High School Advisory Boards Jake Kepich

In this episode, Lindsey talks with Jake Kepich, the Medium/Heavy Duty Truck Technician Instructor at the Center of Applied Technology North in Severn, MD.  Jake discusses the vital role of Advisory Boards in his program. In this podcast, Lindsey and Jake explore how the program, certified by the ASE Education Foundation and AED Associated Equipment Distributors, is preparing students for the industry's shift toward electric vehicles and hydrogen power. The advisory board plays a crucial role in the program's success by providing valuable input, donations, and support. The board meets twice a year to review program updates, discuss the budget, and make decisions on large purchases. The school also holds an open house where employers showcase their businesses to prospective students and their families. Students can begin their training as medium/heavy-duty truck technicians as early as their junior year, following an application process, with some business partners offering summer internships to further enhance their learning experience.

Jake also highlights the various initiatives employers are using to engage students and recruit them into the industry. These initiatives include summer boot camps, apprenticeship fairs, and youth apprenticeship programs, with paid opportunities providing significant benefits for participants. He emphasizes the importance of these programs and discusses the age limits for participation. Additionally, they touch on how advisory board meetings are managed, with both in-person and virtual options available. The conversation also includes tips for effective communication with employers and shares resources for creating successful advisory committees. Ultimately, the discussion focuses on promoting career paths in the trucking industry for young people, leveraging engaging programs and strong partnerships with industry professionals to create opportunities and build the future workforce.

The Next Generation in Trucking Association is a non-profit trade association who is engaging and training the next generation of trucking industry professionals by partnering with high schools, community/technical colleges and private schools to connect to and launch training programs around North America.

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Transcript

Jake Kepich:
One misconception is that the guidance counselors are pushing and the schools are pushing students towards college. That's a misconception. And also the misconception is that the parents want the students to go to college, their children to go to college. Not necessarily the case. They just want to see that there's good opportunities and for their student, for their children, and a good future for them. That's what they want to see. And the business partners are able to show that. 

Lindsey Trent:
Hey, thank you for being on NGT talks today, Jake, we are happy to have you here. Tell us a little bit about yourself, what you do and where you teach, and a little bit about your history. 

Jake Kepich:
I do teach in Anna Rundo county in Maryland, center of Applied Technology North. I teach a medium heavy truck program. And with that, the program is certified by ASE Education foundation. It is also recognized, it's AED associated equipment distributors. They work with off highway equipment, so the program is recognized by them also. Great. 

Lindsey Trent:
I didn't realize you guys. So you're recognized by both the ASE foundation and the AED group? 

Jake Kepich:
Yes. So they have a foundation also, but they focus on off highway equipment. 

Lindsey Trent:
Very good. 

Jake Kepich:
It's another opportunity for high school programs. 

Lindsey Trent:
Yeah. How many schools across the country have both of those certifications? 

Jake Kepich:
Not many. 

Lindsey Trent:
I didn't think so. 

Jake Kepich:
There's not a lot. The ad is not as recognizable asE, but they're getting more recognition now and they're growing. And were the first high school program to get high school recognition across the country. And I think they're probably up to about ten or twelve now. 

Lindsey Trent:
Great. I was with them at the school counselors association, their convention this summer. So they're a great group of people. One of the things that's interesting that you mentioned is you are now called the medium heavy duty truck program. You used to be called, I want to say, the diesel program. Tell me the evolution of the name and why you chose a new name. 

Jake Kepich:
One big reason is because of the changes in the industry. There's quickly going to electric and hydrogen power, even off highway equipment that's growing. 

Lindsey Trent:
Wow. So you're starting to look to prepare your students for these electric vehicles that are coming down the pipeline and even hydrogen fuel cells. 

Jake Kepich:
Oh, yeah. And I think it was time to change. Even Ase has recognized that they added high voltage electrical systems to the electrical task for the medium heavy trucks. And typically they start out with priority. They have priority one, two and three. Priority three is the lower level task and less of those have to be taught with the high voltage electrical systems. They started out with p one. So that just tells you how quickly and fast the industry is changing. 

Lindsey Trent:
Well, it's really exciting, and I was really happy to be a part of that conversation when you had it, I think, over a year ago is, do we keep our name as diesel tech program knowing that we're really shifting to electric vehicles and hydrogen fuel cells? And I think you guys did a great thing by changing it to medium duty truck. What is medium heavy duty truck? Right. 

Jake Kepich:
Medium heavy duty truck and equipment. 

Lindsey Trent:
Technology was your history before you were the teacher at the center of applied Technology north out of high school? 

Jake Kepich:
I did go to Lincoln Tech for their automotive program. I went to work for rider truck rental, and I worked for rider for 14 years in a couple of different aspects. And I did get into management before I left. Rider truck rental got you. 

Lindsey Trent:
So you were in the industry and you learned all things, trucks, even management. And then you decided, hey, I want to teach and share my skill set with others. 

Jake Kepich:
One thing I did enjoy when I worked for Ryder was I supervised the third shift and it was a little more slow paced. We did a lot of work, but it was a little more slow paced. So when they hired on new technicians, they would put them on my shift for me to train them. So I enjoyed that, sharing my knowledge and working with the technicians that they hired on. But I also got to learn that some of the technicians advanced quicker than others, and not everybody was an individual, and some of them needed more assistance than others. Some of them came to us with a little more knowledge than other technicians were hired on, and I enjoyed that aspect. 

Lindsey Trent:
That's fantastic. But you learned at that point that you do like this teaching thing, and you started working for the school. You did. Now, did you open up the program or was there a teacher there before you that started it? 

Jake Kepich:
There was teachers here before me. Okay, so it wasn't a new program, but it had a lot to grow. It wasn't what I envisioned. 

Lindsey Trent:
How did you start your advisory board? Were there any things that you wish you would have known that you know now? And what can you tell these teachers who maybe have been doing it for a year? Maybe they've been doing it for five years, but you've got that 23 year experience. What kind of things can you share with them? 

Jake Kepich:
Well, one thing it doesn't. When I first started, I wanted to make major changes in the beginning, and one thing I did learn was, it's not going to happen overnight. It's got to happen over time. And the program did slowly grow into what it is now. And there was a lot of resources that I didn't have in the beginning, but we slowly added those resources. And that's one reason it's important to have an advisory committee, because they have input on it, and a lot of them have provided donations and support to get the program where it is. 

Lindsey Trent:
So how is your advisory committee structured? 

Jake Kepich:
We do have two meetings per year, and that's required by ASE, that we have two advisory meetings per year, and one is usually in the fall and one in the spring. And we have another center in the counties. Programs that are mirrored at the other center to hold one at one center and one at the other center. We don't have that with the medium heavy truck program. We have one at one school. There's a lot more automotive tech programs than there is medium heavy truck programs. But there is some similarities, some things that the programs can work together, but it definitely is a different. The medium heavy truck industry is a different industry, no question. It is a separate program. When I first started, it was part of the autotech program at our school, and that came with the advisory committee.  I recommended that we separated the programs. And at first, our CTE coordinator for the county, in a meeting, he expressed that he didn't think that it would be successful. And one of the advisory board committees spoke up and said that he commended me for not doing things just because that's the way it's always been done, that I was thinking outside the box. And they did listen to committee and they separated the programs and it's been successful. 

Lindsey Trent:
That's great. So you have two meetings a year. Tell me the spring meeting is probably, the fall meeting is probably coming up soon. 

Jake Kepich:
Yes. 

Lindsey Trent:
Tell me what you guys do in the fall meeting. 

Jake Kepich:
We do have an agenda that's put together. And with the agenda, we do try to follow what ASE requires because they do have some things that they required that are addressed in the advisory committee meetings. And they do have an agenda, a sample agenda that they have on their website. Right on the AUC Education foundation website. It's a sample so you can modify it and change it. But it does follow the standards, what they expect from an advisory board committee meeting. 

Lindsey Trent:
So typically in that fall meeting, what do you guys do? 

Jake Kepich:
One thing, we discuss where the program is and the current accomplishments, and we do discuss the events that are going to take place during the school year, some of the events, and one thing that is required as far as the ASE is discussing the budget, the program budget. And we also, any large purchases have to be recommended and approved by any minutes by the advisory board. 

Lindsey Trent:
In your advisory board meeting, you're discussing the previous advisory board meeting. You're going over the budget, you're talking to a student, and that's in the fall meeting. Is the spring meeting structured the same? 

Jake Kepich:
It is structured the same. 

Lindsey Trent:
And when do the advisory board members, when do they start interacting with students? Do you all have a career fair? How does all that work? 

Jake Kepich:
We do have an open house in the fall, which is coming up in October, and they try to keep the date consistent. This is third Thursday in October, and that way I do send it out to the business partners, the date, but they try to keep it consistent. 

Lindsey Trent:
Is that school wide that does the open house? 

Jake Kepich:
Yes, it's school wide. So the students parents, and we usually get former students, current students, prospective students. So they do advertise it to the middle school parents also. 

Lindsey Trent:
Great. So you have an open house, you have employers come, you have students parents. The teachers and administrators of the school are all there and they're starting to build relationships. Do the employers have tables with promotional things there, or is it just kind of talking? 

Jake Kepich:
They do. And the parents. It's informal. The parents have an opportunity to go around and students have an opportunity to go around and talk to the business partners. One misconception is that the guidance counselors are pushing and the schools are pushing students towards college. That's a misconception. And also the misconception is that the parents want the students to go to college, their children to go to college, not necessarily the case. They just want to see that there's good opportunities for their children and a good future for them. That's what they want to see. And the business partners are able to show that and showcase that. 

Lindsey Trent:
If I'm a student, how many years am I going to get trained to be a medium heavy duty truck technician? 

Jake Kepich:
We do have a 9th grade exploratory program. It's where they get to spend four weeks in each program that they have an interest in. So they get to see what the programs are about. And that's optional, it's not required. And then they do get credit for it. And then they apply for the level one programs in their 10th grade year. And with the 9th grade exploratory program, there's not a selection process. They accept all students with the level one program. There is an application process and a selection process. They look at their GPA, their attendance behavior, those things, and they put them in three different pathways and depending on the program, they're going to fill the programs with the pathway one students first, and once they fill them with pathway one students, then they go to pathway two.  And then the students with the lower gpa, those would be the last group that they select. So, like I said, there is a selection process, and I try to express that to the students and make sure they understand that. 

Lindsey Trent:
So they start as a junior with you? 

Jake Kepich:
Yes. 

Lindsey Trent:
Okay. And so they're studying for two years. And do a lot of your employers offer summer internships? Do you have work based learning opportunities? 

Jake Kepich:
The summer internships? That's actually been growing. One of the business partners, there's a large group, and that's kind of what's changing with our industry now is a lot of the dealerships are. There's larger groups that are buying up the dealerships, and there's a trend happening. And I actually heard that. Can't remember when, but I don't know what. But they were talking ABout that one of the radio stations when I was coming to work one morning. They were talking about smaller companies being bought up by larger groups, and that's happening with the automotive industry, the medium heavy truck industry. There's a big trend with that. But ONE of the groups they offered in a summer camp for the students, and one of my students participated in that.  I haven't had the opportunity, when he comes back to talk with him about his experience, but he was able to spend two weeks with them. And this group is owned by the owner of the Baltimore Ravens. At the end of that, they had an opportunity for the participants, Woody students, to attend the ravens, their boot camp. 

Lindsey Trent:
Oh, how fun. I bet not very many people have the luxury of owning a professional team, but if you do think of some fun things that you can do for that. Great. 

Jake Kepich:
One of the students, there was some fun activities involved in that. One of the students was. He was saying, I thought this was when they were presenting it. He was like, I thought it was all work related, but everything doesn't have to be all work related. They're trying to draw interest from the students. Some of the employers are doing things, activities like that to help with their recruiting. They are. And at the end of that summer boot camp, the top student, I don't know how they selected them, but they get a toolbox and tools. 

Lindsey Trent:
Wow, that's incredible. 

Jake Kepich:
That's just some of the things that some of these employers are doing. 

Lindsey Trent:
That's incredible. How many students were in that boot camp, do you know? 

Jake Kepich:
Typically it was six to eight. That was the first time we had a student participate in it. That's great for a student to participate in it. 

Lindsey Trent:
Do you know if there was an age limit? You have to be 16, 17, 18. 

Jake Kepich:
They did have to be at least 16. Okay. One of the things that holds us up in our industry is the age limit and insurance requirements, because when our students finish our program, typically they're 17 years old, so they're not quite 18 yet. 

Lindsey Trent:
And was this a paid boot camp or just more of an exploratory boot camp? 

Jake Kepich:
It was paid. It was a paid opportunity. So they also got paid. 

Lindsey Trent:
Incredible. 

Jake Kepich:
Just paid in the boot camp. Yeah. So it was a paid opportunity. Not all these opportunities are paid, but that one was a paid opportunity. 

Lindsey Trent:
What a great way to get your students interested in building that culture from within. And I hope that they're not just creating that culture, recruiting them and then sending them to the wolves, but recruiting them and continuing offering good activities and fun and investing in those students and hopefully employees when they hire them as employees. 

Jake Kepich:
Yeah. One thing that ASE has also, and we do have a work based learning program here at our school, and a lot of schools do, but with ASE, it was started by the manufacturers. It's called Ays, automotive youth education systems. It was started by them. And during a downturn in the economy, the manufacturers were going to fold it and ase took it over. So it's part of ASE now. So the programs can be part of Ays. It's a mentoring program, a mentorship program. 

Lindsey Trent:
So you have your meeting in the fall, you have a career fair, open house in the fall, around the same time, and then tell me about your spring meeting. Do you only have one spring meeting? And is that all you do in the spring, or do you do anything else? 

Jake Kepich:
We do. Last year, our guidance department, they coordinated an apprenticeship fair. So a lot of the employers are offering apprenticeship programs now also. And that's part of what a lot of another thing that the employers are doing to help grow recruitment is apprenticeship programs. 

Lindsey Trent:
So in the spring you have your advisory board meeting, but then you also have an apprenticeship fair where the students can come and talk about summer apprenticeship. 

Jake Kepich:
A lot. Like I said, a lot of employers have gotten their apprenticeship programs approved by the state Department of Labor and also the federal Department of Labor. And with the youth apprenticeship programs, some of the employers have a different name for it. But what they can do is they have a structured apprenticeship program for adults. And what happens is with the youth apprenticeship program, some of them call it a pre apprenticeship program. They count those hours and training towards their apprenticeship program when the students graduate. 

Lindsey Trent:
And hopefully for the summer, they'll have an apprenticeship, a paid apprenticeship, and they're going to be learning more skills throughout. 

Jake Kepich:
The summer and throughout their senior year. That's another opportunity for them. They can get credit for the work based learning program over the summer and also throughout their senior year in the state of Maryland. They have what they call blueprint money. And what they're doing is they're investing. One part of that they're investing into career and technology education programs, and a big part of that is they're putting a lot of money into the state approved youth apprenticeship programs. And one thing our CTE coordinator was just discussing was they will pay for any tools, equipment and supplies and uniforms and those things that the students need to participate in one of the approved youth apprenticeship programs. 

Lindsey Trent:
Well, so if I'm an employer in the state of Maryland and I want to adopt a apprenticeship program through the Department of Labor, who do I contact? 

Jake Kepich:
They can contact the state Department of Labor directly, or they can go the other option, they can write to their website and search for youth apprenticeship programs. And there's an application process, and then it's a pretty easy application process. But there are some steps. They have to visit the employer and go over some guidelines with them. But our work based learning, they can work with the employers in the state Department of Labor to help them with that process. 

Lindsey Trent:
Very good. So let's shift a little bit and tell me how you manage your advisory board meetings. You have an online option, somebody can virtually come in to your meeting or in person. So it's a hybrid meeting. 

Jake Kepich:
Before COVID it was just in person. And during COVID they went to, because a lot of employers weren't allowing their employees to attend meetings and events and things like that. So they were doing virtual. Only then when went back to in person meetings, they made the decision to offer virtual the option virtually or in person. 

Lindsey Trent:
How do you manage your advisory board? Who's going to be included? Is everybody welcome? And how do you manage emailing them about the meetings and communications? 

Jake Kepich:
A lot of it is. A lot of the invitations now are done by creating meetings in outlook. That's one thing I do, and to send out email invitations. So that's probably the easiest way to do things. And what I've done also is the employers that have replied, yes, or maybe I've had a student, or back then it was student that would participate, was going to participate. We've gone to offering it to more than one student. But I have them make personal phone calls to the employers and just remind them and introduce themselves and remind them of the meeting, the upcoming meeting. 

Lindsey Trent:
So are there any other things that you do that you want to share with other teachers? 

Jake Kepich:
I know it does. Every program is different. And the amount of support that the programs get from the school and administration, I know they're going to differ from school to school. We're fortunate here that I don't even have to schedule the meetings. They schedule the meetings for us because they have meetings for advisory meetings for all programs across the school. So they've got to spread them out and they got to make sure that there's no conflict with other things. And the culinary department provides lunch for the in person participants. And they do a wonderful job and they always do a knockout job with it. And there's been some because last year, one of the meetings, the students weren't going to be here that day. They didn't plan it that way, but they weren't going to be here because of something. But they catered it. 

Lindsey Trent:
So they did cater it from a local business, but they provided lunch for the participants. 
Well, thank you for being on our podcast today. And I hope that anybody that might have questions or they need help with their advisory board will watch this and they can come to me. Lindsay@nextgentrucking.org and I can get you all connected if they might have some questions for you. Are there resources that you want to share with the listeners, too, of websites that they can go to get ideas on advisory boards or on their medium heavy duty truck program? 

Jake Kepich:
Yeah, under the ASE Education foundation website, aseaoundation.org under resources there's a tab that says advisory committee and they have advisory committee sample agenda how to successfully establish an effective CTE advisory committee webinar helpful hints about advisory committees advisory committee meeting minutes suggestions as far as the meeting minutes, and they actually got a committee handbook and all of those resources were put together by the business industry. 

Lindsey Trent:
Well, thank you for being on the show today. And I just think that a lot of people will get great information from your program and what you've done for 23 years. That's incredible. Thank you for investing in the future of trucking and the youth and helping them find a great career path that hopefully they will stay in and have a long, good life as people in the trucking industry. 

Jake Kepich:
Thank you and look forward to meeting with you again. Thanks. And close.