to say we're there.
And, given that, we're alsoworking on large groups, KPC for
instance.
I was talking to Celeste theother day and she's very close
to signing an MOU with KPC.
This could give us 100-plusstudents throughout the hospital
(22:00):
system and those are challengesthat we've been working with.
But the more we can do, themore we can get the kids into
the industry that they like tobe part of, the more we can get
the kids enthusiastic aboutsuccess and not worry about the
things that happen on aday-to-day basis at home or
(22:21):
anything like that, because theyknow they've got a pathway
that's going to get them tosomething that's going to be a
good job, a good opportunity, agood learning experience.
I think if we succeed in that,we're going to succeed in what
we're trying to do overall forHigh School Inc.
We've got other examples too.
I mean we've been strong inhealthcare.
Healthcare has been a greatprogram for our kids.
(22:43):
We've got kids going toengineering, to JPL and things
of that nature.
So we have goals and we'retrying to get more mentors in,
more internships.
And one thing that we're tryingto also do a little
experimentation on isexternships, and I think that's
one of the challenges that wehave with this whole program,
and that is that the teachershave to be aware of what's going
(23:08):
on in the industry right now.
If they don't participate, thenI think we've lost something
there with the student, becausethe student's going to come in
more enthusiastic and morecapable of saying this is what
they really need to do today,and the teacher's going to say,
'Well, where'd you learn thatfrom?
How did that come about?
' I think what we have to do iswe really have to build up that
(23:30):
portion of the program, becauseI think, once we get the buy-in
from the teachers and theadministrators that are needed
for these differentclassifications and different
pathways, I think we'll be moresuccessful, a lot more
successful.
Bianca Barquin (23:43):
I agree, I think you're on to something there.
I talk to people all the timeabout the future and just where
we're headed and the importanceof not just having kids learn
things in theory, right, butit's that practical application,
it's that experiential learning, it's that ability to enjoy it,
(24:05):
struggle with it, to do itpersonally that really teaches
them.
Externships-- I hadn't reallythought about that before.
That's truly the next step.
I definitely see that as well,and I can't wait to see what
happens when you bolster thatpiece, what it's going to look
like, because I think you'reexactly right.
Mark McLaughlin (24:25):
And I'll say this.
Some of the charters and someof the other organizations
throughout Southern California--o ne of the things that we've
seen is that the way they'vecome against that challenge and
been successful in taking careof it is they're retired out of
engineering, so they've got anolder set of teachers, but they
also have teachers that havebeen in the industry, understand
(24:47):
the industry, and know what'snecessary to be successful in
that industry.
I think that's the other thingthat we have to look at is
trying to build some of thoserelationships up and bring
teachers in that are going to bethe teachers that can help
guide ourselves through thesepathways.
Bianca Barquin (25:03):
These are great practices we're talking about.
I love it.
Voiceover (25:07):
Hey, there, Amplifiers Our insightful
conversation with High SchoolInc.
isn't over yet.
Join us next Friday for parttwo of this episode.
See you then.
Welcome back to SAUSD's Amplifying Leadership,
where we dive into the heartsand minds shaping our
educational landscape.
I'm your host, Bianca Barquin,and today we have an insightful
episode for you.
Joining us are High School Inc.
's Executive Director, FelixLugo, and High School Inc.
's Board President, MarkMcLaughlin.
(00:29):
These two passionate anddynamic leaders are part of the
team driving educational changethrough High School Inc.
, providing our students withunique pathways to success
beyond the classroom.
Welcome, gentlemen.
Mark McLaughlin (00:43):
Thank you.
Felix Lugo (00:44):
Thank you for having us.
Bianca Barquin (00:46):
So I'd like to jump right in with a question,
and it's for you, Felix.
For our listeners who might beunfamiliar with the program what
is High School Inc.
, who does it serve and what isits mission?
Felix Lugo (00:59):
High School Inc.
is a unique partnership withSanta Ana Unified School
District, Santa Ana Chamber ofCommerce, and a nonprofit
organization which is HighSchool Inc.
, and we serve the students ofOrange County.
Its mission is to empower youth, strengthen communities through
education and businesspartnerships.
Bianca Barquin (01:20):
Awesome.
This is a transformativeopportunity for our students.
I love the connections that wereally have between the Chamber,
between High School Inc.
, between SAUSD, and all of thisis actually in our Graduate
Profile, so what a beautiful wayto help our students really
achieve those learner outcomes.
(01:40):
My next question is actuallyfor you, Mark.
Can you tell us some historyabout High School Inc.
?
How did the program come aboutand what has changed over the
years?
Because I know it has evolved alot to move the program forward
.
Mark McLaughlin (01:56):
Sure, thank you , I appreciate the lead in there
.
We have been involved in theschool district since 2006, but
even earlier, in the timeframe2003, 2004, we, as a chamber
organization came to school andsaid to the superintendent at
the time, which was Jane Russo,we said, you're not giving us
(02:18):
educated students that match upwith the industries that exist
in Orange County.
And that's been the core of ourexistence.
At this point in time, we havewhat we call the change
academies, so we have culinary,healthcare, automotive, new
media, global business andengineering, and all of those
academies have been set up sinceday one.
(02:38):
Now how did we get thoseacademies?
We actually solicited help fromDr.
Walrod, and he looked at theeconomy and the base and the
industries that exist in OrangeCounty.
First he looked at it back in2005, and then again in 2012,
and we found that there waslittle or no change in the
industries.
(02:58):
We just know that the changeswithin the industries were a lot
faster than what they were, andso it's the old adage that says
50% of what we learn today isgoing to be obsolete in five
years, and that's one of thethings that we feel that we have
to keep up with that pace, ifnot faster.
So that's been a challenge forus, but we've been lucky in that
(03:22):
we've been able to expand thesize of classes.
In fact, we started out with 50to 90 students back in 2015.
And now at Valley we've got alittle over 1,700 students that
are involved with High SchoolInc.
Bianca Barquin (03:42):
Wow, that is incredible 1,700 students.
From what was the number in 2015?
Mark McLaughlin (03:46):
It started out between 50 and 90 students.
At the end of the year it was90 students and it was across
the board.
Most of it was global business,because at the time, global
business was, in fact, still aLighthouse Academy for Valley
High School.
It was the only academy at thattime.
Then we added the other five.
Bianca Barquin (04:02):
So I'm doing a lot of work right now with the
Institute for the Future, andthat's something that we are
constantly thinking about.
You're looking at drivers andyou're looking at signals out
there to really figure out whatthe future looks like and what
the needs are, and you all havebeen doing this from the very
beginning, from its inception,which is incredible and really
(04:26):
looking at what the futureworkforce actually needs in
preparing our students.
What amazes me and reallytouches my heart is not only are
you preparing our students forindustry, but you're also
preparing them to support theirown community, which I think is
a beautiful thing, and the factthat now we have 1,700 students
(04:47):
involved is, wow.
It's just a huge number.
Mark McLaughlin (04:52):
And remember, in the next couple of days we're
going to be doing a ribboncutting for Century.
We'll probably have three,Felix, three or four hundred
students?
Felix Lugo (05:02):
Yeah, absolutely.
A t Century High School inSanta Ana we're doing our
ribbon-cutting ceremony,November 4th, Monday, 3:30,
starting specifically with theirbiomedical pathway program.
Bianca Barquin (05:14):
That is incredible.
So explain to our listeners whomay not be familiar.
So the affiliation originallywas with Valley High School,
right, and now talk about whatthe future—I mean, and we'll get
to it a little bit later.
But talk to us a little bitabout how did we end up at
Century as well, because what agreat opportunity for students.
Mark McLaughlin (05:34):
Well, actually, let's go back to Valley and if
you remember, back in thattimeframe 2005 or 2006, we had a
situation where we had fourschools that were
underperforming (05:43):
Saddleback, Valley, Century, and Santa Ana
High School, and the State wasthreatening to take control of
those schools if nothing wasdone and Valley took it upon
itself to take the High SchoolInc.
model and use that as theirrecovery.
And we've been very successfulwith that.
And what's happened now is thatwith the Century project that's
(06:07):
going to start up next week,the situation there was that the
principal came and said, 'Iwant to be able to offer High
School Inc.
to our students at Century.
' In fact, Jerry has mentioned acouple of times the principal
came to us and say she wanted tohave that done in the same way
Valley was doing High School Inc.
She wanted it a Century.
Felix Lugo (06:29):
And if I can add, Mark, you know 16 years ago
Valley High School graduationrate was in the 60 percentile.
Since High School Inc.
started the academies at Valley, their graduation rate is at a
steady 95 percent.
So when you look at thosenumbers it was no question that
(06:49):
High School Inc.
will do many wonderful thingsat Century and we're going to
start that chapter with theribbon cutting ceremony on
Monday.
Bianca Barquin (06:56):
I'm super excited about that.
So it's really about adaptingto meet the students' and
community's needs.
It's so important that ourprograms evolve with the local
community and business trends toachieve, you know, our mutual
goals.
So now I want to talk to you alittle bit about your
professional and personaljourneys.
So let me start with Mark.
(07:17):
What inspired you to getinvolved with High School Inc.
and its mission?
Mark McLaughlin (07:23):
I was at the time just new to joining the
Santa Ana Chamber of Commerceand they really took the
leadership role in the beginningto bring High School Inc.
into the school district.
And so just watching and seeingsome of the fabulous business
owners that existed andcorporations in Santa Ana saying
(07:44):
that they need that level ofsupport in the classroom just to
make the students become partof the economy in Santa Ana.
The fact was is that we had atremendously strong business
community through the Chamber ofCommerce and great leadership
and we were able to have severalpeople on our team become part
(08:07):
of the first team between SantaAna Unified and Santa Ana
Chamber of Commerce.
So we were able to put thattogether and, as we said, it's
grown from 50 to 90 students to1,700 students.
The fact is that with thisgrowth we've also brought on a
lot of business people on ourboard.
When we created our board inthe beginning it was half school
(08:29):
district and half businesspartners.
Now we have a board that is setup in such a way that we have
all business partners.
We've got 20 business partnersand we have one trustee from the
Santa Ana Unified SchoolDistrict, and so the growth has
been in many different ways.
It's gone from having morebusinesses supported by High
(08:51):
School Inc.
It's also brought in mentors,internships and programs like
that, and the growth of that isonly really starting to hit the
ground.
We've been working on it for anumber of years and I think at
this point in time you'll see abig change in that area where we
bring in more business partnersand more internships.
We're just trying to do ourbest there.
Bianca Barquin (09:13):
This is really beautiful work and it's amazing
to me the synergy when everybodycomes together and just to see
the evolution.
I am just in awe because I haveexperienced and seen personally
the incredible work that's donethrough the partnership with
High School Inc.
So, Felix, moving on to you,can you tell us about your own
(09:36):
educational journey and how itshaped your path towards
leadership?
Felix Lugo (09:41):
Absolutely.
So I remember in high school,freshman year, I failed--
everything.
I even failed PE.
Like how do you fail PE, it'sthe most easiest thing to do,
right?
But I remember a teacher whopulled me to the side and said a
couple of words I cannot say,but it was inspiring words from
(10:02):
emotions, and she said, 'I'm notgoing to let you fail, this is
never going to happen again.
' So she put the fear in God andme, right, but she was
passionate and I knew that shecared and I graduated because I
didn't want to let her down, andactually I graduated
valedictorian and I told her inmy speech you know what you did
(10:22):
for me, I don't have to say itand she looked at me and I
looked at her in the crowd andyou know it was a moment that I
will never forget.
So for me, I naturally startedhelping people in the field of
education because I wanted to beher, to continue to help young
people and never give up on them.
(10:42):
So I started my educationaljourney professionally.
I was working at a school inFlorida and I was originally
trying to find a job in themedical field, because I went to
school studying health servicesand so forth and I wasn't
finding anything.
And then someone told me well,won't you apply for something
outside of the health field?
(11:02):
And I applied to this schooljust to be a weekend recreation
staff member.
It's a private school.
And I did the interview and,long story short, they said, 'We
know you came in for this, butwould you be our residential
dean?
' I didn't know what that wasand that was basically in charge
of 60 students in the dormitory, 10 staff members, and it was
(11:26):
really just to amplify theirexperience as a student, making
sure that they feel safe, makingsure that we create an
environment where they can callthis place a home away from home
.
And ever since, and that was inthe early 2000s, I started
working in education and helpingstudents with activities,
(11:46):
homework, projects, and so forth.
And I continue working invarious schools, from working in
their residential, to marketing, to recruitment, and so forth.
And that's really what shapedme to continue this work that
I'm doing in servicing the youthand helping their careers and
really tap into potential,because it started when I was
young, someone not giving up onme, and I fell in love with
(12:09):
education not giving up on them.
Bianca Barquin (12:12):
I think that's beautiful, how you just fell
into education by wanting to payit forward, right?
Somebody actually believed inyou and did that for you, and it
reminds me in education thepower of relationships and just
how important that educator is,right, and they need to have
that relationship with a personor a child and deeply care about
(12:34):
them, and you're unaware thatyou make a difference, right,
for that child in their future.
And we're just blessed to haveyou working with students every
single day, so I'm really happyyou didn't go into the medical
field.
I think that you're exactlywhere you need to be.
Felix Lugo (12:51):
No, no.
And to add on that, in themedical field, normally you wait
until people get sick.
But what if you can educatepeople before they even get
there?
So that's how I look ateducation.
What if you can educate theyouth enough that they won't
make choices in their life thatwill end them in the wrong path?
And that's the way I looked atit when I made the switch from
(13:11):
the medical field to theeducation field.
Bianca Barquin (13:14):
Beautiful, that prevention is so important.
Okay, I'm going to switch toMark.
How has your work at HighSchool Inc.
impacted you personally, bothin your professional life and
outside of it?
Mark McLaughlin (13:27):
Let's start out by saying I'm retired out of
business at this point in time,but one of the goals that I had
when I finished working inindustry was that I wanted to
come back and do something froman education perspective.
I really felt that, you know,where I got to and how I was
able to see many differentthings over the course of my
(13:47):
career, I just felt that, youknow, that was due to education,
understanding.
And as a result, I figured thatI could do something back and
help the kids today which wouldgive them the same success or
same opportunity that I was ableto get.
So my wife and I both have saidyou know we're going to work in
education.
She's the CFO for Santa AnaUnified School District's
(14:09):
Foundation and, you know, I'mthe president of High School Inc
.
Foundation.
So,, you know we're there,we're working on it and, you
know, we're going to continue todo the whole thing.
Because from my standpoint,it's always great to watch these
kids talk and show the thingsthat they want to do, how they
want to do it, but recognizethat there's also a lot of
(14:30):
challenges that they go throughon a day-to-day basis and if we
can make it a little bit easierfor that student to succeed,
that, to me, is a hugeaccomplishment.
Huge accomplishment.
And I'll give you one littleanecdote.
I was in a group meeting abouttwo or three years ago and it
was the ambassadors and we weretalking about the ambassador
(14:52):
groups that helped to spread theword about High School Inc.
within Valley and outside ofValley, and it was interesting.
But one of the students turnedaround and said, 'If that old
guy back there can show up atthe competitions for us in
cooking up change, then I'mgoing to support him, as he's
supporting me.
(15:12):
' And I started out with first,'Where's the old guy in the room
?
' But it was true.
I mean, yeah, but this kid wasreally sincere in saying that he
felt compelled to do the besthe could do because I was there
supporting him and I thinkthat's, in and of itself, good
(15:32):
enough for me.
I'm happy with that and as longas I continue to do things like
that, I'm going to continue todo things like that.
Bianca Barquin (15:41):
Thank you.
That was an important questionfor me to ask you, because I
personally know just how muchtime and energy and dedication
and the longevity that you andJanelle, your beautiful wife,
have given to our community andgiven to our kiddos, and just
how much you deeply care aboutevery student in Santa Ana, and
(16:05):
we appreciate you.
So thank you for sharing your'why.
' Okay, Felix, back to you.
I want to know and I want totalk a little bit about
motivation what keeps youmotivated and energized in your
role as executive director of anorganization focused on high
school education.
Felix Lugo (16:24):
Thank you.
That's a great question.
If I can share a story where mytrue motivation comes from: So
in New York City I grew up nextto one of my friends and one of
my friends knocks on my door andsays, 'Hey, come to my house, I
have something to show you.
' And I went over and he showedme a guitar and he looked at me.
(16:45):
He said, 'I don't know how toplay this guitar, but I bought a
book to teach me the chords.
I'm going to learn how to playit.
' And he gripped that guitarwhile looking at it and he said,
'I don't know, Felix, I feellike with this I'm going to make
it.
'My friend today, fast Fast
forward, forward is one of thebiggest Latin singers in Latin
(17:05):
music industry.
That in itself taught me thatit's possible.
So when I'm in workingeducation, I look at the
students and say it's possiblethat no matter where you're from
, how you grew up, what cardscard you were dealt, it's
possible to change your life.
It's possible to reach success,to dream and dream big and make
(17:28):
it happen.
I've I seen it, I felt it, andthat's what really motivates me
to be in this work.
That's what motivated me to bewith High School Inc.
, is to help amplify theirexperience while in high school,
because in high school you onlyhave one experience, right, of
high school, and High School Inc.
is all about, you know,exposing them to many different
(17:51):
things.
Let them learn and touch andfeel and explore and think like
what I want to do with my lifeand being able to be part of
that journey with them, andthat's what motivates me,
because I know it's possible.
I know it's possible no matterwhere you're from that you can
make it in your life.
Now I intentionally left out myfamous friend's, uh, you know,
who he is.
(18:11):
.
.
Bianca Barquin (18:12):
Wait, I'm dying to know.
Come on, you can't just leaveus hanging here.
Felix Lugo (18:16):
All right, I won't leave you hanging.
His real name is Anthony.
We always know him as Ant.
His stage name is Romeo Santos.
He believed in himself.
I grew up in the same neck ofthe woods as he did, you know,
in his neighborhood, but henever stopped and he continued
to do his thing and he continuedto flourish.
And if you know him, you knowthat he's a huge star.
But that's what I tellstudents, that it is possible.
(18:37):
Keep dreaming, keep believing.
Let High School Inc.
help you.
We will give you opportunitiesto do internships, mentorships,
job shadowing, to really showyou what's out there in the
world, that you have anopportunity, and we will find
those opportunities for you andcreate those opportunities.
And it's your right to getthose opportunities.
And that's what High School Inc.
(18:58):
does.
And that's what motivates me tobe the executive director and
be in this work with Mark andeveryone else with High School
Inc.
, is to show the students that,you know, no matter what it is
in the world, you're able toattain it and be successful in
it.
Bianca Barquin (19:13):
I love it.
The themes that are popping outfor me are hope, relentless
belief, teaching children how toadvocate for themselves and
never give up, and it tiesdirectly to our theme that we
have this year, which is'Imagine the Unimaginable',
right?
So it's that same belief, sodirectly aligned.
Thank you.
I'd like to shift gears andcome back to High School Inc.
(19:35):
Mark, High School Inc.
partners with variousindustries to provide real-world
experiences for students.
What are some of thoseindustries and how do you build
and maintain those partnerships?
Because there are a lot of them.
Mark McLaughlin (19:51):
Yeah, and we're trying to add larger
populations to our list, as faras, it's not like a one-off type
internship or one-off typestudent getting out and seeing
what's going on, it's gettingmore of a group between 10, 20,
30.
And I'll give you one example.
We had Westin Hotel, one of ourbusiness partners.
(20:11):
Westin Hotel turned around andsaid we'll give your students a
week of internship at our WestinHotel in Palm Desert and yeah,
everybody wants to go there.
Initially we couldn't getguidance people or people from
the district to support the kidsfrom the standpoint of being
around there and being thementor for the day.
(20:33):
But anyway, we did get theopportunity and we had 10
students show up at the WestinHotel and it was an incredible
experience.
They stayed there, they ate allmeals, they cooked the meals.
They were really part of thewhole thing.
In fact, there was one lady whogot up at four in the morning
(20:54):
every morning and shadowed theworkers throughout the hotel
just to learn what it took to dothe things that you have to do
when you're in the hospitalitybusiness.
Everything was monitored by theHR manager for Westin and they
did a fantastic job coming backand feeding back to the student
(21:15):
what they did well, what theyneeded to work on and improve,
and it was a great partnership.
And we're going to do the samething this coming summer with
our interns.
We're going to get a team ofkids back there.
What's happening right now isbuilding the business
partnerships has been achallenge.
Some of it's internal.
We all know about the SAMinsurance and things of that
(21:37):
nature and liabilities and stuff.
So we're working through thoseand I think we've kind of come
to the end of the road to beable to say we're there.
And, given that, we're alsoworking on large groups, KPC for
instance.
I was talking to Celeste theother day and she's very close
to signing an MOU with KPC.
This could give us 100-plusstudents throughout the hospital
(22:00):
system and those are challengesthat we've been working with.
But the more we can do, themore we can get the kids into
the industry that they like tobe part of, the more we can get
the kids enthusiastic aboutsuccess and not worry about the
things that happen on aday-to-day basis at home or
(22:21):
anything like that, because theyknow they've got a pathway
that's going to get them tosomething that's going to be a
good job, a good opportunity, agood learning experience.
I think if we succeed in that,we're going to succeed in what
we're trying to do overall forHigh School Inc.
We've got other examples too.
I mean we've been strong inhealthcare.
Healthcare has been a greatprogram for our kids.
(22:43):
We've got kids going toengineering, to JPL and things
of that nature.
So we have goals and we'retrying to get more mentors in,
more internships.
And one thing that we're tryingto also do a little
experimentation on isexternships, and I think that's
one of the challenges that wehave with this whole program,
and that is that the teachershave to be aware of what's going
(23:08):
on in the industry right now.
If they don't participate, thenI think we've lost something
there with the student, becausethe student's going to come in
more enthusiastic and morecapable of saying this is what
they really need to do today,and the teacher's going to say,
'Well, where'd you learn thatfrom?
How did that come about?
' I think what we have to do iswe really have to build up that
(23:30):
portion of the program, becauseI think, once we get the buy-in
from the teachers and theadministrators that are needed
for these differentclassifications and different
pathways, I think we'll be moresuccessful, a lot more
successful.
Bianca Barquin (23:43):
I agree, I think you're on to something there.
I talk to people all the timeabout the future and just where
we're headed and the importanceof not just having kids learn
things in theory, right, butit's that practical application,
it's that experiential learning, it's that ability to enjoy it,
(24:05):
struggle with it, to do itpersonally that really teaches
them.
Externships-- I hadn't reallythought about that before.
That's truly the next step.
I definitely see that as well,and I can't wait to see what
happens when you bolster thatpiece, what it's going to look
like, because I think you'reexactly right.
Mark McLaughlin (24:25):
And I'll say this.
Some of the charters and someof the other organizations
throughout Southern California--o ne of the things that we've
seen is that the way they'vecome against that challenge and
been successful in taking careof it is they're retired out of
engineering, so they've got anolder set of teachers, but they
also have teachers that havebeen in the industry, understand
(24:47):
the industry, and know what'snecessary to be successful in
that industry.
I think that's the other thingthat we have to look at is
trying to build some of thoserelationships up and bring
teachers in that are going to bethe teachers that can help
guide ourselves through thesepathways.
Bianca Barquin (25:03):
These are great practices we're talking about.
I love it.
Voiceover (25:07):
Hey, there, Amplifiers Our insightful
conversation with High SchoolInc.
isn't over yet.
Join us next Friday for parttwo of this episode.
See you then.
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