Igniting and Engaging the Youngest Generation Toward Public Works Careers

Dr. Matthew Tessier, San Diego County Office of Education assistant superintendent of innovation, was recently interviewed for an article in the April 2024 issue of APWA Reporter about the Linda Vista Innovation Center. Below is an excerpt reproduced with permission from the publisher. Read the full article and explore the flipbook.

Imagine an educational experience where student strengths, interests, and values are known, celebrated, and connected with the world of work. Imagine an educational experience that provides access to historically underserved children to explore priority economic sectors in San Diego County. This educational learning environment exists and actively supports thousands of students in elementary, middle, and high schools throughout this Southern California region. The San Diego County Office of Education (SDCOE) operates the Linda Vista Innovation Center (LVIC) that supports student learning in a plethora of San Diego priority economic sectors, including energy, construction, utilities, information and communication technologies, and digital media, advanced manufacturing, design thinking, and healthcare/optometry to name a few.

Before visiting the LVIC, students take a RIASEC (Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional) assessment to understand better their strengths, interests, and values and how those strengths connect to careers in the aforementioned economic sectors. RIASEC strengths are all strengths that students embody, leading with three. The knowledge of who you are and what beauty you bring to the workforce, accentuating and using those strengths, helps support future job satisfaction and productivity.

SDCOE is committed to supporting students’ understanding that they all have a place in the world of work. They can see themselves in each sector of the economy and relate to how their top strengths have value and how they can earn a living in San Diego by embracing and applying their strengths. LVIC has partnered with local businesses and private partners to understand the career landscape so that career exposure to students is relevant and that co-created engineering design challenges and RIASEC-themed centers are accurate. SDCOE is currently working with schools in disadvantaged communities for students to attend a one-to-five-day academic experience at the innovation center.