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(TNS) Abraham Tinajero was an eighth grader when he saw a poster in his Longmont middle schools library advertising a new program offering free college with a technology focus.

Interested, he talked to a counselor to learn more about P-TECH, an early college program where he could earn an associates degree along with his high school diploma. Liking the sound of the program, he enrolled in the inaugural P-TECH class as a freshman at Longmonts Skyline High School.

I really loved working on computers, even before P-TECH, he said. I was a hobbyist. P-TECH gave me a pathway.

IBM hired him as a cybersecurity analyst once he completed the apprenticeship.

P-TECH has given me a great advantage, he said. Without it, I would have been questioning whether to go into college. Having a college degree at 18 is great to put on a resume.

Litows idea was to get more underrepresented young people into tech careers by giving them a direct path to college while in high school and in turn create a pipeline of employees with the job skills businesses were starting to value over four-year college degrees.

The program, which includes mentors and internships provided by business partners, gives high school students up to six years to earn an associate's degree at no cost.

In Colorado, St. Vrain Valley was among the first school districts chosen by the state to offer a P-TECH program after the Legislature passed a bill to provide funding and the school district has embraced the program.

Colorados first P-TECH programs started in the fall of 2016 at three high schools, including Skyline High. Over the last six years, 17 more Colorado high schools have adopted P-TECH, for at total of 20. Three of those are in St. Vrain Valley, with a fourth planned to open in the fall of 2023 at Longmont High School.

Each St. Vrain Valley high school offers a different focus supported by different industry partners.

Skyline partners with IBM, with students earning an associates degree in Computer Information Systems from Front Range. Along with being the first, Skylines program is the largest, enrolling up to 55 new freshmen each year.

Programs at the other schools are capped at 35 students per grade.

Frederick Highs program, which started in the fall of 2019, has a bioscience focus, partners with Aims Community College and works with industry partners Agilent Technologies, Tolmar, KBI Biopharma, AGC Biologics and Corden Pharma.

Silver Creek Highs program started a year ago with a cybersecurity focus. The Longmont school partners with Front Range and works with industry partners Seagate, Cisco, PEAK Resources and Comcast.

The new program coming to Longmont High will focus on business.

District leaders point to Skyline Highs graduation statistics to illustrate the programs success. At Skyline, 100 percent of students in the first three P-TECH graduating classes earned a high school diploma in four years.

For the 2020 Skyline P-TECH graduates, 24 of the 33, or about 70 percent, also earned associates degrees. For the 2021 graduating class, 30 of the 47 have associates degrees with one year left for those students to complete the college requirements.

For the most recent 2022 graduates, who have two years left to complete the college requirements, 19 of 59 have associates degrees and another six are on track to earn their degrees by the end of the summer.

Louise March, Skyline Highs P-TECH counselor, keeps in touch with the graduates, saying 27 are working part time or full time at IBM. About a third are continuing their education at a four year college. Of the 19 who graduated in 2022 with an associates degree, 17 are enrolling at a four year college, she said.

Two of those 2022 graduates are Anahi Sarmiento, who is headed to the University of Colorado Boulders Leeds School of Business, and Jose Ivarra, who will study computer science at Colorado State University.

Im the oldest out of three siblings, Ivarra said. When you hear that someone wants to give you free college in high school, you take it. I jumped at the opportunity.

Sarmiento added that her parents, who are immigrants, are already working two jobs and dont have extra money for college costs.

P-TECH is pushing me forward, she said. I know my parents want me to have a better life, but I want them to have a better life, too. Going into high school, I kept that mentality that I would push myself to my full potential. It kept me motivated.

While the program requires hard work, the two graduates said, they still enjoyed high school and had outside interests. Ivarra was a varsity football player who was named player of the year. Sarmiento took advantage of multiple opportunities, from helping elementary students learn robotics to working at the districts Innovation Center.

Ivarra said he likes that P-TECH has the same high expectations for all students, no matter their backgrounds, and gives them support in any areas where they need help. Spanish is his first language and, while math came naturally, language arts was more challenging.

It was tough for me to see all these classmates use all these big words, and I didnt know them, he said. I just felt less. When I went into P-TECH, the teachers focus on you so much, checking on every single student.

They said its OK to struggle or even fail. Ivarra said he failed a tough class during the pandemic, but was able to retake it and passed. Both credited March, their counselor, with providing unending support as they navigated high school and college classes.

Shes always there for you, Sarmiento said. Its hard to be on top of everything. You have someone to go to.

Students also supported each other.

You build bonds, Ivarra said. Youre all trying to figure out these classes. You grow together. Its a bunch of people who want to succeed. The people that surround you in P-TECH, they push you to be better.

P-TECH has no entrance requirements or prerequisite classes. You dont need to be a top student, have taken advanced math or have a background in technology.

With students starting the rigorous program with a wide range of skills, teachers and counselors said, they quickly figured out the program needed stronger support systems.

March said freshmen in the first P-TECH class struggled that first semester, prompting the creation of a guided study class. The every other day, hour-and-a-half class includes both study time and time to learn workplace skills, including writing a resume and interviewing. Teachers also offer tutoring twice a week after school.

The guided study has become crucial to the success of the program, March said.

Another way P-TECH provides extra support is through summer orientation programs for incoming freshmen.

At Skyline, ninth graders take a three-week bridge class worth half a credit that includes learning good study habits. They also meet IBM mentors and take a field trip to Front Range Community College.

They get their college ID before they get their high school ID, March said.

During a session in June, 15 IBM mentors helped the students program a Sphero robot to travel along different track configurations. Kathleen Schuster, who has volunteered as an IBM mentor since the P-TECH program started here, said she wants to return some of the favors I got when I was younger.

Even this play stuff with the Spheros, its teaching them teamwork and a little computing, she said. Hopefully, through P-TECH, they will learn what it takes to work in a tech job.

Incoming Skyline freshman Blake Baker said he found a passion for programming at Trail Ridge Middle and saw P-TECH as a way to capitalize on that passion.

I really love that they give you options and a path, he said.

Trail Ridge classmate Itzel Pereyra, another programming enthusiast, heard about P-TECH from her older brother.

Its really good for my future, she said. Its an exciting moment, starting the program. It will just help you with everything.

While some of the incoming ninth graders shared dreams of technology careers, others see P-TECH as a good foundation to pursue other dreams.

Skyline incoming ninth grader Marisol Sanchez wants to become a traveling nurse, demonstrating technology and new skills to other nurses. She added that the summer orientation sessions are a good introduction, helping calm the nerves that accompany combining high school and college.

Theres a lot of team building, she said. Its getting us all stronger together as a group and introducing everyone.

Silver Creeks June camp for incoming ninth graders included field trips to visit Cisco, Seagate, PEAK Resources, Comcast and Front Range Community College.

During the Front Range Community College field trip, the students heard from Front Range staff members before going on a scavenger hunt. Groups took photos to prove they completed tasks, snapping pictures of ceramic pieces near the art rooms, the most expensive tech product for sale in the bookstore and administrative offices across the street from the main building.

Emma Horton, an incoming freshman, took a cybersecurity class as a Flagstaff Academy eighth grader that hooked her on the idea of technology as a career.

Im really excited about the experience I will be getting in P-TECH, she said. Ive never been super motivated in school, but with something Im really interested in, it becomes easier.

Deb Craven, dean of instruction at Front Ranges Boulder County campus, promised the Silver Creek students that the college would support them. She also gave them some advice.

You need to advocate and ask for help, she said. These two things are going to help you the most. Be present, be engaged, work together and lean on each other.

Craven, who oversees Front Ranges P-TECH program partnership, said Front Range leaders toured the original P-TECH program in New York along with St. Vrain and IBM leaders in preparation for bringing P-TECH here.

Having IBM as a partner as we started the program was really helpful, she said.

When the program began, she said, freshmen took a more advanced technology class as their first college class. Now, she said, they start with a more fundamental class in the spring of their freshman year, learning how to build a computer.

These guys have a chance to grow into the high school environment before we stick them in a college class, she said.

Summer opportunities arent just for P-TECHs freshmen. Along with summer internships, the schools and community colleges offer summer classes.

Silver Creek incoming 10th graders, for example, could take a personal financial literacy class at Silver Creek in the mornings and an introduction to cybersecurity class at the Innovation Center in the afternoons in June.

Over at Skyline, incoming 10th graders in P-TECH are getting paid to teach STEM lessons to elementary students while earning high school credit. Students in the fifth or sixth year of the program also had the option of taking computer science and algebra classes at Front Range.

And at Frederick, incoming juniors are taking an introduction to manufacturing class at the district's Career Elevation and Technology Center this month in preparation for an advanced manufacturing class theyre taking in the fall.

This will give them a head start for the fall, said instructor Chester Clark.

Incoming Frederick junior Destini Johnson said shes not sure what she wants to do after high school, but believes the opportunities offered by P-TECH will prepare her for the future.

I wanted to try something challenging, and getting a head start on college can only help, she said. Its really incredible that Im already halfway done with an associates degree and high school.

IBM P-TECH program manager Tracy Knick, who has worked with the Skyline High program for three years, said it takes a strong commitment from all the partners the school district, IBM and Front Range to make the program work.

Its not an easy model, she said. When you say there are no entrance requirements, we all have to be OK with that and support the students to be successful.

IBM hosted 60 St. Vrain interns this summer, while two Skyline students work as IBM co-ops a national program to assist with the P-TECH program.

The company hosts two to four formal events for the students each year to work on professional and technical skills, while IBM mentors provide tutoring in algebra. During the pandemic, IBM also paid for subscriptions to tutor.com so students could get immediate help while taking online classes.

We want to get them truly workforce ready, Knick said. Theyre not IBM-only skills were teaching. Even though they choose a pathway, they can really do anything.

As the program continues to expand in the district, she said, her wish is for more businesses to recognize the value of P-TECH.

These students have had intensive training on professional skills, she said. They have taken college classes enhanced with the same digital credentials that an IBM employee can learn. There should be a waiting list of employers for these really talented and skilled young professionals.

2022 the Daily Camera (Boulder, Colo.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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