Dr. Cox, could you please share how these connections are successful in Montgomery County Educational Service Center in general, especially with the business and school partners?

Absolutely.

So in the state of Ohio, every public school district is required to be part of a business advisory council, and they can do that either on their own, and we have examples of that all across the state, or they can be part of one as a consortium.

So Montgomery County ESC brings together the 16 public school districts in Montgomery County, three public school districts in Warren County.

But more importantly, we work with our trade organizations, we work with our policymakers, and we bring everybody together to sit down at the table and have really real conversations about what do we need to do differently in order to make certain that our students can graduate from any school within Montgomery County or in Warren County or in the state of Ohio and make certain that they've got a real viable outcome for a living wage opportunity to stay right here in the state of Ohio.

Those business advisory council efforts help us really break down the barriers.

When we talk about partnerships and we talk about the community wrapping their hands and arms around our students and our families, we had to redefine and shift mindsets.

I'm wondering, what would you recommend to encourage business leaders in the local community to lean in to providing early exposure for workforce?