98. Supporting Work Readiness and Learning With a Purpose

Does a high school diploma make kids ready for the workforce? The answer is no. Sure, they have knowledge of history and geography. But high schools don’t teach the relevant, saleable skills that graduates can take to the workforce.

Students either have to go to college or learn a skill.

What if our youth learned a skill in high school? A skill that got them ready for work and that they actually wanted to learn about? That’s the idea behind West-MEC, a career and technical education district in Arizona. This week on the podcast, I’m thrilled to bring you West-MEC’s superintendent, Gregory Donovan. 

Greg’s passion for allowing kids to fit into their own boxes, instead of fitting everyone into the same box, really shines through. He supports relevance in education and making sure kids (and the public) know that there are so many different pathways one can take in any given industry.

Before you encourage your students to apply for college, listen in. College alone is not enough. Nor does everyone need to attend college, and not everyone wants to. Let’s make that okay, because it is! 

About Greg Donovan:

Gregory J. Donovan serves as the Superintendent of Western Maricopa Education Center (West-MEC) public school district #402, the Career and Technical Education District (CTED) currently serving twelve school districts primarily in Western Maricopa County. Donovan has served as Superintendent for fifteen years, the entire history of the CTED. Ten years prior to that position, he was with Northern Arizona University’s Institute for Future Workforce Development developing and implementing statewide Career and Technical Education (CTE) curriculum and facilitating teacher development. He also worked at the Arizona Department of Education in the CTE division and was a teacher and program director in local school districts. Overall, Donovan has thirty-eight years of educational experience, including eight years of service on the Peoria Unified School District Governing Board.

Jump in the Conversation: [2:57] - What is West-MEC? [4:03] - School transformation and evolution for Greg [6:00] - The biggest needs for students in the US right now [7:10] - Students are “mediocre” because they don’t see the point and purpose [8:45] - How West-MEC is meeting kids with the right student, right program [9:36] - Do your kids know what you do for a living? [12:38] - We’re putting more stuff in the same sized sack [14:15] - We need to start talking about career pathways, passion, from the youngest ages [16:44] - We need to bring more relevance to education system [18:18] - What traditional educators can do right now to help make classes more relevant [21:43] - What they’re not telling you about scholarship distributions [26:53] - The college dropout rate is huge [27:08] - 20% of jobs in America require a bachelor’s degree [29:48] - What a high school diploma qualifies you to do (nothing) [36:31] - Recent cultural shifts in education [37:04] - We don’t have to fit in the same box [37:40] - Turbo Time [48:09] - Maureen’s Takeaways

Links & Resources

Career Trees Janet Napolitano Email Maureen Maureen’s TEDx: Changing My Mind to Change Our Schools The Education Evolution Facebook: Follow Education Evolution Twitter: Follow Education Evolution LinkedIn: Follow Education Evolution EdActive Collective Maureen’s book: Creating Micro-Schools for Colorful Mismatched Kids Micro-school feature on Good Morning America The Micro-School Coalition Facebook: The Micro-School Coalition LEADPrep