Companies looking to hire employees representing the digital-natives of the Millennial and Gen Z generations share a common key pain point – their top candidates have the technical know-how but lack soft skills such as communication, teamwork, initiative and adaptability.
To address the need to prepare young people for high-tech careers but also stretch their professional skills development, the Peoria Unified School District launched the Medical, Engineering and Technology (MET) Professional Academy for high school juniors and seniors who are tech-savvy and want to learn using an entrepreneurial mindset.
Peoria MET is designed to motivate students by treating them as working professionals and preparing them for higher education. Students are immersed in a professional setting and gain experience collaborating with real employers and college partners. Peoria MET is education with an entrepreneurial mindset that is new to the Valley; the program fuels workforce development for Arizona’s startup and technology community. This type of education centers on students’ interests, breaking down the walls of traditional schools, and engaging business and community in the educational process.
Engineering students earn Glendale Community College credits as they learn to develop their ideas from concept to commercialization using engineering principles and entrepreneurial initiatives. They work alongside a diverse range of engineering and entrepreneurs through collaborations with Arizona Public Service, ASU Engineering Projects in Community Service and SEED SPOT and CO+HOOTS business incubators.
Technology students earn college credit while learning about technology solutions. They also discover cybersecurity protocols used to protect against cybercrime with partners such as American Express IT security and the Airforce Association’s Cyberpatriots. MET Medical works in partnership with Grand Canyon University; students can earn up to 24 free college credits as GCU STEM Scholars. They practice clinical medicine at GCU’s cadaver lab and receive simulation lab training in partnership with Midwestern University and the University of Arizona Phoenix Medical Campus.
This program is all about “getting real” by infusing the business world into education. It teaches high school students entrepreneurial thinking and raises the bar on learning by raising the expectations of the students, immersing them in the field of study and requiring them to complete authentic projects for real businesses from local startups to national corporations.
Students spend a portion of their school day at their home high school campus and then travel to Peoria MET for three hours of their school day, five days per week. They learn to collaborate with their peers from across the district, whom they connect with as colleagues in a professional setting, as well, collaborate with real professionals in partnering business sites.
Students have opportunities to showcase their professional maturity. A recent example involves the MET Engineering students. Building on the nationally-recognized Startup Week model and pivoting it for students, the CO+HOOTS Foundation in Phoenix brought together entrepreneurs and community leaders to offer students a glimpse into what it takes to move their ideas through the business development process and preparing them to pitch to a team of judges.
MET students collaborated with peers from other schools to learn teamwork, leadership, public speaking, research validation, business modeling, lean startup and much more.
MET Engineering students were represented in the event’s top awards including Best Overall Venture, Best Team Collaborators and Best Presenter. Their grand-prize business plan aimed at developing a product called, Precious Tech, to remind busy parents and pet owners to check for infants and pets before leaving their cars.
Peoria MET is an innovative approach to education because of its focus on career preparation and support of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills at the high school level. While Peoria MET was modeled after the Center for Advanced Professional Studies (CAPS) Program in Kansas City, KS, it is unique to Arizona because it was developed using the southwest region’s economic development forecasting and industry leaders’ input to identify MET’s three strands in medical, engineering and technology as high growth sectors in the region.
Through real-world experiences in the healthcare, engineering and IT, students are engaged in an educational model that is more interesting because it taps into their passions and it is more effective because it addresses a critical need to equip the next generation with professional skills essential to the workplace.
Silicon Desert Insider is a weekly blog published every Wednesday morning on azBIGmedia.com, about the local technology industry. If you have an idea for a piece for “Silicon Desert Insider,” please email AZ BIG Media Digital Editor Jesse A. Millard at jesse.millard@azbigmedia.com.
