{"podcast":{"title":"College & Career Readiness Radio","slug":"college-career-readiness-radio-7075667","podcast_index_feed_id":7075667,"rss_url":"https://media.rss.com/college-and-career-readiness-radio/feed.xml","website_url":"https://www.maialearning.com/","image_url":"https://media.rss.com/college-and-career-readiness-radio/20250804_050839_cc2cb728133863268880b155262ae17b.png","author":"T.J. Vari","episode_count":43,"summary":"College & Career Readiness Radio with T.J. Vari A podcast about all things career and college readiness. Brought to you by MaiaLearning.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-22T02:20:24.060796+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/college-career-readiness-radio-7075667"},"episode":{"title":"Placing Students at the Center of Work-Based Learning with Brian Johnson","slug":"placing-students-at-the-center-of-work-based-learning-with-brian-johnson","published_at":"2026-01-20T11:30:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/college-career-readiness-radio-7075667/placing-students-at-the-center-of-work-based-learning-with-brian-johnson","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/college-career-readiness-radio-7075667","url":"https://rss.com/podcasts/college-and-career-readiness-radio/2470945","audio_url":"https://content.rss.com/episodes/292064/2470945/college-and-career-readiness-radio/2026_01_19_23_28_51_f2e407c9-23c1-4d7d-b53f-504a749a4217.mp3","summary":"Our guest for this episode of College & Career Readiness Radio is Brian Johnson. Brian explains why simply “placing kids” isn’t enough and why districts must define clear quality criteria so work-based learning experiences are aligned, mentored, and meaningful. He shares the six basic characteristics he uses to vet opportunities: minimum hours, alignment to a student’s pathway of study, a professional mentor/supervisor, a real-world environment, student interest, and space for students to discover what they don’t want. Brian describes his student intake process, where he learns about each student’s pathway, interests, dislikes, and dream organizations and uses that to co‑design potential placements. He has students spend two weeks actively using their own networks—family, neighbors, community—to try to find a placement, teaching them that finding a job is a skill and giving them “skin in the game.” Brian notes that 50–60% of students typically find their own placements, and then he steps in to formalize details with partners and ensure the experience meets district criteria. He talks about preparing and coaching industry partners, including helping them understand the developmental realities of working with teenagers and why their feedback is so powerful. Brian outlines a clear termination process: partners coach first, but if performance doesn’t improve, they are encouraged to end the placement just as they would in real life. He emphasizes that termination should be a learning experience, not the end of the road, and he builds in a redemption process so students can reflect, get coaching, and try again. In the redemption phase, students must fully own the search for their next experience, while Brian commits to supporting them (including making calls alongside th…","meta_description":"Our guest for this episode of College & Career Readiness Radio is Brian Johnson. Brian explains why simply “placing kids” isn’t enough and why distric…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2085,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/college-career-readiness-radio-7075667/episodes/placing-students-at-the-center-of-work-based-learning-with-brian-johnson/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/college-career-readiness-radio-7075667/placing-students-at-the-center-of-work-based-learning-with-brian-johnson.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}