The East Valley Institute of Technology is launching a training program for high school students and adults that will provide the experience required to enter STEM fields, in hopes of meeting the expanding workforce demands brought up by Arizona’s expanding technology industries. 

In partnership with Boeing and Honeywell, EVIT is kickstarting the program in an effort to supplement workforce needs as Arizona’s technology industries grow, Superintendent Dr. Chad Wilson said. 

The program takes a nontraditional approach by preparing high school students for the working world before graduation, while providing STEM-focused education that is often overlooked, Wilson said. 

Specifically in the microchip and aerospace industries, investments are causing a boom in expansion that requires more manufacturing and engineering employees, he said

“It was actually an inverse of what typically happens in public education where it wasn’t the educational institution saying, ‘Here’s what you need to do,’” Wilson said. “It was the business industry sitting down with us and saying, ‘These are what our needs are, this is what they (training programs) need to look like.’”

The courses will prepare young adults to enter the workforce with skills tailored to the industry, such as welding or microchip manufacturing, while providing the soft skills that are often overlooked in traditional learning environments, he said. 

In the first year, the program will offer STEM training to high school students – primarily third-year students – who can choose to focus on aviation, engineering or manufacturing. The second year will provide more hands-on training that includes adult-focused programs, setting up students to be ready to enter the workforce upon graduating high school. 

“One of the skills that is missing from students when they transfer into the world is soft skills: how to interact with colleagues, how to show up to work on time, how to dress appropriately, how to stay on task,” Wilson said. “All those types of things that we know are necessary in the workforce as an adult, but oftentimes does necessarily get fully developed.” 

Graduates of the program will get priority consideration when applying for positions at Boeing and Honeywell, Wilson said. 

The entry level jobs that graduates of the program – most having just turned into adults –  would qualify for often start at a $45,000 yearly salary, Wilson said, and there is only room for career growth from there. 

“If you can connect the kid to a passion that gives him or her purpose and then creates a paycheck, you have the ability to get that individual in a space that excites them,” Wilson said. 

Industry-focused apprenticeship models provide STEM opportunities that are often overlooked, he said, and some might take interest in a field they had not considered. Arizona’s growing industries created demands for specific specialities such as welding or microchip manufacturing, and “all of those components are ones that we once addressed in isolation,” he said. 

Students of the program will spend half of their day at high school and the other at EVIT’s campus in Mesa, which veers from the familiar classroom setting. 

“Sometimes it’s hard for young people to find their passion in a traditional structure,” Wilson said. 

Educators are often not specialists in the technological industries, Wilson said, so it is important that they hear from experts to know what to prepare their students for. 

“I see that there will be a constant evolution of add-on opportunities within our existing programs as those business industries evolve,” Wilson said.  

Mesa Site Executive for Boeing Defense, Space and Security Christina Upah said global demand for manufacturing of the AH-64 Apache, an attack helicopter, spurred the need for more skilled workers in the field.

“The partnership between Boeing and EVIT is so critically important because it not only provides students with promising career opportunities but helps ensure a skilled workforce for STEM industries,” Upah said in a written statement. “By joining forces, we are paving the way for a bright future here in Arizona and for the aerospace industry.”

Enrollment for the program, located in Mesa, will open on Nov. 1 and it will open in July of 2025.