Transcript: Mayor Adams, Chancellor Aviles Ramos Announce Expansion of Paid Internships and Career Connected Skill Building for High School Students

December 2, 2024

Melanie Mac, Interim Chief, Student Pathways, New York City Public Schools: Alright. Welcome, everybody. Good morning. I am Melanie Mac, and I am the interim chief of Student Pathways at New York City Public Schools. And it's a pleasure to be here with you today to celebrate the progress of Future Ready NYC. That's right. Thank you.

Through Future Ready, we're transforming the way New York City Public Schools prepares all students for college, career, and choice-filled lives. Thank you to Mayor Adams. Thank you to Chancellor Aviles-Ramos, Principal Harrison, city agencies, employer and higher ed partners, our partners at CSA and UFT, philanthropy, and most especially educators and students for making this a change possible. Together, we are part of a career-connected learning movement, and we're excited to hear from everybody here today. I'm thrilled to introduce Mayor Eric Adams, who first led this vision to reimagine the education experience and give students a path toward economic security and bold futures. Thank you so much, Mayor Adams, and welcome.

Mayor Eric Adams: Thank you. Such a significant introduction to our educational system, started under the previous chancellor and now being continued under this current chancellor and the entire team. I was an auto mechanic, Bristol Motors. Worked on Porsches and Volkswagens. And little did I know the training I received as a manual mechanic allowed me to assist in paying my college tuition and assisting our family. But I had a skill. No matter what happened in the economy, no matter what was there for unemployment, I was always able to go out and do my own hustle.

I would bring my bag of tools and meet people on Merrick Boulevard and change their batteries, dealt with their alternators, was insured to do oil changes, and it all added up. I was able to sustain myself, and there was a level of comfort of knowing, as I went through school to obtain my associate's degree in computers and then my bachelor's degree in criminal justice, and then my master's in public administration, no matter what happened, I knew I would never starve because I had more bills.

I would move to become the mayor because I had the skill and I did not have to do something that was improper or illegal as I moved throughout the system. That's what we're giving these young people here. It doesn't say you can't go to college. You can. But it is better to leave college that you paid off on your own than having hundreds of thousands in student loans because you had the skill of being an HVAC worker. And while you're walking through the hallways, you can hand out your card and get the contracts from the school that you're in. So there are great possibilities that what we are doing.

These young men who are standing behind me, they have a great opportunity to use those skills. Mr. President, why don't you come up and join us up here? The CSA president, it's good to have you as being a part of this. And this is a great school. It has a rich legacy. And this is one of many of the schools that we are putting in place this project.

A 21st century economy is going to need a 21st century workforce. And that's why we launched Future Ready New York City in 2022, a signature career-connected learning program that connects a student to rigorous, tailored coursework, real job credentials, paid work-based learning, and puts them on a pathway to good-paying middle-class jobs.

Today, we are expanding Future Ready NYC and bringing it to 36 schools, additional schools. Future Ready NYC will now serve 135 schools. Being able to leave school with a skill, and you can be employed because you are already getting that basic experience while you're in school, this is just an amazing achievement. There's a gap for far too many, particularly communities like Brownsville, Bedford, Stuyvesant, South Jamaica, South Bronx, etc., where there's not an automatic transition into college. Many of our family members from communities such as this, they're the first to attend college. And there are gap years. Those gap years, they're trying to decide exactly what they want to do.

I had gap years, plural, throughout my time. My mother never went to college. No one in my family attended college. I was the first one to graduate from college. There was no predestiny that college was on my pathway. And now these young people are going to be able to look towards that and be employable while they're doing it. And so we want to connect young people, young New Yorkers, to apprenticeships and job opportunities.

We're reaching our goal on a number of apprenticeships that we want to have because we know how important it is to get in the work environment to learn the skills that you need. Careers can build jobs, build communities, and it builds the future. And careers that help young people learn new skills and they earn more money. As I stated, these are middle-class working jobs.

So through Future Ready NYC, we're building a pipeline to employment, a pipeline to jobs. A pipeline to possibilities. And so today, I'm proud to announce that we are adding two new career pathways for our students in HVAC and decarbonization, as well as human and social services. Everyone is talking about the decarbonizing that's taking place globally. A young person that learns how to be part of that career, they could do it anywhere on the globe. If you can install HVAC in Manhattan, you can do it in Manchester. You can do it anywhere globally.

This is freeing our young people to be employable across the entire globe. And the human services pathway will include courses in human growth and development, counseling, and mental health. We're seeing the mental health crisis that we're facing. A young person can engage and interact with another young person to really deal with the mental health crisis that we're facing, and we want to prepare them for that and also in Advanced Placement psychology.

Future Ready NYC is a win for our young people. It's a win for our city and a win for our economy. And today's announcement is part of this administration's continued commitment to give our young people all the tools that they need. And we really want to thank the chancellor for not only her role while in the DOE, but understanding how imperative it is to move this initiative forward in the right direction. And we're going to make it happen. And I want to thank the young people who are involved in this. Thank you so much.

Mac: Thank you so much. I'd like to welcome Chancellor Aviles-Ramos to the stage. We're already on the stage. Chancellor, we're grateful for your leadership, as Mayor Adams shared, to put this vision into action and deepen engagement with students and families in this important work. Thank you, chancellor.

Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos: Good morning y buenos dias. I want to thank our Interim Chief Melanie Mac for the introduction, and of course, thank you always to Mayor Adams for his leadership and his vision behind many things. But right now, we're discussing the great vision for the work of Pathways. A special thank you also to Principal Harrison for always welcoming us into this great space and for believing in the power of career-connected learning.

It brings me so much pride to be here with all of you today at Boys and Girls High School for such a monumental announcement. Building a better future for our young people through meaningful career preparedness is a major priority for this administration.

And today, we proudly continue on this journey with the help of some key partners in the room.

The work of Future Ready New York City is a major mayoral initiative and is designed to expose our students to myriad career opportunities and lead them to long-term economic security. This past year alone, we put over $8.2 million into the hands of our high school students through our work-based learning opportunities. That's $8.2 million into the hands of 10,000 high school students before they even leave high school. That was done through our work-based learning opportunities, which range from internships, to modern youth apprenticeships in the private sector and city agencies.

This is a true testament to the difference career-connected learning is already making in the lives of our students, putting them on a trajectory that will not only impact them but their entire families as the mayor described. And this is really, really meaningful to people like the mayor and me given our backgrounds being first generation college students ourselves.

We are creating generational wealth and well-being when we give our young people the tools that they need to succeed in their post secondary endeavors. And through Future Ready, we have grown to providing 15,000 students across 135 schools with early access to high growth, high wage careers through rigorous coursework, job certifications, on the job experience, early college credit and one on one advising to create strong post secondary plans.

We also are proud to announce the two new pathways, heating ventilation and cooling and decarbonization, as well as human and social services. This is the Future Ready way. Bringing together the very best of career-connected learning to empower our students to find the careers that they love. This expansion is groundbreaking. And there's so much to be proud of, but of course, there's so much more work to be done.

Y ahora, en español, por favor.

Nuestros estudiantes merecen un futuro lleno de posibilidades y oportunidades. Por eso me llena de entusiasmo estar aquí hoy para hablar de la aplicación de la iniciativa Future Ready.

Este último año, invertimos más de ocho millones de dólares en nuestros estudiantes a través de pasantías y otros tipos de oportunidades laborales, tanto en el sector privado como en agencias en la ciudad. Estamos ampliando el programa para agregar 36 escuelas más y dos nuevos programas, sistema de HVAC y descarbonización―esa palabrita está fuerte―, y servicios humanos y sociales.

Translation: And now, in Spanish, please.

Our students deserve a future full of possibilities and opportunities. That's why I'm excited to be here today to talk about the implementation of the Future Ready initiative.

This past year, we invested more than eight million dollars in our students through internships and other types of work opportunities, both in the private sector and in agencies in the city. We are expanding the program to add 36 more schools and two new programs, HVAC and decarbonization - that little word is strong. And human and social services.

As I close, I want to thank the ecosystem of partners coming together to drive this transformation, employers, CBOs, philanthropy, higher education, including our phenomenal partners at CUNY. CUNY has played an integral role in the development of this program, and we're so grateful to them.

Again, I want to thank Melanie Mac, our interim chief and the entire Student Pathways team, and I can't wait for you to hear from Catherine, our proud student who's going to tell you more about the amazing work that they're doing. Thank you so much y mil gracias.

Mac: Thank you, and shout out to the chancellor for talking about decarbonization in all languages. We commend Principal Harrison for her steadfast commitment to career-connected learning. In partnership with Superintendent Ross, she has activated the promise of Future Ready NYC on the strong history of career and technical education here at Boys and Girls High School. We are inspired by her success. Welcome Principal Harrison. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much.

Grecian Harrison, Principal, Boys and Girls High School: Good morning. We are truly excited to be one of the partner schools with Future Ready. The implementation of the Future Ready HVAC program at Boys and Girls High School provides a rare opportunity for students to learn about the intrinsic operations of the system and give them a jumpstart on a lucrative career in heating, cooling, ventilation, and refrigeration.

This is a high demand industry and our scholars are learning about energy efficient systems and the integral ways that this knowledge can open doors for them. Additionally, the implementation of this program will create job opportunities for New York City Public School students in a growing field that can also lead to connections in other trade areas and enhance their skills in design, installation, maintenance, and repair. As we continue to prepare scholars for the 21st century workforce, I know that this program will inevitably help students to understand the importance of using critical thinking skills when collaborating with their peers to troubleshoot issues while working with HVAC systems.

When students are able to articulate their learning, it can also empower them to expand their knowledge in the field and promote sustainability, practices that will ultimately create a greener community. This has been the vision for this initiative and this is to help integrate real-world skills and experience into the classroom while giving students a head start on their college and career pathways. I would like to thank Mayor Adams and Chancellor Aviles-Ramos for their support in providing the blueprint for this innovative work in New York City Public Schools.

Chancellor Aviles-Ramos has been forthcoming about her desire for students throughout the city to have access, to not only have choice in various programs within community schools, but ensure that we are preparing them for life after high school. Thank you both for your commitment to student success and investing in their future.

Mac: Okay, the part we've all been waiting for. I'm delighted to introduce Katheryn Chavelo Mosso, a sophomore here at Boys and Girls High School. Students like Catherine are the reason we are here today. We are excited to build pathways to inspiring careers for students just like Catherine. Welcome, Catherine.

Katheryn Chavelo Mosso: As introduced, my name is Katheryn Mosso, and I am a fellow sophomore here at Boys and Girls, and I'm in the architectural drawing CTE program. I'm grateful to be part of this program with Ms. Beckford, as my architecture teacher, and introduced by my friend Ya-Niyah, who sadly couldn't make it. I've always wanted an education that prepares me for a successful future with good jobs. What I love about this program is how it connects what I'm learning to real-world opportunities.

A few weeks ago, we had a really fun workshop with our industry partner, Passive House for Everyone, where we built miniature Passive House exterior walls, models to learn about energy-efficient building designs. This hands-on activity helped me understand how sustainable building works to contribute positively to climate action. This experience was not only fun, it also showed me how these skills can help me to get a green sector job one day while also helping our planet, and thus all our communities.

Learning about sustainable architecture here at Boys and Girls prepares me for a future where I can make a difference for myself and for everyone. And I'm so excited to keep growing this program, and I hope more students will have this opportunity.

Mac: Thank you, Catherine, and thank you all again for being here today. We are so proud of what we've accomplished through Future Ready NYC. We're in a new era of career-connected learning in New York City Public Schools that is going to require the continued partnership of all the wonderful people here today and supporting this program. Together, we are creating more equitable pathways to high-wage, high-growth careers for all of our students in New York City. Thank you so much.

Mayor Adams: We've got the president here. Why don't you say a few comments on this program, President?

Henry Rubio, President, Council of School Supervisors: Can't say no to the mayor. I wasn't expecting to say a few words, but just really authentically from my heart, thanks to the mayor, not only for this program that's bringing real resources to real children and phenomenal real school leaders like Principal Harrison. Let's give them all a round of applause. You're the real chancellor.

The chancellor and I are both high school principals, in fact. And so I've got to commend, mayor, the team that you have here, that you started with Jade and now Melanie. We're colleagues. We've been friends for a long time.

And this has been a real partnership the entire time with the Council for School Administrators and school leaders in taking these ideas and making them real, hearing the voice of principals, the resources that we need. And I'm telling you, this is a program that's game-changing, what's happening with students. And this is only one of so many students across the city, as I visit programs like this, that are changing their lives, putting smiles on their faces like you see here today, and really connecting them to real careers. And showing the meaning between what's happening in the classroom and how this is going to impact their life in the future.

And so on behalf of our 6,500 members, thank you for doing this. This is 135 out of about 540 schools, so we have more work to do. That's my pitch for more resources. Because we really believe this is working. Not only, I think this is a real signature program. And I want to take just the opportunity to thank both the chancellor and mayor for holding our schools harmless this school year. We understand, right, the impact that has in maintaining stability in the system. And we understand that over time, we're going to have to right-size our schools and our budgets. But right now, the most important thing we need to do is keep our schools stable and safe and providing the resources our kids need.

This is not going into our pockets. This is going to the hearts and souls of our children and their future. So, Mr. Mayor, thank you again for taking the lead on that. And congratulations.

Mayor Adams: Thank you. I really want to thank Abigail for, you know, your continuous work in this area as well. Employment. Jobs, jobs, jobs. Why don't we have a few on-topic questions?

Question: Yes, I have one for Catherine and one for the mayor. Don't be nervous.

When I was in school, which was like 50 million years ago, students just assumed they would have a job when they were done. I was just wondering, do you and your friends talk about that you're worried that when you're done with high school, there isn't much out there? Or what does it mean to you to have some kind of an apprenticeship program in terms of what your future is like?

Chavelo Mosso: I feel like this program allows me to like know how the jobs out there really is. Learning how to do the green building wall helps me understand how houses can be built differently to save energy and to recover heat.

Question: Mayor, your auto mechanic repair skills, which you now add to your LinkedIn page is yet another job we didn't know about.

Mayor Adams: Many jobs.

Question: Did you retain any of that? I'm just wondering, like, when you're riding around with your detail, like, are you ever telling them, pop the hood, walk me through what you retained?

Mayor Adams: No, first of all, those are both great questions. You know, our young people are really afraid when they finish their formal education. It's almost like a cliff. Once they graduate, you know, the system basically says, okay, we're done with you, you know, figure it out on your own.

And to many families outside these communities that I grew up in, there's already a pathway. They know what college they're going into. They're already saved for college. They know the professors on the school. But that is not the norm for communities like the one I grew up in. You know, my mother had no idea what was the whole process of going to college. And so by doing this, we are taking some of that fear out. We can't take all of it out, but we are alleviating a lot of that fear because now they're going to have the skill.

And now, to answer the question about being the foundation of a mechanic, it has helped me a lot throughout my life, you know. I never in my life bought a new car, so my cars broke down all the time. And I was able to repair them. But not only was I able to repair my personal vehicles, my family members had a problem. And so the holistic approach to all that you've acquired in life helps you on the journey. And I think that's the key to the journey of life. And, you know, many of those jobs that people look down on, they play the role on me getting to the journey that I am now. Having your hands dirty is not a bad occupation.

Question: What's your signature move? The oil change?

Mayor Adams: Timing chain. Many people don't know about these timing chains, but it's a- knowing that skill is a profitable skill because you have to remove almost the entire front of an engine. And I was able to do it well. I was able to do it fast. I was pretty good at doing it.

Question: Mayor, I can tell you with the HVAC stuff, as someone who contracted it recently, it pays and it's hard to find people to do it right. So I hear you.

On this week more broadly, you announced that this was the kickoff to Affordability Week in your press announcement. Why start with this initiative? Why is this one so important? Why is it batting leadoff? And how indirect response was this to what voters essentially said three weeks ago?

Mayor Adams: Affordability. Affordability. Affordability. What we've done in this administration in two years and 11 months, 30 percent decrease in unemployment, and particularly in black and brown communities, doing our job fairs. When we go out there and we do our job fairs in the communities, we're hearing from people about, you know, what is impacting their affordability going from job to job, not having health care, not having a pension, not having that stability.

And we know that we have to start the process of getting these young people on the pathway to being employed so they could afford to purchase a home, they could afford to be able to raise their children and families. So we wanted to start here in the schools with our amazing principals and state that if we could allow people to be gainfully employed, they could deal with the affordability issue.

It is expensive to live in the city. When you have a good paying job, it can put you on that pathway to the affordability issue. So we wanted to start here. This is what we hear the most. Affordability, being able to live in New York. And that's why we wanted to start with these young people so they know they have an opportunity in the city.

Question: And more broadly, my second part of the question, I know it got muddied a little bit by me, admittedly. Was this kind of conceived in the aftermath of the election, sort of making sure we're focusing here?

Mayor Adams: Yep, that's what we heard. We heard it over and over again. You know, we sat down, and we analyzed the results of the election. What were people asking for? What was important to them? And this is one of the items. There were other items that are important to them. This was one of them, being prepared for the future.

These, you know, when you speak, I think Andrew's question was significant. When I speak to these young people in college, or what have you, they're concerned about their future. They just don't see that they are future ready. And that's why we have this Future Ready.

And you're hearing from young people, young people across the entire country, of what is the future going to hold? And is my future going to be hundreds of thousands of dollars in student loans, debt, inability to hold down a job? Is artificial intelligence going to change, you know, our ability to be employed? And this is what we heard come out of the election. Affordability is one of the top issues, as well as, you know, some of the others. But affordability, and this is a way to be, to make people be able to live in the city that they love. Cities.

Question: Mayor, can you tell us, or maybe this is better for the chancellor, I guess, is this, are these new programs starting this year? Do they start next year? What's like the, have they been popular, these new categories so far?

Chancellor Aviles-Ramos: Sorry. Jill, I'm actually going to pass it over to our interim chief, so that way she can do more of the content-based questions.

Mac: Thanks for the question. The 36 new schools that have started this year and the two new pathways, they are up and running, although we're doing a lot of learning in the HVAC decarbonization pathway in particular. And so there's schools across all five boroughs that have students like Catherine who are starting their Future Ready journey.

Question: And then maybe just for the chancellor, because this is a little bit more broad, but new enrollment numbers came out, I think, last week, largely steady, slightly down. I'm wondering if you see pathways as sort of a way to entice families to keep their children in New York City public schools at the high school level rather than potentially transferring out somewhere private.

Chancellor Aviles-Ramos: 100 percent. And, you know, when I hear the mayor speak about his experience with something practical that really shapes his journey, I think about how I graduated from Fordham with a focus on medieval studies, which is promising because you too can be a chancellor if you major in medieval studies, but that is not typically the case.

And when I graduated from high school, I said, now what? And I found a job on Wall Street and only because the hiring manager also graduated from Fordham and had an affinity for medieval studies, and she gave me a break. But had I not had the network of my university, I really don't know where I would have landed. I truly didn't know what to do with that. And luckily I saw the advertisements for New York City Teaching Fellows and said, you know what, I want to be a teacher.

But when I was coming up, it was teacher, lawyer, doctor, journalist, you didn't think about all the other careers that were available to you. And so Future Ready really provides our students an opportunity to learn all these different skills that are aligned with their interests and then say to themselves, hey, I can build my economic stability now as a young person while I decide to go to college or just stay in this phenomenal career that's giving me an opportunity to do better for my family.

So when I think of my own personal experience and what drove my mother towards Catholic school, I think about these amazing, innovative programs that are really making New York City public schools not a decent option, not a good option, but a great option.

Rubio: I want to jump in because I think- I've got to give you guys more credit than the public understands. Our children are leaving the system and graduating with an industry certification, right? So there's certainty about what they're going to get paid. And some of these students are going into high, you know, well-paying union jobs as well. So that brings a lot of level of stability to their future and their income.

And so they know whether it's food or finance or HVAC or all of these programs lead to a career that they can start immediately after they graduate or work and go to school, do something else. So again, we commend you guys for that. Thank you.

Mayor Adams: And we, you know, we historically, particularly in black and brown communities, we look down on these jobs. And if you weren't college-bound, you all of a sudden are considered to be a failure, and it's wrong.
You know, I knew I was in the wrong occupation when my plumber drove off in a Porsche, you know. You know, as you stated, you needed an HVAC person, an electrician, a carpenter, being able to build a passive house and design a passive house. We need to change our mindset. Having your hands dirty, doing a blue-collar job is a pathway into the middle class, and it's a sustainable place. Good-paying, union-skilled jobs.

And then if you want to go back to college, it took me 14, 15 years before I got my master's, but I was able to go back. I graduated without any student loan at all because I was able to have a skill that paid that tuition. And we just need to change our thoughts, and that's what this chancellor is doing, that having a good-paying, skilled job is a pathway into the middle class and beyond. You can start your own business and own a chain of HVAC companies. So that's what we need to give our young people, the skill for the future.

Question: Hi, Mr. Mayor. How are you?

Mayor Adams: Quite well. How are you doing?

Question: Thank you. So I just had a question for you, and maybe the chancellor after this. You mentioned that the apprenticeship helped you get your hands dirty but your life clean. Was there, like, a linchpin that led you into the apprenticeship? Was there, like, what was your life looking like prior to that?

Mayor Adams: Yeah, I-

Question: Sorry, the second question. I don't know whether it's you or the chancellor, but could you explain how the 30 million is distributed among the 135 schools?

Mayor Adams: I did co-op. I don't know if they still have co-ops now. I worked- They do? Okay.

You know, I worked a week and I went to school a week. And it really- coming from South Jamaica, Queens, going to Pete Malkin Mitchell on Lexington Avenue, I was there the other day in the same stock room that I worked and talked to some of the young people there. But it introduced me to people. It took me out of the fishbowl of South Jamaica, Queens, and told me that there was a whole world out there.

And it helped me embrace the anti-Christopher Columbus theory that if I left my block, I won't fall off the globe. There was a lot to explore. And the lack of exposure is hurting young people in the city. They grow up in one square mile, they go to school in one square mile, they play in one square mile. What this administration has been attempting to do is to have them lean into their discomfort and get outside that one square mile and realize there's an entire universe out there that's waiting for them.

And I think we take it for granted. You know, Jordan never had to worry about one square mile because his dad broke free of that one square mile. But you would be surprised how many family members have generations in one square mile. They know nothing about a museum, nothing about a Central Park, nothing about a Wall Street, and we have to break free of that.

So our education is not only making them academically smart, we need to make them emotionally intelligent and unafraid to explore this entire city and this entire globe. And prior to that co-op experience, I was stuck into that one square mile. You said you wanted to ask the chancellor something?

Question: Oh, yeah, and just how is the 30 million distributed among the schools?

Mac: Well, I can add on a little bit about the apprenticeships. I think that what is exciting about the 527 apprentices that we've placed so far and another 350 next year is we wanted to do two things as New York City Public Schools.

We wanted to first establish that youth apprenticeship is a viable pathway and plan for our young people starting in high school. And our apprentices are in tech, healthcare, business, gaining real experience and momentum as the mayor and the chancellor both spoke to.

But the other thing that's really important about the apprenticeship work is expanding a universal career readiness within the schools where apprentices are placed. So every 9th and 10th grader having explicit career readiness coursework to really think about high school as that launch pad and to think about the exploration and awareness that helps spark students' personal decisions on their path. So that was just on the apprenticeship.

And in terms of the $30 million that goes to schools, so that's disseminated across our 135 high schools like this school that we're in today. And it's supporting schools in implementing what's really transformational. How is internship and apprenticeship and other sorts of work-based learning offered at the school, in conjunction with all of the really important foundations that are part of working towards a high school diploma?

How are teachers who go to high school able to offer relevant, authentic instruction in HVAC and decarbonization or in a healthcare or tech pathway? Bringing those experts into the school building and directly to students like the one you heard from today.

Question: Is it disseminated equally or is there like a certain criteria for schools to get more funding or not?

Mac: So it's disseminated based on the number of students who are enrolling in the pathways in these schools.

Mayor Adams: Yes, yes and I know you got a lot of questions from Biden pardons to all sorts of things, but I'll see you tomorrow.

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