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Inside IALR Podcast: Aha Moments and Career Exploration: The GO TEC Classroom Experience

January 26, 2026

Inside IALR Podcast: Aha Moments and Career Exploration: The GO TEC Classroom Experience

GO TEC — Great Opportunities in Technology and Engineering Careers — is transforming how middle schoolers explore potential futures. Today’s episode dives deep into how it works. 

Host Caleb Ayers sits down with GO TEC teachers Laurie Cossaboon and Justin Adams, along with GO TEC Region 3 Training Coordinator Chris Griffith, to unpack the program’s statewide expansion and classroom impact.

The conversation explores the eleven GO TEC modules, which introduce students to everything from precision machining and robotics to cybersecurity, healthcare and virtual reality welding. The guests share how the program adapts to different school schedules, how teachers receive hands‑on training at regional training labs and why the “aha moments” are so frequent in these classes.

They also highlight how GO TEC helps students understand math and science concepts in practical, memorable ways, sometimes even changing how students view themselves and their abilities. With stories ranging from welding tournaments to coding breakthroughs, this episode shows how GO TEC connects curiosity with real opportunity.

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