Filling the Gap: STEM Career and Technical Education for 9th and 10th Grade

A wave of 20 seventh graders at Gretna Middle School floods through the classroom doors right as the clock strikes 12:45. They take their seats at the computers around the classroom’s edge.

But this isn’t a traditional classroom.

In the middle of the room is a virtual reality welding simulator. Connected to each computer is a small robot that sorts blocks based on color. Near the door are several 3D printers and a laser scanner.

The teacher, Christy Shelton, calls each student to sit at the large center table and prepare for the day’s activity – the culmination of a weeks-long unit about electrical engineering. A palpable, chaotic energy permeates the room as Shelton tries to quiet the class and explain the assignment: creating a small flashlight utilizing a mini-LED light and a homemade circuit.

“Electrical circuits should be fun,” Shelton says in between rapid-fire instructions to the class.

Each day, Shelton teaches approximately 100 students in this Great Opportunities in Technology and Engineering Careers (GO TEC^® ) course, leading students in hands-on activities like engineering a flashlight and exposing them to STEM-focused career opportunities.

“My favorite parts were the electrical engineering and mechanical engineering,” says Caleb Dowell, a seventh grader in the GO TEC Career Connections class. He says the lessons are fast-paced, but they are engaging and inspire him to think about his future work.

“I’m still thinking about it,” he says about his future career plans.

The GO TEC program provides middle school students with innovative, hands-on exposure to careers in strategic sectors – and helps them identify the steps needed to pursue those careers. After starting as a pilot program that began in Danville and Pittsylvania County Schools, 9,000+ students from 44 different middle schools will interact with the GO TEC curriculum annually starting in the 2024-2025 school year. The Institute for Advanced Learning and Research (IALR) serves as the fiscal agent and program lead for GO TEC, which both provides applied STEM education and connects students to careers. 

“There’s a lag time for education to respond to emerging technologies and industries. The GO TEC program focuses on shortening the lag time by introducing middle schoolers to these growing career opportunities and innovative technologies that are already taking root. This is an economic development initiative as much as it is a workforce development opportunity, and GO TEC helps set Virginia apart as a work-ready state with highly-skilled talent.” — Dr. Julie Brown, Vice President of Advanced Learning, IALR

The Experience

The primary goal of the GO TEC program is to let students experience in-demand and growing manufacturing and engineering career fields with applied learning.

Many of the industry pathways covered in the program, such as welding and automation, require critical skills needed across various industries. Other modules, like controlled environment agriculture, are focused on a specific industry and combine various skills from other modules.

The Level 1 GO TEC experience is typically broken into a nine-week course with at least one module each week. Some of the modules, such as controlled environment agriculture, actually extend across multiple weeks and other modules.

Current GO TEC Modules 

Electrical Engineering	Automation and Robotics	Additive Manufacturing (3D Printing)
Mechanical Engineering	Welding	IT Coding and Networking
Manufacturing Engineering	Precision Machining	Metrology

“They especially love the 3D printing, laser cutting and robotics, but you’ll get a few ‘aha’ moments with pretty much every module. I have the best job in education.” — Christy Shelton, GO TEC Career Connections Teacher, Gretna Middle School

Currently, 19 school divisions provide the GO TEC Career Connections curriculum to their middle school students. Some divisions offer GO TEC as an elective course that students can choose to take; others require that every student complete the curriculum at some point during middle school. Some divisions even have the capacity for students to have sequential experiences across multiple grade levels. It all depends on the size of the individual school and the division as a whole.

“We would love for 100% of students in our partnering divisions to have at least the level one exposure.” — Dr. Julie Brown, Vice President of Advanced Learning, IALR

Cumberland County Public Schools, one of the first school divisions to adopt the GO TEC program, requires every middle school student to participate in the GO TEC Career Connections program. A big part of the appeal for the school division was the “career exploration piece,” said Superintendent Dr. Chip Jones.

“They’re eager to go to class, they’re eager to learn, and they’re eager to learn about how they can build different things. They can see the application of what they’re learning in other classes. They’ll learn about angles in math class, and then in GO TEC they’ll see why it’s important to understand that concept.” — Dr. Chip Jones, Superintendent, Cumberland County Public Schools

The Purpose

Decades ago, it was common for middle schools to have industrial arts courses where students participated in applied learning with tools like drill presses and grinders. Those industrial arts programs became less common, and computers became the technology of choice as prices dropped and the Internet emerged. At the same time, society and parents guided more and more students towards four-year degrees.

“While having access to computers in the classroom is critical, we realize that we need to integrate other relevant and emerging technologies back into the classroom – less screen time and more hands-on, active learning.” — Jacob Taylor, Technical and Training Manager, GO TEC

While the most innovative element of the GO TEC program is the middle school labs, the multi-region effort is about more than just technology integration. Through partnerships with K12 school systems, higher education and industry, GO TEC is a collaborative talent pathway model that begins in the middle school Career Connections Labs and continues through high school, dual enrollment and postsecondary programs.

“Giving middle school students a hands-on, memorable introduction to skilled trades at such a formative time in their lives increases the likelihood that they will pursue those careers later.” – Ben Davenport, IALR Board of Trustees, State Board for GO Virginia

The GO TEC Career Connections program curriculum is both flexible and scalable. School divisions can choose which modules make sense for their particular area based on regional employers or economic development goals. Each module’s equipment and content is standardized, ensuring that students across the Commonwealth receive the best instruction.

IALR staff also operate a GO TEC bus, equipped with all the same equipment as the middle school labs. This mobile GO TEC Career Connections lab can be utilized for training or for student experiences. 

Industry trends and needs guide both the subject and content of the modules. As the program has scaled, the GO TEC team has the expertise and infrastructure to rapidly develop new, industry-driven modules – like the CEA module that went from an idea to the classroom in just eight months.

“My goal is not just that great career opportunities are available in Southern Virginia, but also that my constituents have knowledge of those opportunities and access to whatever training, skills and education are necessary to obtain them. Through engaging, active experiences, the GO TEC program brings that awareness and guides students on the path of how to reach those careers.” — Frank Ruff, Virginia State Senator for District 15, State Board for GO Virginia

It’s all about economic development 

“GO TEC will stimulate job growth within the Commonwealth by creating dependable talent pipelines in strategic sectors, fostered through public and private partnerships.”

That’s GO TEC’s mission statement, which underscores the fact that the program, at its core, is about economic development, job growth and preparing students for quality local employment opportunities.

But, the program is also an effective recruiting tool for new companies.

Linda Green is the Vice President of Economic Development for IALR and the Executive Director for the Southern Virginia Regional Alliance (SVRA). In a very general sense, Green’s job is to sell Southern Virginia to companies, convincing them that this is the best place for their company to establish a new operation or expand. Every company asks similar questions: “Where will the workers come from, and will they have the skills and background to meet our needs?”

To help answer that question, Green and other regional economic developers show the GO TEC program to every prospective company. Sometimes, they visit the GO TEC Training Lab at IALR; in many cases, however, they go to one of the middle schools, allowing prospects to speak with students and see the program in action.

“Businesses see the GO TEC classes and recognize the program’s value to inspire middle students as a source for their future workforce. The effectiveness of the GO TEC program – and how it funnels directly into a variety of other strong, proven workforce training programs – is a primary selling point for Southern Virginia.” — Linda Green, Vice President of Economic Development, IALR; Executive Director, SVRA

The recent investments in the Southern Virginia region by various companies can be attributed to the presence of a strong and well-trained workforce. For example, Tyson Foods recently opened a fully cooked food production facility worth $300 million in the area. The company’s news release highlighted that this plant is one of their most advanced and automated ones, showcasing their commitment to incorporating innovative technologies. Tyson’s leadership expressed confidence in the region primarily because of the seamless pipeline of workforce programs available. This pipeline begins with GO TEC and extends to other regional programs. The availability of skilled workers reassured Tyson that they could implement more automation in their facility, which would result in a slight reduction in job numbers but an increase in overall quality and efficiency.

“GO TEC has influenced companies that have chosen to invest in Southern Virginia in the past few years,” Green says. “As the program expands to other regions, I am confident that the addition of GO TEC to their workforce pipeline will help other regions of the Commonwealth recruit new employers.” 

And the program is already impacting other areas of the Commonwealth.

“Tomorrow’s successful companies depend on talent development done today, and GO TEC is an incredible way to inspire the next generation of engineers and innovators. Hampton Roads companies like Huntington Ingalls have played a vital role in this important program’s success and are helping Virginia maintain its position as a top state for talent.” — Douglas L. Smith, President & CEO, Hampton Roads Alliance

At Scale through Partnerships 

The GO TEC program is still young. The first cohort of students who experienced multiple years of the Career Connections Labs are just juniors in high school today. GO TEC staff are looking at preliminary data to determine what tracking measurements are needed, determining if students are entering Career and Technical Education (CTE) pathways or what else is beyond high school for them.

“We know how to support it, we know how to scale it, but in some ways, we are building it as we fly, learning how young people make future education and career decisions.” — Dr. Julie Brown, Vice President of Advanced Learning, IALR

In five years and during a pandemic, the program has effectively spread across the Commonwealth, serving students in 25 middle schools during the 2023-2024 school year. GO TEC 2025 is the plan to expand the Career Connection Labs and curriculum in 50 schools by 2025.

GO TEC 2025 

GO TEC will serve 44 middle schools across 36 Virginia localities

9000+ students will complete the GO TEC curriculum annually

The program leverages $20 million in total public and private investment

The program leverages $9 million in total funding from GO Virginia, along with another $11 million from localities, federal agencies and philanthropy. A $3.4 million grant from GO Virginia is driving GO TEC 2025. 

“Exposing middle schoolers to the diverse career options available to them in their community – as well as the jobs that will become available in the future – is a strategic approach that is worth the financial investment.” – Frank Ruff, Virginia State Senator for District 15, State Board for GO Virginia

To allow this growth, the GO TEC team is expanding to include program coordinators and training coordinators in four different regions of Virginia, as well as three positions (program director, technical and training manager, and program assistant) based out of IALR. Six of these positions will come on board with IALR in early 2024.

IALR, the GO TEC lead agency and coordinator in GO Virginia Region 3, is also working with three In-Region Coordinating Entities (IRCEs), each of whom are housing training labs and partnering with IALR to drive the program’s expansion in different regions. (IALR also has a training lab for teachers in GO Virginia Region 3.)

• United Way of Southwest Virginia, GO Virginia Region 1
• The Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing (CCAM), GO Virginia Region 4
• Old Dominion University Research Foundation (ODURF), GO Virginia Region 5

“A longtime partner of IALR, we have worked for years to bring new public-private partnerships to Southwest Virginia focused on developing the talent pipeline of the workforce of tomorrow. With the alignment of the growth sectors projected for our region and the GO TEC focus areas, we raised our hand to coordinate the GO TEC expansion to continue the work all toward our workforce of tomorrow. Undoubtedly, GO TEC will positively impact our region of Southwest Virginia.” – Mary Anne Holbrook, Vice President of Community Impact, United Way of Southwest Virginia

The strength of GO TEC is in the collaboration between industry, academia and K12, but the program is only possible because of widespread public and private sector support. For instance, localities and school divisions invest in the equipment needed to outfit the labs at each school and provide the space and classroom teachers.

“As the GO TEC curriculum reaches more students across different regions of Virginia, the program’s impact will only become more measurable and profound. I am confident that current and future investments from IALR, GO Virginia and other partners will continue to reshape and improve career exploration opportunities for Virginia students.” – Ben Davenport, IALR Board of Trustees, State Board for GO Virginia