Connect Canyons
Learning is about making connections, and we invite you to learn and connect with us. Connect Canyons is a show about what we teach in Canyons District, how we teach, and why. We get up close and personal with some of the people who make our schools great: students, teachers, principals, parents, and more. We meet national experts, too. And we spotlight the “connection makers” — personalities, programs and prospects — we find compelling and inspiring.
Connect Canyons
Ep 125: The American Classroom Is Stuck in the Past — and Our Workforce Is Paying the Price
Inside the Canyons Innovation Center, a solution to America’s broken school-to-work pipeline
Walk into a traditional classroom almost anywhere in America and you will see a familiar scene: desks in rows and students sitting face-forward, learning largely the way their grandparents did. Outside those classroom walls, however, the world those students are preparing to enter has fundamentally changed.
America is re-onshoring industries and rediscovering the dignity of what it means to make things again. Artificial intelligence and automation are reshaping how work gets done. At the same time, the industries defining the next century of American competitiveness — advanced manufacturing, aerospace, defense, robotics, energy, cybersecurity, and engineering — face a talent pipeline crisis.
The country is at a reckoning point, one that requires public education to evolve to start preparing students as early as high school for immediate entry into these high-wage, high-demand careers, said Canyons District Superintendent Dr. Rick Robins. “Academic achievement is always going to be at the heart of what we do. But we really do need to lean into this philosophy of workforce readiness.”
That is the premise behind the Canyons Innovation Center, a high-tech, profession-based learning center coming in August 2027 to the former regional headquarters of eBay in Draper. The facility is not a school in the traditional sense. It is an R&D-inspired environment where students work with professionals to solve real-world business problems while earning college credit and industry certifications, and developing the work habits and skills that employers say they so desperately need.
Welcome to Connect Canyons, a podcast sponsored by Canyon School District. This is a show about what we teach, how we teach, and why we get up close and personal with some of the people who make our schools great. Students, teachers, principals, parents, and more. We meet national experts too. Learning is about making connections. So connect with us.
SPEAKER_01:Welcome to Connect Canyons. Today we have some special guests in the studio, and we're going to talk about an exciting initiative to close the distance between education, the high school classroom in particular, and the workplace. I'm your host, Kirsten Stewart, and I have the privilege of introducing our listeners to three leaders who are helping us confront one of the biggest challenges in the United States right now, and that is the shortage of skilled workers. Most specifically, the shortage in aerospace, defense, advanced manufacturing, AI, energy, robotics, and engineering. These are industries that are going to define or help define the next century of American competitiveness. They are also industries facing a talent pipeline crisis. Unless we think how and when we prepare the next generation, our nation risks falling behind. Utah, with our rapidly expanding aerospace and defense sector, is uniquely positioned to lead, but seizing that opportunity will require building talent early, much earlier than we do so now. High schools cannot be the final stop before training. They must become true on-ramps to the innovation economy. So this is our purpose with the Canyons Innovation Center, a high-tech learning hub opening soon in the former regional headquarters of eBay in Draper. Now, the Innovation Center is not a traditional school. It's kind of an RD-inspi environment, you know, where students learn directly from industry professionals, earn college credit, earn industry certifications. They leave with professional portfolios. And they're really, you know, developing those durable skills that they need to succeed in the workplace. Um, those skills that our employers so desperately need. And the innovation center is really more than a building as well. It's kind of a strategic response, right, to this need that we have uh for economic growth and uh the workforce shortage that we face. So I'm joined today by three amazing leaders, uh, hoping to bring this vision to life. We have uh the superintendent of Canyon School District, Dr. Rick Robbins. Welcome. Uh Reed Newy, the director of the Innovation Center, and Aaron Starks, CEO and president of 47G, an organization working to make Utah a national hub for aerospace and defense. Welcome, you three.
SPEAKER_06:Thank you. Good to have you here. Glad to be here.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, thanks for being here. Let's maybe start with you, Dr. Robbins. You know, you know, the tenants of Canyons District, right? One of the tenants is innovation, and you came on board in 2020, spring of 2020, with the charge of kind of keeping that forefront for us as a district. And when you kind of look at where our country is right now, we're kind of re-on onshoring a lot of industries. We've got AI reshaping the workforce. What role do you see schools like the Canyons Innovation Center having?
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, thank you for that, uh, Kirsten. First, just want to welcome Aaron uh to our podcast as well as Reed. Uh it's such an honor for me to be with these uh gentlemen and and be able to learn from both of them. Um I I think they're two of the the best in the business uh when it comes to innovation. I I think for me, um this is sort of a reckoning in our country. And I think when you look at pictures, you know, of traditional classrooms around 1900 and you look at classrooms today, there's not a lot of difference, uh, even now. And so I think with all the reasons that you just laid out, uh, there's a very compelling argument that school should not look like school in that traditional sense. And so, you know, I I think for us, um, academic achievement is always gonna be, you know, at the heart of what we do. But we really do need to reimagine and repurpose uh our why. And I think you mentioned this, but just leaning really leaning into this philosophy of workforce readiness and and building the skills that are necessary that students are gonna need uh to compete in the workplace. And as we've talked to industry leaders like Aaron, I I just I'm so excited for this golden opportunity in time that we're able to combine forces uh in a way that I don't know that it's you know been done like this. There's been a lot of attempts at trying to to marry these these philosophies of industry and education, but it seems like you know, in education we've kind of lagged behind a little bit. And so I'm I'm just thrilled that our industry partners and leaders like Aaron and Reed are are coming together to kind of see that vision, you know, come to pass. And and for Canyons to be out in front of that, um, you know, good for us, good for our students. And I I hope it ends up, you know, being that that lighthouse that not only helps guide our district, but but does reimagine school for our state and our country.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, well, it's a perfect start of the conversation. All right, Aaron, you are a globally experienced workforce strategist, right? You've had a lot of experience overseas, and now you're helping um, you know, expansion efforts here in Utah, kind of um consulting on with companies, right, on global competitiveness. You're the CEO of 47G. Um, from an industry perspective, what signals are you seeing that tell us that we're sort of at this inflection point, not just economically, but technologically and culturally? In other words, why is this the right time for industry and education to be partnering?
SPEAKER_02:You know, it's interesting. Um, we're having a moment now that we can't actually read about. We can't go back and look at history to learn about how to handle the present or even how to prepare for the future, which makes uh what we're doing really challenging, really um important, and really unique. Um, you know, I agree with everything uh our great superintendent just said. Um our education system is very antiquated. And in a former life, I I used to oversee global education for Frank and Cubby. So I had about a 10-year period of my career where I just traveled the world. I'd walk through private schools, public schools, um, in about 23 countries. I'd meet with faculty, staff, you know, administrators, owners. And they're all grappling with the same things we are. What's really interesting is um just macroeconomically speaking, we have a workforce, children that are probably more technologically inclined, certainly more technologically inclined than any generation that's ever walked the earth.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:With technology available at their fingertips that is revolutionizing the way that industries work and the way that we live as human beings. However, we also have a workforce that struggles with interpersonal skills. And I know that this is a, you know, this is a segment about technology and national security and fortifying the future for the United States. And I love all of that. But AI will never replace a human's ability to lead people, to communicate effectively, to set goals, to manage an organization. Um there, I mean, the data, the statistics are overwhelming. Thousands of employers are struggling to hire talent that can lead teams. And so, as focused as we need to be on technology, as much as that will help us, protect us, we still need to produce great human beings that can lead people. Period. And so I love the dual approach that Canyon School District is taking to developing well-rounded leaders who can work within technology. So, with that as maybe a preface for the question itself, we're living in a day and age where a lot of the workforce is being replaced and modernized by artificial intelligence and by automated controls and systems. Um, if you think back, and I'd not to be long-winded, but when we came out of World War II, we emerged as a global super economy, right? We could bend still and manufacture aircraft and heavy artillery and infrastructure faster and better and with higher quality than any nation around the world. It was a differentiating factor. It created a lot of wealth here in the United States. As we became more adept in those areas, we started to outsource things that we thought were less important: commodities, manufacturing. Um, and we kind of went into a little bit of a lull from about 1960 to I would say 2000, where we outsourced um all of these capabilities that we deemed less important. And we focused on enterprise software, we focused on software as a service, all of which are very important. But now that we have other um countries that don't have our best interests in mind around the world, we're starting to realize that we have kind of left the the wide the door wide open and given them the keys to our house. So now we're trying to reshore onshore, we're trying to develop capabilities in-house. That's a really painful process to go through. And so you're seeing executive orders come out from the White House, you're seeing um congressional mandates to procure technology to help the war fighter. Um, you're starting to see a new emerging class of technology called frontier technology. It's the culmination of hardware, right? We've got to manufacture robotics, we've still got to bend steel, we've still got to make things, but we've also got to bring that together with software to operate it as the user interface. And the third component in all of this with the emergence of technology is firmware. We've got to protect the software systems. We've got to make sure that no one can get into those. So if I'm a student right now watching this, I'm going to be thinking, well, what area do I want to be in? Do I want to be on the hardware production side, which is a really cool side? And that will continue to revolutionize and be automated and change. Do I want to be on the firmware side where it's cybersecurity, uh, protecting our data? Or do I want to be on the software development side? And right now the software development side is really tough because it's being completely disrupted by um artificial intelligence. Um, amazingly, I can go and have ChatGPT write an entire movie for me. I can ask it to write a code and give it the parameters, and it will do it just like that. So if you're interested in coding your software development, you have to be aware of that, knowing that um systems are replacing personnel. So it's a really interesting moment. It's exciting. There's going to be a lot of opportunities. Uh, I think uh they say about 60% of third graders now in public schools around the uh the United States are going to apply for a job in the next 15 years that's not even created yet.
SPEAKER_05:Wow.
SPEAKER_02:And so, you know, it's kind of buckle up, right?
SPEAKER_01:So I mean, and that's both like I'm a parent, right? I come at this from a parent's perspective, like frightening a little bit, but also exciting, as you mentioned. And Reed, I'm just wondering, too, just you know, playing off what Aaron shared, the innovation center, right? As it sits sort of in this repurposed global tech head headquarters, right? We're reshaping, right? A former tech giant. And and what what about that location or what about this center, even not just from a facility standpoint, but from how we're gonna build it out and and shape it, um, is gonna prepare students for you know the workplaces that they're gonna lead, workplaces that don't even exist yet.
SPEAKER_03:Well, well, thank you, Kirsten. And and it's such a pleasure to be here with uh Rick and Aaron. Uh the superintendent has had uh uh uh really a corner on the market of visionary education for the past 20 years, and the district is fortunate to have him leading it. And Aaron is uh, you know, uh just such a uh uh bright, uh pertinent and timely mind to have uh leading the aerospace and and defense sector, uh bringing them together, and just has such an abundance mentality that is really conducive to what we're trying to do at the Innovation Center and for our kids. Um to your question, you know, the location of it is is crucial in terms of it's really at a pivotal point uh physically uh in the state and in kind of the the industrial learning uh uh futuristic setting for our state. Uh there's such great industry that surrounds uh the center. There's great learning. You look where it's positioned between Salt Lake Community, University of Utah, UVU, uh BYU, uh you know, you know, and uh certainly can access Weaver State, Utah State. We we currently access all of those, all of those higher learning institutions will move with us to the center and have a great influence there. To what uh uh Aaron's talking about, you know, we want to give our students a profession-based learning experience. Um you've seen uh many of the larger companies, uh the national companies, have really moved from a knowledge-based hiring platform to a skills-based hiring platform. And uh what we want to do at the center is right in line with what Aaron and the superintendent have both touched on, and that is we've got to create an environment that gives our students the ability to uh use their intuitive nature in terms of being technologically advanced, and and couple with that an opportunity to develop the durable skills and the durable dispositions that Aaron's talking about, uh leadership, creativity, problem solving, working as a team, and and so that's been our main uh uh focus and and is is really the kind of the center point of what we're trying to uh develop at the center, and that's going to be something that doesn't look like school has looked like in the past. You know, I I I like to uh uh kind of this the statement of you know, we spend the first five years encouraging kids to talk and move around, and then the next 12 to shut up and sit down. We've got to uh uh really capitalize on that intuitive nature and develop that with the skills that industry needs to support it, uh to support that technological learning that we can give them opportunity through a profession-based model and with partnership uh with companies like 40 or with groups like 47G. They bring so many uh great companies together. And so it's just just a phenomenal opportunity for us and really a chance to put uh Canyon's District and and the Innovation Center at the center of what uh forward-thinking education looks like.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, I just to add on to that, uh Reed, I I've heard you say often, you know, describing what that might look like at the center as collision points when you have students and educators and industry leaders, you know, all bumping into each other and working together uh in in these points of interaction throughout the day. And I just can only imagine how different that might be for some of our students and how exciting that is, that they really, they really get to feel that sense of professional accountability and they're mentored, kind of going back to Aaron's point that that you know, those are the interactions that we remember that really define us and kind of you know refine us. And so I I think um it's exciting to see that unfold and maybe in a different way than what we've ever seen before.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And and what I hear you saying too, Reed, is profession-based learning, right? These students are gonna be working on actual projects. You know, a company's gonna come in and they're gonna have a, you know, maybe a back burner project that they need some help on. They'll present it to the students. The students are work on it. And through that experience, they're gonna learn more about, you know, they're gonna learn about writing and communication, but they're also gonna be learning critical thinking, collaboration, working with teammates, you know, like compensating for each other's failings and weaknesses and um learning to lead out on something. So yeah, those are vital skills that, like to both of your points, AI can't replace. Right, right.
SPEAKER_03:Well, well, and it's really twofold, Kirsten. If I can add to that, in that, you know, we're we're going to develop uh a partnership that's, you know, uh, like I said, Aaron has been just a phenomenal voice already for an abundance mindset and someone that's willing to actually invest in in what they're talking about and invest in our kids. Uh they didn't have to host uh, you know, 150 of our kids at their uh premier uh conference. That conference was intended for business leaders, for uh uh players in the aerospace and defense industries, and they hosted us and created a whole uh uh track for our students, which was outstanding. But besides that, we uh are are taking uh some of our programs and uh uh infusing them with technology, with uh industry-based uh equipment and tools so that we can generate our own industry-based experience for students right there at the center. For instance, with our media arts and our media creation programs, our CSD TV is going to play such a pivotal role there, and we anticipate uh being able to service multiple industries uh while we develop our students in video and arts productions, media uh uh uh production and and use of media to accelerate business.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I um I'm curious, actually, in hearing you all three talk because it, you know, like you said, industry partners don't have to necessarily partner with education, right? It's a sort of like an extra thing to be asking them to do. Um when you first toured the Innovation Center, what potential did you see, or you know, what what got you interested in what's reshaping education?
SPEAKER_02:Can I push back on something you just said? Sure. I may have a a bit of a nuanced view on this. You just said, you know, industry partners don't have to go and do that. I actually think they do. Um workforce development has become way overly complex in my mind. And I don't think it's the role of the government to create programs to help with workforce. I think it's industry's role. When I sit down with an industry leader, a CEO, and they say, Well, we just we just simply don't have enough students, entry-level workers, composite engineers, whatever it is. My question to them is always, Well, how many students have you taken out to lunch this past quarter? They kind of look at me and they go, Well, look, I went to Duke University. I was really, really lucky they let a boy from northern Utah into Duke. I always knew when McKinsey, Bain, BCG, or Fortune 500 company was on campus because they emailed me and they wanted to go out to lunch with me. Wow. Now the beauty in that process is that I sat down, learned from them about their company. They looked me in the eye. I I felt like they had an interest in me. And when I left that lunch, I was connected on LinkedIn to an executive. Now, the probability of me going to work for a company who's done that for me astronomically higher. Yeah. And so we're kind of in this state where companies are saying, Well, they're just not producing enough. Well, go out and compete. Yeah. Go, you know, go sit down with uh with with Reed or the superintendent. Tell them about your needs. That's your job. Hiring employees is your job, right? So I think our role here at 47G is really to bring industry in closer proximity to educators and students. Hence the reason that we we bring students to our um to our conference, right? It's the future of the state, it's the future of the workforce. And so um, look, if you want to grow any industry, the input is is always uh human capital. So why not start earlier in the in the process? And so 47G is really trying to make this industry more competitive by doing that, forging relationships with with your group, superintendent. And and by the way, kudos to you for being an early mover, having big vision, and for creating something unique and different. And our goal is to help you staff it with CEOs and executives from companies who can come spend time with students because students need to hear from their mouth.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, I I couldn't agree more. I I really appreciate the the kind words. I just going back to the conference, you know, our our students are they're so hungry for that experience and and they're they're seeking relevance and rigor and and a place, right? And it doesn't take away from their experience every day at their at their high schools, but but they really they want to see the future and want to see where do they fit in it, right? And how are they going to contribute? And I and I just, you know, that day uh listening to our students and and just seeing how engaged and excited they were to be around all these executives. Yeah, I mean, that's that's like an experience, as you said, they'll never forget. And and it will serve them, our state, our country so much better and serve us well. So, so thank you for that opportunity.
SPEAKER_02:Well, and I'll and I'll just say this too you have an innovation center being built. You're gonna have great technology, there's gonna be great curriculum offered, there's gonna be projects to enhance learning, all of that's important. But you know as well as I do that teenagers hardly listen to their parents, and sometimes listening to teachers is even harder. Okay. And so I think as we all hearken back to our own experience as students, if a teacher was telling us to do it, we felt like it might not be necessary. It's just to pass the class or to get a grade, right? I just need to get this done. But if an industry leader or a company prominent in the valley came and said, Hey, you over the next six weeks, you're gonna be participating in a project to enhance skills. And by the way, these are the skills I need to hire. They listen, they listen a bit differently. Yeah, right. Because they they recognize that it's relevant, relevant education. By the way, not a lot of education is relevant. Yeah. And that's what you started with, superintendent. It's we want to create well-rounded individuals, but I don't know that we're doing that real well in the modern society that we live in.
SPEAKER_01:I'm curious what you hear from your industry partners on that front. Like as they've engaged with students at, you know, in venues like this conference, do they find it to be equally gratifying experiences like the students and the teachers? I mean, do you find that it's valuable for them, value added?
SPEAKER_02:I think they love it. Um, I think all of them were depleted of candy and swag after the students came through. So that was a hard thing. So they were like, next year we're gonna, we're gonna triple our amount. Um, but they all they all see the wisdom in it, right? And industry's learning too how to do things differently. And I I mean, we're just look, Utah, number one economy in the nation, um, most diverse economy. We have every industry in the world right in our backyard. There's so many things going well for us. But I feel like um I feel like we have over rotated a little bit on workforce development. Industry's got to step up, period.
SPEAKER_04:So well, uh one thing I noticed at the conference was at the very end we did a group photo, and more and more executives kept coming up. Hey, can I get a phone can I get in this photo? They all wanted a picture for their social media, you know. So I think the kids, all the students were kind of eating that up. It was uh it was fun.
SPEAKER_02:Well, thanks for sharing that.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Talking about how maybe we've gone, we've we've pivoted too far in a direction when it comes to workforce preparedness as a country. And you're also talking about, you know, preparing students for the careers we don't know about yet. So looking at the Innovation Center and kind of um the kinds of programs that we could have there or the kinds of industries that we should be partnering with, what should rise to the top of our priority list, would you say?
SPEAKER_02:Um, a couple of ideas, priorities in no particular order. One, I think we need to have a speaker series. I think that um once a month we should have an industry executive come in and talk about what their company does, show them the pitch video, um, tell them about some of the exciting initiatives coming down, you know, the pipeline. Um, students don't know what they don't know. That's easy. By the way, that auditorium you guys have, awesome. Awesome. Right? It's a big stage, it's an inspiring atmosphere. Let them be inspired by industry executives who are solving really cool problems every day. So I would say having a speaker series is going to be great. Um, two, I I think that in between school years, I think that uh we need to bring companies like Boeing in and others where these students can go and intern, even if even if it's for a week. Let them go get experience in a classroom or or outside the classroom rather, in a company for a week. Um give them some confidence. One of the biggest challenges that we're facing in in education right now is self-efficacy, the belief that we can do hard things. Students are not, students are not having to accomplish hard things at young ages. Social media and the and the mental health crisis associated with that represent the hardest things. But let them go out, experience a project, go and get uncomfortable meeting people, and then socializing in a workplace all before they graduate high school. Confidence is through the roof at that point, right? It's just a continuation of an experience they've already had. So um, yeah, I would say speaking, um, speaking engagements, um, and then company tours and uh, you know, externships or internships, however we want to position those. But, you know, we want to be helpful with all of that. Um, Reed and I had lunch recently, and I told them, hey, like let us be a partner bringing these opportunities to you. We're at our best when we're able to do that. And uh, and so, you know, superintendent, under your leadership, I think, you know, great opportunities are ahead of us. Yeah, that that's super exciting.
SPEAKER_04:I I I think, you know, just the, as you mentioned, thinking about self-efficacy and and capacity, right, to just building those networks and those connections. And and I think back to my own career and and how often, you know, if if you just take a little bit of opportunity to put yourself out there, the benefits are endless. You you you you meet people and you build those relationships and and and it's lasting, right? To this day through my career. I still have those connections and those contacts. So it is so important for our young people to to really develop those skills. Yeah, absolutely. Yep.
SPEAKER_01:I'm curious actually, for this is a question for all three of you, but um, you know, what does it mean to to cultivate that level of talent starting in high school? I mean, what would you say to people who say, uh, they're too young, they're not ready developmentally for certain things? What would you say to that?
SPEAKER_03:Well, I'll start, Kirsten. Uh I've never seen that be the case. Uh it went you know, and and you go back to exactly what Aaron just said, uh uh give kids, put make kids in maybe maybe an uncomfortable spot and and teach them how to rise to the occasion. I've I've just never seen a student shrink from that opportunity when you surround them with uh the ability, the support, and and great tools.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I have to agree.
SPEAKER_02:Um can I can I just say m maybe I'm having a little bit of uh an epiphany here? But I I think we're out of place as a society where we have more confidence in technology than we do people, and that's a really sad thing. Yeah. And I I mean, you don't have to look back very far, um, a hundred years maybe, where where kids were not going to school at all, they were providing for their families. Like they haven't lost that ability, they haven't lost the potential, they've lost that opportunity, right? But still people can do hard things. That's the self-efficacy. Like let them swim, right? They, you know, if they struggle for a few minutes, they'll figure it out. They have to. And so, but we've become so comfortable taking opportunities and responsibilities and and uh you know other things away from them and replacing them with technology that now they're they're not they're forgetting how to network, right? The innate ability to communicate with someone else. I just think we have to get back to the fundamentals and not be afraid of them. So was that harsh? Is that a harsh thing to say?
SPEAKER_04:I I I think the points are well taken. And um, I'd take it even a step further. I mean, we we've basically in a lot of ways remove failure. Uh, you know, and uh you think back for all of us that are uh older, failure w was a big part of growing up, you know, and and there there wasn't a reliance on technology. There was a reliance on each other. And when you did fail, you know, really picking yourself back up and and being resilient. And and I think that this has added to that, you know, to that dilemma that we're in. So I I think there's just so many opportunities to help kind of rebuild and reimagine what that looks like. Yeah. So yeah, well said.
SPEAKER_01:Um kind of going back to what we started with a little bit in terms of the the the workplace and those needs there. Are there certain industries that um you know you're pushing for, promoting for Utah to embrace? I mean, we already have a lot of strength in aerospace and defense, right?
SPEAKER_02:I mean, is that yeah, it's it's amazing. Um aerospace, defense space, those three technology categories represent 20% of the state's GDP on an ideal basis. And what's really amazing about that is that these are higher paying, more sustainable wages. And so um look, if you want a job, go to another industry. If you want a career, come to ours. That's kind of the way I frame it. Um you will work on the most inspiring technology that mankind has ever known. I don't think mankind has created anything more inspiring than an airplane, a rocket. It it literally transcends our level of thinking. Um, we had an electric air taxi come to the state about a year ago. We flew it to six different locations. Ahead of the 2034 Olympics, we're working on Project Alta, which is a statewide initiative to create a hybrid electric transportation system for Olympic athletes, public, and to deliver parcels, packages in partnership with UPS and other carriers. So we're having a moment, things are really accelerating. We put that aircraft in front of uh, you know, six different audiences across the state. And like they like you would stare at a campfire, they just they just sit and they stare at this airplane.
SPEAKER_01:Well, it seems unbelievable, right?
SPEAKER_02:It does, yeah. It it does, and yet it's it's happening, and it it's going to continue happening. And um, so we need students who are just inspired by the industry. And look, you'll get paid well. Um, here's what's amazing uh 500,000 jobs are tied to this industry for every job created in aerospace and defense in the state, it creates another 1.8 in the economy.
SPEAKER_05:Wow. That's that's amazing.
SPEAKER_02:It is. It's it's really, really awesome. And so um and the breadth and depth uh of of the industry itself is interesting. I used a term earlier called dual use technology. That's become a thing in the past six, eight years. But essentially, these are commercial companies that are developing products or services that can also be used for defense purposes, hence the dual nature.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And dual use technology is is rapidly emerging in Utah. Um, radars, sensors, satellites, drones, these are all dual-use technologies, aircraft. So um, you know, the invitation is as strong as it's ever been. Uh, with over 600 companies competing in this space, Delta's fastest growing hub anywhere in the US, right here in Utah, et cetera, et cetera, like this is the place you want to be. Wow.
SPEAKER_01:Well, and that just like reminds me of that what the center really all is all about is right reminding students of what it's possible, right? Speaking of the aerospace and defense fields, uh the way I hear you talking about it is it's much as uh of an economic imperative imperative as it is a safety or or right imperative. Like stick to that a little bit.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, it um, you know, we have our national security apparatus as a country, and that's largely dependent on a few things. One, our ability to make necessary technologies, manufacture the products that our war fighters need, right? Um, but the face of national security is changing quite a bit. President Trump announced something. I think it's the the um the largest defense initiative we've ever had in the United States. It's called Golden Dome. Do you guys remember this at all? Essentially, in Israel, they have the Iron Dome. Golden Dome will be a virtual apparatus that will be able to detect and protect airspace above the contiguous United States. So nothing could ever penetrate our airspace. Think about how massive that is, right? The land mass in the United States is huge. Protecting that by a virtual integrated radar system that can conduct intelligence, surveillance reconnaissance, be able to detect things coming in from outer space, it it it it represents a huge economic opportunity. Now, to make that happen, you've got companies at all levels that are gonna have to participate in manufacturing hardware, uh in the satellite industry, etc. Um, all of that's happening, so which is why over a trillion dollars of uh venture capital will be put into this space over the next 10 years. Not a B, a T. Trillion.
SPEAKER_05:Wow.
SPEAKER_02:A trillion dollars. It's it's changing. Everything is changing. So we uh we just have this great excitement, and I hope you guys feel it for me, that this is not going away for 10 years. And so if you're a student, get in now. Go build with a company that's gonna do great things, right? You'll protect yourself economically um by doing that, but also you'll be able to participate in solving some of mankind's greatest challenges, you know. So, and I could go on and on and all. I'll I'll stop myself. I think it's great. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01:It's inspirational. And and um, and at the same time, we're sort of working on preparing students for the needs of today, right? We've got huge needs in the healthcare industry. Yeah, we have huge needs in construction, um, manufacturing. I mean, I think I saw this article in the Wall Street Journal that said something like, Here's here's what we're calling construction workers now, the new millionaires. Like there's venture capital money going into those companies. And so talk a little bit about some of those programs too, Reed. I know that we're working on um we've got a whole uh building that we're we're right, that we're creating out there at the Innovation Center that will house some of those programs.
SPEAKER_03:Right. Our our professional trades, our our welding, our uh home manufacturing, home construction, our uh cosmetology, and our heavy diesel mechanics, all of those are crucial to you know, all of our cybersecur, just like our cybersecurity, our health care, uh all of our other industries we're preparing for. You know, and and I think it's it's it's crucial that one of the things that that is important with everything about the conversations we're having today is you know, we can't compartmentalize uh either the durable skills and and developing people. Uh we can't do that in a compartment. We can't develop the industry compartment in terms of technology and technology use. We've got to bring all of that together, and that's what we intend to do at the center. Uh we want to take uh uh and continue to have great a great welding program, but we also want to develop an entrepreneurial spirit in every one of our welders so that they can transition and be flexible and moldable to any industry that comes along in terms of applying their welding skill. Same with heavy diesel, same with cosmetology, this the same with our cybersecurity uh uh students. So, you know, and and we really want to one of the advantages of having a center like this is we're going to be able to take an idea that's developed in the business and entrepreneurial group and go get uh uh a prototype made by by a welder and take it over to our manufacturing shop and and add some components there uh with another team and then develop a business plan and then uh put some media to it and market it uh uh from every aspect that that all products are marketed today. So, you know, uh the there it's just unlimited opportunity. But uh to to the specific question, Kirsten, yes, our our trades, you know, we've got uh great programs right now. We're going to make them even better uh and and have more industry influence and participation with those.
SPEAKER_01:And I know a lot of those programs have waiting lists. We're gonna better be able to meet that demand. Um and too, I'm thinking a little bit about where this innovation sits in the ecosystem of education, right? You've got all of these schools that are building foundational knowledge, right? Math, writing, reading, um, science. And then from there, you've got the innovation center kind of being like this sort of pinnacle experience where a lot of like the skills and knowledge that students have built through the years are going to like put that into practice and start doing it a little earlier than maybe we have asked them to do so in the past. And then another vision, if I'm I've heard you talk about this, superintendent, um, is to have some of the project-based learning that is there kind of filter back down through the system so that we're encouraging students at a really young age to be creative and work with on hands-on projects and think of some of these possibilities that are in their future in 10, 8, 7 years.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, yeah. If you you know, if you really study and research, excuse me, research, you know, educational uh models and instructional design, you know, one of the most successful models is backward mapping, right? And and really looking at the future. Future first, and then from there backward mapping all the skills and everything that you need to get to that point. And so it's kind of that, you know, having that end in mind as you build it out. The exciting thing for me is that you know, not there's not very many opportunities where you get to actually design that anchor point or design that lighthouse. Most of the time in most systems, um, you know, that's already in place. And so it's very, very difficult to move that needle in in education that, as we mentioned, has been, you know, so slow to move. But in this situation, we have the opportunity to do just that. And so, you know, I I think our vision for it is as this unrolls, many of the dispositions, the practices, the norms of what happens in the innovation center will, you know, backward map and unfold in our high schools and in our middle schools and all the way down to our elementaries, uh, you know, where we see these opportunities for kids to start as early as kindergarten.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. So And we heard that from some of our industry advisory partners, right, Reed? That they were they were encouraging us to get kids even at the youngest of ages to sort of start.
SPEAKER_03:Well, yeah. And and one of the things uh that you know is unique about the center is we're going to have a partnership with the STEM Action Center uh on the campus. So that's going to be a real nice opportunity for us. You know, you think of a 47G's presence being able to uh start uh uh at such a young age of having that association and an opportunity to be exposed to uh industry at that kind of level uh through through work with the STEM Action Center.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, well we're gonna, I know we've been here for a while. I really appreciate you all um taking some time today. I want to just maybe um conclude with a couple of questions. And one is, you know, what kind of impact could this kind of education have nationwide if we get it right? Do we think? Feel free to anyone can chime in.
SPEAKER_04:I mean, for me, it's a game changer. I I I think it really it sets the stage um to reimagine, you know, what education, especially public education, can be. And I I see it as as really lifting and floating all boats, right? I I think we've already heard from lots of other districts around the country that have wanted to come and visit uh to really get their minds around this idea that, hey, this is something different. This isn't we're just in that space of time where we have this amazing opportunity to to reshape what education looks, you know, looks like and what it does for our students and what opportunities that it can provide. So I I think um you know it'll serve as a lighthouse to the rest of the country. And and there are models out there. We visited, you know, different innovation centers from all the way from the East Coast to to Texas to uh you know the West Coast. So so I that there is momentum, right? There are people out there that get this vision that want to be part and want to be part of something special.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. It's exciting.
SPEAKER_02:I think it has the the potential to become something revolutionary for the US. I I would add one suggestion to the model, though. Um we're gonna teach students how to build things, we're gonna give them access to industry, we're gonna give them greater exposure. Um but I think the outcome or one way we're gonna measure success is how many students take ideas that they've learned or skills that they've learned and go and create their own companies. Yeah, that's awesome. Um and that's a that's a longer term metric to measure success. So this is just a suggestion, superintendent, but as they graduate and as they leave their experience, connecting them with people who can write checks, who can vet ideas, and teaching them how to create a pitch deck so they can propose to investors, I think is going to be a really necessary element in all of this, because then they're more well-rounded and equipped. And so if we can bring all of those components together, it will truly be something special.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, 100% agree. And um, we will definitely do that. I I think to add to that as well is you know, really strengthening our alumni base and inviting them back. You know, I I I don't think uh often enough do we have our alumni that go out and do that actually come back and talk to their, you know, their their peers, the students that are in the school now. So so I think the Innovation Center, along with our high schools, really affords that opportunity to to build that alumni base as they go out and they and and we we track that as they create their own companies and and they do um whatever it is they're gonna do, is that we give them the opportunity to come back off and then to to share, you know, and uh really share that impart that knowledge with the students that are here are here in the in the innovation center now.
SPEAKER_01:So you know what I'm hearing, Reed? I'm hearing that we need to start a fundraising arm and a venture capital fund.
SPEAKER_03:Well, yeah, well, we'll we'll get to work on that. I I couldn't agree more. And uh, you know, I just just the simple tracking and and keeping uh those uh connections is it will be a real uh key factor as well.
SPEAKER_01:Well, for for all of you, maybe some closing thoughts. Um, what message would you share with students today who are listening about whether they belong in a place like the Innovation Center? Um, you know, kind of what would you want a student to know about their purpose?
SPEAKER_04:Well, uh I'll lead off with this. Every time I'm out at the Innovation Center, just as I walk into the building, um, you know, just a strong sense of pride and and and really uh humility all at the same time. This was not my high school experience, you know, and and to just see the depth and the breadth of what that campus looks like and the deep commitment by our board and our industry partners and you know, everybody in our state that has really come forward to to just offer their energy and their time and their resources. I hope, I hope our students are paying attention to that because this this is this is for them. Um you know, our future, our democracy is in the balance. And and so I I think for our school community and all of our partners to go all in uh on this venture, I hope says a lot to our young people that wow, this is for me, right? Because it this isn't everywhere.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:And so I I think as they see that and they see this commitment level, um, I think that says a lot. And and to me, for our young people that are listening, or you know, come out and experience it. You know, if you get a chance, come out and take a tour, get excited about what's there and what your future, you know, might might look like.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. I mean, you walk in there, right? And you what you see is like, wow, what what's happening here feels really important, right? Which means like what I'm gonna be doing here is important, right? Which I'm what I'm doing is matters. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Um Stephen Covey uh taught us the seven habits, right? He took he took true principles and put them into a process that's easier for us to understand. Um and so I guess my my advice for any student who watches this is um to write a mission statement, to go in there beginning with the end in mind, um, which is habit number two, right? Have a map for what you want to create. Everything we we do in life has two creations, the mental creation and the physical creation. And so have a really strong why. Because if you have a why, then you can figure out the how. But if you don't have the why, when things get get hard, you typically don't see things through. So as you begin your entrepreneurial journey, have a really strong why, and that will help you understand who you are. I think that's a really, really core principle for all of us. That's great.
SPEAKER_01:Reed, you have any final thoughts for us?
SPEAKER_03:I I don't have anything to add to either of those two, other than just uh, you know, these are two of the greatest uh leaders we could uh have, uh leading uh uh Aaron and the uh our state in such a great economic sector, uh and and all the things he's doing to provide leadership for the state and really leading out there, and then the superintendent. We're going to create an opportunity for students and and we hope they'll come and and really uh uh launch their future.
SPEAKER_01:Well, I'm excited to see it take take shape, and I'm excited to be working on it with you both and continuing the conversation. Hopefully, we can get together again and check in on progress.
SPEAKER_02:Thank you. Thank you for having me. Appreciate it.
SPEAKER_00:Thank you for being there.
SPEAKER_02:Thanks, Burst.
SPEAKER_00:Thanks for listening to this episode of Connect Canyons. Connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram at Canyons District, or on our website, CanyonsDistrict.org.
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