Published February 7, 2024
Additional Hands-On Heroes articles:
CTE stakeholders collaborating on the
GO TEC® program understand only too
well the importance of building a pipeline
of exceptional talent. Inspired by Virginia’s
booming technology and engineering
industries, GO TEC’s leader, the
Institute for Advanced Learning and Research, partners with
schools, industry, and higher
education institutions
across the state to deliver
engaging STEM programs
in key strategic sectors.
Under the GO TEC
talent pathways, students
undertake programs in
sought-after areas such
as precision machining,
welding, IT coding and
networking, automation and
robotics, and others. The aim is
to “develop regional workforces across the
Commonwealth of Virginia in order to meet
changing industry demands,” says GO TEC
Technical and Training Manager Jacob Taylor.
TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES
Students’ first experience of GO TEC begins in
middle school, where they’re introduced early
to the occupations and base skill training in
Career Connections Labs. This continues in high
school through expanded career and technical
courses, industry certification programs and dual-enrollment
training opportunities with higher
education partners. If they choose, students can
then progress to advanced-level training at a hub
educational provider.
However, sourcing reliable equipment
for its award-winning talent development
model hasn’t always been easy – especially
when it came to redeveloping the program’s
Mechanical Engineering module. “We wanted
to create an activity that provided students
with the opportunity to tackle a problem
using multiple iterations of the engineering
design process,” explains Taylor. It was this
mission and their need for a suitable structure
testing device that led them to Pitsco.
“Through web searches, one of our
instructors [...] found the Pitsco Structure Tester and ordered one for testing.” Suffice
to say, it’s made a big difference in the
classroom. With the support of Pitsco’s tools
and educators’ tuition, students can now
analyze their failed truss designs, make the
necessary alterations, and then test to analyze
the results of their improvements. Following
its success, GO TEC is also planning to use
Pitsco’s testing instruments to develop other
similar activities to enrich student learning.
It’s these kinds of hands-on learning
experiences, together with GO TEC’s talent
pathway model, that inspire students to explore
in-demand careers that might be of interest.
For Taylor, the benefits to the wider community
and local economy are also crucial. “Our CTE
programs serve as economic development
collateral and as a showcase for prospective
industries’ future trained and skilled workforce.”
The talent pathway model also provides
“flexibility to meet the various regional needs,
while maintaining the same structure and
approach that has proved so successful.”
BIG AMBITIONS
Since launching in 2018
with three pilot programs, GO
TEC has gone from strength to
strength. It now has more than
25 Career Connections Labs across
Virginia and partners with more than
19 public school divisions, with confirmed
plans to grow to 44 schools in the current
five-region footprint in 2024. Yet the initiative,
which receives substantive funding from GO Virginia, along with matching funds from
partner institutions and philanthropy, doesn’t
intend to stop there.
“In the next five years, I look for GO TEC’s
coverage area to include at least two more
regions in the state and to build out existing
training pipelines in our current coverage
area to include a continuous pipeline of talent
from middle school to career,” says Taylor.
With nearly one million Virginia technology
and engineering job openings predicted by
2026, it’s clear GO TEC’s work will continue to
play a vital role in meeting the state’s evolving
talent needs.
Read all articles in our full publication, Hands-On Heroes: CTE Stories of Innovation and Impact.