Some conversations pick up right where you left off, even when the work has changed.

That’s how I felt sitting down with my longtime friend and colleague Don Fraser for the EdGate Powers podcast as part of our CTE Rising series. The conversations thus far have all been truly engaging, and Don's certainly did not disappoint.

In 2017, Don and I worked together on a skills project when he was at Education Design Lab and I was CEO of CareerPath. We brought together his skills content and our mobile toolkit to deliver learning experiences and track skill development for a cohort of students at the University at Albany, SUNY.

We were working on a question that still matters today: How do we help students recognize the skills they are developing, practice them intentionally, and connect them to opportunities ahead?

Don now works independently, helping young people find pathways to success. His experience as an educator, entrepreneur, and leader gives him a broad perspective. But what I’ve always appreciated most is how consistently he brings the conversation back to the learner.

What does this person need? What do they already bring to the table? Have we actually asked them?

Skill building needs an earlier start

One of the strongest messages from our conversation was that developing skills requires sustained attention. An occasional career day, assessment, or job shadow can open a door. Students also need opportunities to revisit what they experienced, understand what they learned, and keep practicing.

That applies to the durable skills we discussed: communication, creative problem solving, empathy, and resilience. These capabilities matter across technical education, college, employment, and everyday life.

We should be helping young people build them early, while also helping them recognize the skills they already use.

Don offered the example of a student working as a barista. That student may be learning to communicate under pressure, navigate difficult interactions, and work effectively with others. Yet they may describe their experience simply as making coffee.

An adult who asks thoughtful questions can help that student see more: what they handled, how they responded, and where those abilities might take them.

Naming a skill gives a young person something to understand and develop.

Have we left enough room for discovery?

Our conversation also left me thinking about the environments we create for young people.

I wonder whether, in our understandable desire to help them succeed, we sometimes organize too much of the discovery out of their lives.

When we fill every hour, provide every next step, or intervene before a problem becomes uncomfortable, how much room remains for them to work something out themselves?

Structured activities and adult guidance have real value. So does the experience of encountering an unfamiliar problem, making a decision, and living with an imperfect result.

As an entrepreneur, I’ve learned a great deal from things that didn’t go according to plan. Resilience develops through those experiences, especially when there’s an opportunity to reflect and try again.

Young people deserve manageable opportunities to do that, with adults available to support them. A project with more than one possible answer. A responsibility they genuinely own. A setback they can work through.

Starting early means making room for those experiences throughout their development.

Give students a meaningful role

Don also emphasized including learners in the design of their own experiences.

When we ask students what’s working, listen to their answers, and involve them in solving a problem, we give them a reason to engage. We also create an opportunity to practice the very skills we want them to develop.

They have to explain their thinking, consider another perspective, and help turn an idea into something workable.

For educators, that might begin with inviting students to improve an assignment or address a school issue. For employers, it could mean giving an intern a meaningful problem to investigate. For parents, it might mean allowing a young person to plan something and navigate the complications.

The adults still have an essential role. We can set boundaries, offer feedback, and help students reflect without making every decision for them.

What CTE Rising can make possible

For me, the promise of CTE Rising includes a broader understanding of what success can look like and how we prepare young people to pursue it.

Technical learning creates valuable opportunities to apply knowledge, solve problems, and see the consequences of decisions. Those experiences become even more useful when students can identify the skills they practiced and understand where they need to grow.

That brings me back to the work Don and I did together in 2017. Making skill development visible remains an important challenge. So does giving students enough opportunity to develop those skills in the first place.

I’m grateful to Don for a conversation that brought both questions into focus.

We can begin early, listen more closely, and give young people meaningful room to discover what they’re capable of.

Watch my conversation with Don Fraser on the EdGate Powers podcast, part of our CTE Rising series.