#22 Guest: Joanna Staib and Jon Wickert on Delaware Pathways now provides 70% of the state’s students with career-ready skills

In this episode, I’m joined by two of Delaware’s workforce and CTE leaders — Joanna Staib, Statewide Coordinator of Delaware’s new Office of Workforce Development, and Dr. Jon Wickert, Director of Career & Technical Education at the Delaware Department of Education. Together, they co-chair Delaware Pathways, a statewide strategy designed to ensure every learner has a clear, supported route to career and life success. Delaware Pathways has scaled fast — reaching 68% of Delaware high school students and 84% of middle school students — and the state is aiming even higher over the next few years. Top 3 Insights:  Scale with clarity, not complexity: Jon shares that the biggest driver of growth has been a simple, shared vision — with clear measures of success — and leadership that keeps partners aligned. Quality and trust come before speed. Career navigators start in 6th grade: A major next step is building a true advising pipeline beginning in middle school. Navigators will help students explore careers early, “toe-dip” into pathways, and switch within clusters without starting over — all to ensure a smooth transition into high school and beyond. This is a workforce strategy — full stop: Joanna explains why Pathways goes far beyond K-12. Delaware is pushing to grow immersive work-based learning from 15% to 45%, and expand registered apprenticeships from 2,000 students to 3,000, backed by stronger cross-agency coordination and new data systems. We close with a powerful north star: not just helping students make a plan, but ensuring they “land successfully on day one” after graduation — in college, training, or a career with real economic mobility. Links mentioned for show notes: Delaware Pathways Website Delaware Student Success Website