As a CTE Academy Navigator with the Shelton School District, I help bridge the gap between the classroom and the working world. We’re building an experiences-based program that gets students out from behind their desks and into local businesses, so they can see what the jobs actually look like and what skills it takes to land them.

Since the ‘24–25 school year, we’ve been able to give the students 3,000 hours of real-world experience, and the community partners we team with love the shared experience of learning about the upcoming generation of workers while sharing with them long-time lessons learned on the job. Students have been able to work alongside Mason County Commissioners, CEOs from credit unions, economic development professionals, the County Coroner, and the team at Sierra Pacific Industries — and spend time in elementary school classrooms. Each experience has helped the students learn more about who they are and what they want (and don’t want) to do after high school.

That same idea led to 360West Workforce, where I serve as Chief Partnerships Officer. We’re building those same connections on a regional level, linking students and future job seekers with the employers who look to develop a local workforce pipeline.