Photo courtesy: Dallas ISD
As an industry partner with the South Oak Cliff High School P-TECH, PepsiCo and Frito-Lay are showing students great potential opportunities available to them after high school.PepsiCo and Frito-Lay have developed and implemented programming with the SOC P-TECH that covers careers, college, communication, leadership, collaboration, time management, public speaking, resumes and interviewing. PepsiCo and Frito-Lay have hosted college and career fairs where more than 150 associates mentored 300 students by sharing their college experiences.
Also, PepsiCo and Frito-Lay launched a mentorship program that has 20 mentors/mentees and hosted three summer interns as part of the Dallas Mayor’s Intern Fellows Program. PepsiCo and Frito-Lay provide SOC with a Food for Good monthly donation of nutritional food and snacks for the 60 known homeless students who attend the school.
“At our Frito-Lay, Gatorade and Pepsi businesses, we have 1,500 full-time positions within a 20-mile drive of South Oak Cliff High School,” said Kathy Alfano, a senior director of economic development at PepsiCo. “Our goal is to build opportunities through our work in Southern Dallas and P-TECH that will create ongoing future growth for our city – including the potential for these students to pursue jobs at PepsiCo.”
Meanwhile, SOC Assistant Principal Victoria Davis said PepsiCo and Frito-Lay are having a tremendous positive impact on the students.
“The partnership with PepsiCo and Frito-Lay have helped create a climate of career readiness that prepares the students for their future,” Davis said. “Their constant presence at SOC P-TECH enables the students to build a solid foundation of preparedness for the professional world, which brings timeless experiences such as mentorships, career/college fairs, site visits, and internships.”
P-TECH, which stands for Pathways in Technology Early College High School, is a global education model consisting of a partnership between a school, higher-education institution, and industry partner. High school students enrolled in a P-TECH can earn an associate degree or up to 60 hours of tuition-free college credit. Dallas ISD is home to 18 P-TECHs.
In addition, students enrolled in a P-TECH develop skills in a specific academic pathway through mentorships and internships with industry partners. This enables students to enter the job market with work-ready skills.
“Dallas ISD has put together a transformative educational program for high school students with the P-TECH program, as it encourages students to pursue associate degrees while completing high school and obtain mentoring and job experiences directly from corporate partners like PepsiCo and Frito-Lay,” Alfano said.
