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Julie Arthofer in
In observation of National Engineers Week, IBM mentors reunited with their protégés from New York’s Pathways in Technology Early College High School (P-TECH) for a day of learning and fun. Below, IBM mentor Julie Arthofer writes about her continuing relationship with her P-TECH protégé, and the school’s recent E-Week celebration activities.
It is often hard to filter through hundreds of emails a day, and there is always a fear that one will be missed or accidently deleted. Luckily this was not the case when I received an email about becoming a mentor at New York’s Pathways in Technology Early College High School (P-TECH). Mentoring is something I have been involved in since high school, and I had been looking for another mentoring opportunity since. I responded instantly and was thrilled when I was selected as a mentor for P-TECH.
IT'S ROCKET SCIENCE: At Pathways in Technology Early College High School (P-TECH) in Brooklyn, N.Y., student Taylor Clark Jones (left), IBM consultant Ksenia Gutsol (middle) and student Nicole Murray (right) build a balloon rocket as part of a National Engineer’s Week activity on Friday, March 30, 2012. IBM employees volunteer as P-TECH student mentors at the new school, which offers a grades 9 through 14 curriculum focusing on technology and essential workplace skills such as collaboration and communication.
P-TECH is unique in that it offers students the opportunity to graduate with an Associate degree in technology after just six years of schooling. Today, P-TECH serves as a model for similar schools to come, and I am proud to be working for the company that helped make this school a reality.
The kick-off event for mentors and protégés not only gave us an opportunity to meet the students and get a feel for their learning environment, but also gave us a chance to meet the teachers who would be helping shape their education. We also were fortunate to meet Principal Rashid Ferrod Davis who demonstrated his commitment to his students and to
P-TECH’s mission with a moving speech.
Following the short presentations, the room became a bit chaotic as we split up to find our protégés. Once I paired up with my protégé, Jenyce, we sat down in a classroom and went through a list of “break the ice” questions to get to know each other better. We did not quite make it through the entire list of questions, as we easily got sidetracked by other topics ranging from our most embarrassing moments to debates over which pop star is better.
As the event wrapped up, Jenyce and I had to cut our meeting short, but we were both very excited for the mentoring program to officially start. Jenyce and I now correspond weekly on the IBM MentorPlace website, where activities are posted to stimulate our conversations and usually relate to what the students are learning in school. There is also a discussion board where we can touch base and check in with one another in a more informal way. Recently, P-TECH students were given an assignment to write a biographical sketch about a social innovator, and mentors were asked to provide feedback. It was extremely rewarding to read Jenyce’s initial draft and see how she incorporated the suggestions I had given her, and to see the immense improvements in her writing and her growth as a student.
I have also become involved with P-TECH outside of the weekly MentorPlace activities.
As part of a NYC Community Service committee that holds monthly events, I was able to organize an event at P-TECH – “Engineering Week (E-Week) that P-Tech got involved with this year. E-Week is a program devoted to promoting engineering at schools around the nation, and organizes hands-on activities related to engineering to get the students involved. For P-TECH’s E-Week activity, the students built a rocket ship using a straw, balloons, and one small cup. The goal was for the students to launch the ship up an eight-foot fishing line carrying the highest number of washers. We also had a speaker with an extensive engineering background attend the event to explain the lessons to be learned from the activity.
I was very excited for this opportunity to see the students at P-TECH once again. In this world of technology and constant communication via the Internet, it is always great to put a face with the name every now and then!
Julie Arthofer is an IBM Global Business Services Strategy and Information Consultant.
Related Articles:
P-TECH Celebrates Engineers Week: One Mentor’s Story
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Eric Estey in
In observation of National Engineers Week, IBM mentors reunited with their protégés from New York’s Pathways in Technology Early College High School (P-TECH) for a day of learning and fun. Below, IBM Global Business Services consultant (and engineer) Eric Estey reflects on his experience as a P-TECH mentor.
If you read this blog on a regular basis, by now you have probably heard about an IBM partnership with the Pathways in Technology Early College High School (P-TECH) program in Brooklyn, NY. As a mentor to one of the students in P-TECH’s inaugural class, I was excited to participate in this revolutionary initiative.
I first met my protégé, Edward, at the school during the kickoff event in October 2011. He and I built upon our initial interactions over the following months via MentorPlace, but the distance imposed by conflicting work and school obligations made it impossible for mentors and students to repeat that first successful in-person meeting.
During that time, I learned of the Engineers Week program. One aspect of the E-Week program involves sending volunteers to local schools to educate students on the engineering profession and its impact on the world around us – while of course having a little fun in the process.
Towards the end of 2011, I heard that initial efforts were underway to organize an E-Week event at the school. I teamed up with Julie Arthofer, another IBM mentor and Consulting by Degrees colleague, and with the help of the P-TECH program managers we were able to spearhead the coordination for this event. Given P-TECH’s stated focus on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), it seemed like a perfect opportunity for IBM’s mentors to volunteer their time towards a noble cause while also interacting further with their protégés. I had graduated college with a degree in Civil Engineering, which only motivated me more to promote this event. I hope to encourage some of these high school students to choose a field of study that I have found fascinating and extremely relevant to life in our modern society.
Today’s event will bring approximately 35 IBM volunteers, 103 students, and P-TECH teachers and staff together to design, build and test “rocket ships” made of balloons. Nineteen student teams will compete to see whose rocket ship design can carry the most weight up to a certain height. I’m looking forward to watching these students use their imagination to turn tape, straws, paper clips and balloons into an unlimited number of creative designs.
Because we made a special effort to pair P-TECH mentors with their protégé’s team, I will have the opportunity to work with Edward again. I hope to get updates on his efforts to learn programming, as well as his latest basketball moves. This event will give us the opportunity to catch up on recent events in each other’s lives, and with any luck our team will win too!
Eric Estey is a Strategy & Change Internal Practice consultant with IBM Global Business Services.
Related Articles:
A Continuing Relationship: One Mentor’s Story
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Stanley S. Litow in
“Can we extract lessons from the for-profit world and apply them to philanthropy?” That’s the question being asked by Harvard Business School and other institutions that are training tomorrow’s global leaders. At the recent Center for Social Value Creation (CSVC) Social Enterprise Symposium, I spoke with University of Maryland M.B.A. students to help them understand the evolution of philanthropy, and their roles in creating sustainable value to help build a smarter planet.
Young leaders need to understand that corporate philanthropy is an integral part of a successful and sustainable business strategy. For an organization to survive, its core values must remain consistent in a world where everything else is guaranteed to change.
So when it comes to philanthropy, the phrase “from spare change to real change” must represent a values-based commitment to social responsibility. In IBM’s case, this means deploying our best technology and talent to address critical societal issues around the world.
Watch this video to learn about how programs such as the Corporate Service Corps,
P-TECH, and World Community Grid are raising the effectiveness of public-private partnerships to new levels. Read what city mayors and volunteer experts are saying
about improving the quality of life in cities – where 70 percent of the world’s population
lives. Find out how nonprofit leaders are using private-sector management skills to deliver social services more efficiently.
In the world’s most forward-thinking academic, civic, and corporate environments, tomorrow’s leaders are learning from Day One to work together to help manage global challenges. Organizations that seek to lead will attract, motivate and retain top talent by giving them opportunities for service. Meanwhile, the world’s leading enterprises will continue to adapt to change while maintaining their core values of innovation, service,
and citizenship.
Stanley S. Litow is IBM’s Vice President of Corporate Citizenship & Corporate Affairs
and President of the IBM International Foundation.
Related Resources:
Download “Corporate Social Responsibility: An Integrated Approach” (presentation)
Harvard Business Review: “IBM Corporate Citizenship Efforts ‘Enrich the Ecosystem’”
2010 IBM Corporate Responsibility Report
Posted by
Rashid Ferrod Davis in
When I look back at the first 100 days of P-TECH – the Pathways in Technology Early College High School – it becomes clear that rigor, roadmaps, and role models have been essential to our success. The P-TECH grades nine through 14 model is a forward-thinking example of what can happen when public educators and the private sector work together toward our children’s success. P-TECH also represents new paradigms in American education – a public-private partnership that blazes a pathway from high school through college to careers, a hybrid of high school and college that enables the creation of that pathway, and a repeatable model that any community can follow to connect education to employment. Following our example, Chicago will open five grades nine through 14 schools this fall, and Mayor Bloomberg recently announced plans for three more schools in New York.
P-TECH students – a self-selected group from acrossNew York’s five boroughs – will earn both the high school diploma and an associate degree in technology following a rigorous, six-year program. To accomplish this, our students (and their parents) have had to accept the challenges posed by 90-minute classes and a longer school day. They have had to be ready to tackle Workplace Learning in addition to their core academic curriculum. With help from a dedicated faculty and from the IBM mentors assigned to each pupil, our students have had to rise to the challenge of pushing themselves academically while acquiring the cultural orientation of industry professionals.
P-TECH students come from several cohorts with historically low high school attendance and graduation rates. Sixteen percent of our entering students have Individualized Education Plans, 15 percent are two years older than the average ninth grader, 14 percent are present or former English Language Learners, and 67 percent are non-white males. But as of this writing, they are succeeding brilliantly.
- Of the 35 students whose Lexile Scores were in the bottom third of their class, 23 have increased their scores by at least one grade level. Twelve students have increased their scores by two grade levels, and seven students have increased their scores by three grade levels or more – all after just one term at P-TECH.
- Prior to entering P-TECH, 21 percent of our students had yearly attendance rates of less than 90 percent. But over our first 100 days, 94 percent of our students have maintained an attendance rate of 90 percent or higher.
- Black Males represent P-TECH’s largest subgroup, and throughout America’s high schools, young men of color have the lowest promotion rates and highest drop-out rates. Prior to matriculation at P-TECH, 16 percent of these young men had yearly attendance rates below 90 percent. But after the first 100 days, 96 percent of these students have an attendance rate of 96 percent or higher.
- Finally, after only one term of high school, 89 percent of P-TECH students already meet New York City standards for promotion to 10th grade.
How has this happened? For starters, P-TECH faculty and staff serve as role models for their students. In what I call the “angel adoption program,” each teacher and guidance counselor works with a group of fewer than 10 students to ensure their successful transition to high school. And in addition to learning about industry from their IBM mentors, students have access to college role models from the Black Male Initiative and Women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) – two New York City College of Technology groups that work closely with P-TECH.
Our school prepares students for meaningful careers in the growing field of information technology, but similar grades nine through 14 schools will prepare graduates for careers in health care, transportation & logistics, advanced manufacturing, hospitality, and other growth areas. In each instance and in each locale, the school system, the community college system, and industry partners will work together to ensure that students learn marketable skills that lead to sustainable careers. As we can see from the remarkable commitments (and remarkable progress!) made by P-TECH’s students and their families, our communities are hungry for these opportunities and anxious to succeed. It’s only been 100 days, but our future looks bright.
Rashid Ferrod Davis is the founding principal of New York’s Pathways in Technology Early College High School.
Additional Resources:
Student Perspective: How P-TECH Inspired New Hope After Just One Semester
Student Perspective: Switching to a Grades 9-14 School
Mayor Rahm Emanuel: Chicago’s Plans to Open Five Grades 9-14 Schools
U.S. News & World Report: Grades 9 Through 14 School Model Strengthens Education-to-Work System
Download the “STEM Pathways to College and Careers Schools: A Development Guide” playbook
Posted by
Robin Willner in
IBM’s “5 in 5” forecast of innovations that will alter the technology landscape within the next five years includes the prediction that mobile technologies will close the digital divide between rich and poor. In the very near future, mobile devices and over-air networks will enable disconnected and disenfranchised populations to circumvent traditional infrastructures to participate in the global economy. However, substantive innovations in the technology of learning must complement our advances in global connectivity.
Technology’s most profound impact on underserved populations can be its ability to improve education, but simply “having” technology is not enough. A computer, for instance, can never replace a good teacher. And internet access and computer labs alone cannot improve instruction. But when technology is well integrated into the classroom and coupled with teacher training, it can enable essential improvements in teaching and learning.
Integral to our corporate citizenship efforts, IBM is forging public-private partnerships to create a smarter education system by strengthening the focus on STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) competencies. In addition, we have longstanding programs that continue to open new possibilities to people around the world.
- Our Reading Companion program uses IBM speech recognition technology to help children and adults gain literacy skills in English.
- IBM’s automatic translation project – ¡TradúceloAhora! (“translate now”) – uses our WebSphere Translation Server software to provide bilingual English/Spanish email translations to enhance communications between English-speaking teachers and Spanish-speaking parents.
- In partnership with TeachEngineering and the New York Hall of Science, Teachers TryScience provides new resources, specifically designed for science teachers struggling to provide high quality, hands-on problem based learning.
These are just a few of the many ways – from helping our retirees transition to teaching, to reinforcing our commitment to mentoring and school volunteerism – in which IBM is helping to improve the technology of learning that must accompany the advances that will close the digital divide.
As reported in today’s Wall Street Journal, a new study from the Center for an Urban Future confirms what many of us have been saying all along: Even though our young people understand the need to acquire the skills and education to qualify for 21st Century jobs, a stunningly high percentage of them fail to finish their degrees. Inadequate academic preparation, and lack of guidance and support are two of the biggest reasons for low completion rates.
(Click for full-size graphic)
The study notes that “young people have flocked to community colleges in record numbers” since the start of the Great Recession in late 2007. But in New York City – the nation’s largest municipal system, with 91,000 students – only 28 percent of those who enroll attain an associate’s degree within six years. And completion rates at The City University of New York (CUNY) are higher than nationwide, where the degree attainment rate for community college students has stagnated at 26 percent.
These low graduation rates come with substantial financial implications for students and taxpayers. Each community college dropout costs New York City more than $17,000 in federal and state aid, and in city and state funding, according to the study. And as I’ve written before, the lifetime earnings of those without college degrees are nearly 85 percent less than the earnings of college graduates. Were we able to increase graduation rates in just the six CUNY community colleges by 10 percent, the 30-year earnings of one graduating class would increase by $3.4 billion — with a one-year income increase of
$631 million. Projected nationally, this could be a vital component of U.S. economic recovery.
As mentioned in the Journal, Brooklyn’s Pathways in Technology Early College High School (P-TECH) is an example of the new thinking in public education. P-TECH confers both the high school diploma and an associate’s degree in technology, and utilizes a rigorous curriculum matched with skills required for the workplace to give students what principal Rashid Davis terms “a solid foundation in algebra and literacy.” P-TECH also provides each of its students with an adult mentor to help guide them through their academic preparation and transition to industry or further education.
Community college enrollment is on the rise, but limited resources to help students develop a career focus and get the remedial learning they often need have left many of our young people without a safety net. Public school programs that offer rigorous academic preparation combined with real-world career guidance have the potential to revitalize our economy as they prepare our next generation for lifelong productivity and success.
Download the full “Mobility Makers” report from the Center for an Urban Future.
The Center for an Urban Future is a New York City-based think tank dedicated to independent, fact-based research about critical issues affecting New York’s future. The IBM International Foundation was one of several philanthropic institutions that funded the “Mobility Makers” report.
Posted by
Ethan McCarty in
Ethan McCarty was one of 95 IBM mentors who met with their student protégés at New York’s Pathways in Technology Early College High School (P-TECH) for the first time in October. P-TECH is a new model grades 9 through 14 school located in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, and many of its students will be the first in their families to attain the associate degree they’ll receive along with their high school diplomas. The school has a visionary principal, a dedicated faculty, and a remarkable 100% attendance rate. Read what Ethan has to say about community volunteering and his inspiring new P-TECH friend.
Ethan’s story: “The idea behind the P-TECH program is that IBM partners with a local school system and university to create a six-year science and technology school that gives the kids a chance to earn both a high school diploma and a two-year degree in one shot. Naturally, IBM does a whole lot of stuff, like help out with the curriculum and some of the technology supporting the program, whose graduates will be first in line for entry-level jobs at IBM. Where I come in (along with about a hundred of my colleagues) is a dimension of the program that pairs each P-TECH student with an IBM mentor.
Ethan and Radcliffe
When I lived in East Harlem, I worked with the Tutorial Board there. Since I moved to Brooklyn, I’ve been looking for a regular way to work with kids and give back to the community – so this seemed like a really good opportunity. Since I don’t volunteer that often, the idea of a program that is managed by IBM’s citizenship team appealed to me because I knew it would be well organized. One of the problems I’ve found with volunteering in the past is spending energy that could be dedicated to helping others simply figuring out how to connect with the volunteer opportunity – so the P-TECH program looked like a good fit. It only took about 15 minutes for me to work through the automated background check process, and I was good to go.
All of us were looking forward to meeting our P-TECH protégés for the first time. P-TECH is one of three programs housed in Brooklyn’s Paul Robeson School, just a few miles from where I live. That first day was exciting as students, parents, teachers, mentors and administrators all crowded into P-TECH’s “gymatorium” – a combination auditorium and gym. After a round of speeches, we finally got the chance to find our protégés in the crowd, and I finally met Radcliffe.
The organizers of the event had set up some structured activities to help get conversations started, so Radcliffe and I went to a classroom where we could talk and start to get to know each other. I was totally impressed by Radcliffe. He is articulate, ambitious, funny and clearly curious about how the world works and how to make his future in it.
As part of the exercise we did, Radcliffe described to me an idea he had for getting help to people who are interested in bicycle repair (he works on bikes as a hobby). Together, we started to map out how an iPad application could be designed to support a business for bike-repair enthusiasts and professionals. I was blown away by Radcliffe’s creativity.
At the end of the day Radcliffe and I said goodbye, but not for long. A major component of the mentoring relationship is enabled through an IBM platform called MentorPlace. It’s a bit like having a pen-pal, only each week we have a different assignment. This week, for example, Radcliffe and I wrote a poem together and talked about how teamwork is essential to business success.
I think Radcliffe and I are off to a good start. As a friend and fellow program participant said to me, the most important thing here is that these teenagers get and maintain a sense that there are adults out there who care about them. I agree – and I do.”
Further Resources:
- Watch the CNN Video coverage of the P-TECH Mentor Event
- “Volunteering at P-TECH: One Mentor’s Story” by Christine Vu
- “Degrees Remain Elusive for Most Community College Students” by Stanley S. Litow, President, IBM International Foundation
Posted by
Robin Willner in
I testified today before the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Research and Science Education about IBM’s commitment to address the issue of national decline in math, science and engineering and its implications for America’s labor force. The Subcommittee on Research and Science Education oversees all matters related to science policy and science education. In my remarks, I noted that over the last 20 years IBM has been one of the leading corporate contributors of cash, technology and IT services to non-profit organizations and educational institutions around the world. During that time, IBM’s most effective grants and partnerships have been those that focus on our unique offerings – leveraging our software, hardware, technical services and expertise. In addition, IBM has been most successful when designing initiatives to bring our employees’ skills and experience into the classroom to interact directly with students, teachers and administrators.
Leading examples of IBM’s approach to “smarter education” are our Transition to Teaching program for retiring employees, and our partnership with civic and education leaders to create New York City’s Pathways in Technology Early College High School (P-TECH) – an innovative grades nine through 14 institution that confers both the high school diploma and a no-cost associate degree in technology. P-TECH prepares graduates for entry-level positions with IBM and other leading technology companies. More than 100 IBMers are participating in Transition to Teaching, which helps prepare them for a second career teaching math and science. And the P-TECH model has garnered the attention of the White House and of city leaders across the country who seek to replicate the school’s success in their districts.
Education and employment in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) is a vital component of the American economy, and the private sector can play an important role in closing the gap between where we are and where we need to be. Workers in STEM occupations out earn their peers, enjoy long and stable careers, and represent the next generation of global innovators. But our economic growth is threatened by a severe shortage of math and science teachers, and by shortfalls in STEM academic achievement – particularly in historically underrepresented communities already bearing the brunt of tough economic times. The solution lies in a collaborative and multi-faceted approach to improving STEM education at all levels – from replacing retiring math and science teachers, to strengthening the skills of current educators, to forging private sector partnerships with schools and communities to ensure that our students can make the transition from education to industry.
Watch the archived webcast of my House Subcommittee Testimony to learn more about IBM’s commitment to smarter education.
In October 2011, 95 IBM mentors met with their protégés at New York’s Pathways in Technology Early College High School (P-TECH) for the first time. P-TECH is a new model grades 9 through 14 school located in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, and many of its students will be the first in their families to attain the associate degree they’ll receive along with their high school diplomas. It’s going to be a long haul for the ninth graders of P-TECH’s inaugural class, their teachers and their mentors. But if P-TECH’s remarkable 100% attendance rate, the inspired leadership of the school’s principal and teachers, and the dedication of IBM’s volunteer mentors is any indication, those years will be full of promise and reward. IBMer Christine Vu was one of the mentors who visited P-TECH.
Christine’s story: “When I asked my protégé Indica why she enrolled in P-TECH, the most striking thing she said was ‘Other classmates and I would be the first graduating class, and to me I find that to be something big.’ Indica’s words made me think: It is big! Aside from graduating with a high school diploma and an associate degree in technology, Indica will have the opportunity to shape and define what this academic experiment will look like, and help determine whether it can be successful for future students in New York and around the country.
What Indica said also made me wonder what impact I would have as her mentor. I think the act of mentorship is as much about fulfilling the role you wish someone had played in your life when you were younger as it is about giving to others. When I was in high school, I had a challenging and rigorous schedule filled with AP classes and extracurricular activities. But this left little time for me to engage with teachers or other adults on what was happening in the greater society. It seemed like there was no one to challenge my thoughts and ideas, or to help me visualize my future as an adult or as a professional. I ended up forming these impressions through the process of trial and error during college.
While Indica and I are different people from different backgrounds, she has many of the same dreams and goals that I had at her age. Indica wants to learn and to grow, and to be successful in all aspects of her life. After visiting P-TECH, I am confident that Indica will have the lesson plans and resources she’ll need to build up her technical knowledge and skills.
Meanwhile, I plan to be available when Indica has the ‘other’ questions such as ‘How important are internships?’, ‘Why should I vote?’, or ‘Do I really need to spell check?’”
Further Resources:
- Watch the CNN Video coverage of the P-TECH Mentor Event
- Visit IBM MentorPlace
- “Volunteerism and Citizenship: One Mentor’s Story” by Ethan McCarty
- “Degrees Remain Elusive for Most Community College Students” by Stanley S. Litow, President, IBM International Foundation
