Tyler Mayer
===

Vince: [00:00:00] I guess that's the difference. You guys have Boy Scouts to talk about. I have to refer back to memories of being a Boy Scout. Yeah. Because with three daughters. No, you're not doing that. Troop 174 has not been a part of my life. It's been replaced by other things. Uh huh. So you guys get to talk about a hike this weekend.

I get to talk about my first dad's weekend at IU, which part of me is excited about. Yeah. Part of me is a little concerned 

Tyler: about. Sure. Did you train for the dad's weekend? 

Vince: No. Well, I did not. And I think I told. Joe this already, I sent Mia a text back saying, by the way, I am not doing any shots this weekend.

And the response I got back was just LOL. Uh huh. Yeah. 

Tyler: Like that's not gonna do it. Yeah, she sounds like a, like a Evil villain that's just like, oh you don't think you are, but just you wait. I was at a wedding this weekend of a former student and going to the wedding. I didn't think that I'm going to see, uh, but that, you know, 85 percent of the wedding party on both sides, they married each other.

There were two chitard students that married each other and the amount of [00:01:00] people that came up like, Mr. Merrill, let's do a shot. I wouldn't, I've, I wouldn't be alive today if I had said yes to all of that. There is something about like, let's get this person to do a shot with you. That seems to be like you've climbed Mount Everest.

So yeah. 

Joe: Well, the good news is you won't need a. Two forms of ID to get in the bars, so there's that. 

Vince: Well, since he's just a freshman, we won't be going to the bars. Yeah, right. I guess, as of right now, that's okay. 

Joe: Yeah. She's a freshman? No, your daughter's a sophomore. Sophomore. 

Vince: Did I say freshman? You did. Oh, shit.

That's alright. Well, she's not 

Tyler: 21. 

Joe: There you go. Yeah. Well, depends on which ID you're 

Tyler: looking at. True. 

Vince: I don't know what you're talking 

Joe: about. I saw her, her name is Barbara Freysand. And 

Tyler: she's 6'4 And part Haitian. So I think that's interesting. That is interesting. 

Joe: Well, she plays the part. I mean, if you're gonna get a fake ID, at least make the description accurate to your physical appearance.

Tyler: Right. I mean, she towers at what? 5'8 [00:02:00] Not quite. Not quite. Yeah, okay. Alright. 

Joe: With lifts. Right, sure. Yeah, yeah. 

Tyler: Yeah. 

Vince: Are you talking about my height? 5'8 That's about right. That's about right. 

Tyler: Yeah, yeah. There you go. Yeah, yeah. What a good day. Where is, 

Vince: where is the hike this weekend? 

Tyler: It is at CYO Camp, Rancho Formaso.

Yeah. Oh, okay. 

Vince: That's a good site. What's the activity, or what's the 

Joe: theme? Well, it's the first hike of the year, so they, uh, all the patrols, obviously, have only been together for, uh, One week, so it's a team building hike and the nice thing about, you know, shout out to CYO at specifically at Camp Rancho Fremasa they have a Skills challenge course sort of like an obstacle course.

So the theme is team building which is Which is appropriate from in in terms of the bucket of you know, life building skills or life skills, I should say And, uh, I think that's the thrust. There's no Iron Chef or anything like that that 

Tyler: I [00:03:00] think of. Well, there might be Iron Chef. Only because I had to run to the grocery store this morning to get a couple ingredients for my son.

But he could... He takes after his mother, so he might not be as smart as others. And so he might think Iron Chef is a different one. 

Joe: So do you want us to start the tape over? No, no, no. You want to 

Tyler: roll that? She's not going to listen. Anything I do, she's going to... Lock it in, Chris. Yeah. She's not gonna listen.

You know 

Joe: when this podcast is gonna get heard is when you see the mushroom cloud. 

Tyler: I Just want to know if you guys have an extra couch for me to stay on yeah, that's really all I was angling for from Yeah, yeah, it's good. It is comfortable, 

Vince: too. Oh good 

Joe: That's what that's one of those like I saw that coming out differently in my yeah 

Tyler: Yeah, I really don't like myself very much if I say things like 

Joe: that.

I thought Iron Chef was usually the second high contender. That's what I don't know for sure. No, I think you're 

Tyler: right. I said something. But he was adamant so I went and got the, you know, ingredients for these special mashed potatoes he wants to make, so. Well, maybe it 

Joe: is. We 

Vince: did not do Iron, well [00:04:00] there was no Iron Chef back in the 80s when I was in scouting.

Tyler: 80s? Yeah, 80s. 

Joe: Wow. Okay. Yeah. Well, I do like speaking of Iron Chef and speaking of of leadership and developing young men, uh, to become, you know, well respected, uh, contributing adults. The Iron Chef, each patrol, which has about seven to eight boys in it, ranging from fifth grade to really probably freshman year in high school.

So what is that? 11 to 14? Yeah. Uh, they have to make a full meal. So dinner, a couple of sides and a dessert using Dutch oven and campfire. And then they get judged in the winning patrol. Their reward is the Scoutmaster, uh, Mr. Otty, dresses up full tuxedo and the bus crew makes them a steak [00:05:00] meal that is, that would rival anything from St.

Elmo or Roost Chris or Harry and Izzy's, anything like that. That is their reward. It's, it's pretty. Pretty fun 

Tyler: to watch. Yeah, it's pretty incredible to I mean the food from that bus crew is amazing But then it's the presentation, right? So that's my favorite what part watching the boys and present the meals they made and it's like equally if is it good But also how they present it and that's kind of fun too because the ingredients aren't great, right?

So there's I think spam is part of it spam is 

Joe: part of it So yeah pork chops and there's spam and then there's a potato dish Yeah. And then that the peach cobbler, I think it is usually the dessert. And the key, of course, is getting the cake portion of the collar to actually cook through and everything else.

And then they, you know, then people bring their own little secret weapons, like Oreo cookie crumbles and things like that. But Yeah, you said you mentioned the bus crew. I just want to clarify for those listeners, including your wife, who's already probably burnt the [00:06:00] tape, correct? Um, that the bus crew does phenomenal cooking for the scouts.

But for the adults, we actually have to forge for our own food, right? And we have to sleep on the dirt ground. No tense. It's a It's really hard, really hard for the dads and the moms that go on the hike, right? Mhm. So, like, I just want to put that out there. That is not a luxury 

Tyler: getaway for us. No, for all those spouses out there that think it's just a fun weekend, where the food is delicious, and, no.

It's a lot of just twigs and berries. Warm, tepid water. Yes. Uh, whether it's, you know, safe to drink or not, you have to drink it, because you have to stay hydrated. It's B Y O I O T A B S. Correct, yeah. And that's all for the kids, 

Vince: So now that the level of bullshit is rising in this room, that's great. Yeah.

Um, I just realized, this is the hike 

Tyler: I want to go on, right? Yeah, I mean, it's an easy one. There are some that aren't easy, like the winter ones are not easy. Yeah, I remember those. The winter ones are, like, the one two years ago was like 20 below. The January 

Joe: hike was a record cold. 

Tyler: Yeah. Yeah. Although there was one, Lesturgen brought his tent and he was baking [00:07:00] pies.

He ha That's not a tent. That's a yurt. That's true. That's true. That has a full on yurt. Yeah. I think it takes him about three days. 

Joe: Days. It has a, it has a Woodburn stove in the tent. Mm-Hmm. the, the yurt. Yeah. I mean if it's a tent, it would be a circus tent. That's 

Vince: correct. He's being 

Tyler: industrious, that's for sure.

way to bring it all the way back around. Exactly. You guys are pros. Segue just roses. We try. 

Joe: Feel like we're leaning into an intro here. . Yeah. Let's 

Vince: a roll. Okay. Okay.

Tyler: Hey, everybody 

Vince: out there, welcome back to another episode of the industrious podcast. Thank you all for joining us from wherever you guys [00:08:00] get your podcasts. And for those of you tuning in on the assessor YouTube channel, thank you for doing so. Today, it is our honor and privilege, how's that, to welcome Mr.

Tyler Merritt of Indianapolis. Tyler is the president of Providence Christo Rey High School. Tyler, welcome to the 

Tyler: Industrious Podcast. Thank you. It's great to be here. I feel a little bit in the shadow of two giants in the podcasting industry, so I hope I can just keep up. Wow, 

Vince: I don't even 

Joe: know what to say there.

I mean, my name is Joe Rogan Todd. 

Vince: Okay. You lost me a giant. Yeah, true. 

Joe: I didn't mean from a necessarily political perspective. Purely a follower 

Tyler: perspective. Yeah. Health and wellness kind of thing. And income, for sure. Yeah, of course. 

Vince: Tyler, why don't you give our listeners and viewers a little background intro on 

Tyler: yourself.

Yeah, so, uh, as you mentioned, President and CEO of Providence Christory High School. Uh, before that, I spent 13 years at Bishop Chittard High School. Started off, just thought I would [00:09:00] be a teacher and a coach, and that's all I ever thought I would do. And then, uh, well, it often times happens when they realize you have no idea what you're doing as a teacher, they move you into administration.

So then I moved from as a teacher and assistant principal, I was interim principal for a year, and then moved over to the advancement side, so marketing, enrollment, fundraising. And I loved Bishop Start. I thought I'd be there forever. Loved the families, loved the students. Uh, still coached all 13 years I was there.

Um, And thought I'd be a 98 year old man and die at my desk. And then this, uh, uh, opportunity to be, to, to, to help lead Providence came about about three years ago. And I didn't think I was going to take it when it was first presented to me. But there was just this gut sense that this is what I needed to do.

And took the leap off that cliff. And it has been absolutely phenomenal. And I'm very lucky to serve in that capacity and be in that organization. Um, so yeah, that's a little bit about me. Uh, you're 

Vince: not originally 

Tyler: from Indy, correct? No, so I grew up outside of Chicago in a suburb called Glen Ellyn, Illinois.

Um, and, uh, [00:10:00] well, for a podcast connection, uh, SmartList, so Sean Hayes, he was from my hometown and attended the high school that I went to, and, um, went to a school up in Minnesota for two years, University of St. Thomas, uh, up in the Twin Cities, and then after two years there, transferred over to Purdue. Oh, well, what?

Yeah, well, you know. You went from U. S. T. Yeah, I really wanted to go to a university. I wanted to go to a university in Indiana that, that meant something. You know, that really stood out. You know, a university that, uh, educates the finest minds in the state. Um, I was just blown away the fact that people who go to Purdue, you know, they end up landing on the moon and I just thought that would be something I would, I would like to do.

So, uh, to, to really approach that goal, I studied philosophy, right? I thought that was my surest way to get to the moon. Yeah. But it's deep. Thanks. See what we did there. Yeah. 

Vince: Ethan Braden, the VP of marketing for Purdue would, would really like that answer. 

Tyler: Well, you know, I. [00:11:00] I'm, uh, you know, just doing what I can to stay on their good side.

I hope for some free tickets. Yeah. There you go. Yeah. You 

Vince: mentioned, uh, when you were at Chittard for 13 years that you also coached what 

Tyler: sport? So I coached a couple things. I coached football for three years. And then, um, coached girls lacrosse for one season, which was probably the worst season we ever had.

I knew nothing about lacrosse, but they needed another person to help drive the minibus. But that was a fun experience. And then, uh, for 13 years we, I also coached, we had an improv comedy team at the school as well that I coached for 13 years. Yep. Mhmm. I don't know, that would be interesting. Yeah, that was probably my favorite thing.

I would always joke that I stayed there each year just so I could coach improv. I did all the other jobs just so I could remain as the coach of the improv team. Um, and my proudest moment of coaching, we won the state championship in 2015. Uh, and it was an all day tournament for 10 hours and we became victorious, so On the, for the improv troop.

Joe: For the improv team, yeah. Do you call them a troop? Do 

Tyler: you call them a team? We call them a team, [00:12:00] yeah. Yeah, well, it's called a lot of different things and places for us. It was a team. So there's, there's 15 teams. There's a high school league and we compete against other high schools. Um, and in that league, it was, you know, the top ones were Cathedral, Carmel, us, uh, every once in a while, Garen would come into there as well.

So, um, yeah. We did that for 13 years and that was a, a great, great joy and a lot of fun. How does 

Joe: one winner lose? Is it, is there a panel of judges similar to like dance competitions, panel of judges that are scoring on 

Tyler: certain aspects? Yeah. So usually in a match, it's just the crowd applause. You play these games, whichever crowd applause is louder for the team.

You get the points, you win the match. Now, granted a lot of it, the points are fake, right? Because if you're at a home match with a school, that school is going to win typically, but there was a couple of times we did win as visitors. Um, Um, but for the state championship, there was a panel of judges that did that.

Gotcha. 

Joe: So if we take a step backward to lacrosse, I know nothing about [00:13:00] lacrosse. Join the club. Um, my oldest son is going to start playing lacrosse to just do something with his friends. So I went to a lacrosse match, thoroughly confused. Yeah. I still don't understand why the team that throws the ball out of bounds, first off, why doesn't the other team get possession and why is there not a throw in?

They're right. It's just like the person nearest the ball and then they just pick up the ball and then they just start playing again Yeah, yeah, I think they should rewrite the rules 

Tyler: You know at this game for my understanding is become most popular or came most popular in America on the East Coast And if you've met anybody from the East Coast, oh, yeah, they just do things a little differently So I think that's probably why that rule exists.

Let's blame the people on the East Coast. Yes. Yes. I 

Joe: have no one Well, 

Tyler: yeah. Well, there you go 

Joe: Okay, so what So you, you start off at University of St. Thomas in Twin Cities, transferred to Purdue, studied philosophy. Yep. Was your track at that time, I want to go into teaching? 

Tyler: Good question. So I was [00:14:00] actually, uh, when I was at University of St.

Thomas, I had originally gone there to play football. It was a division three school. I kind of thought I was going to, you're going to be a teacher and a coach, or I was going to be a priest actually is what I was thinking about. Oddly enough, it's a long story, but I'll make it short. I ended up going, choosing to go to the seminary instead of playing football.

And at the time you could, you had to choose one or the other. There was a seminary on that campus. And I chose that, and it was my football recruitment trip that actually convinced me to go in the seminary instead of playing football. I love the football program and the coach and everything, but that's, it's a long story that I won't touch on here.

Um, and then, oddly enough, I ended up... Leaving seminary, not because I didn't want to be a priest, but I got closer and closer and thought, Oh, I actually think I might do this. And I decided I went from high school right into the seminary and going in the summer is like going into the military. It's very rigid.

There's a big schedule. I just wanted to be on my own for a little bit before I went in. Back in, because you got to do an additional four years after college, after you graduate from college. So I decided to go to Purdue. I made a deal [00:15:00] with God. You know how those things go. I was like, if I don't meet anybody, I don't have any other life epiphanies, I'll just go back into the seminary.

And so I went into the education college at Purdue, um, originally. And then realized that it was going to be an additional two years, and I couldn't afford that. So I just stuck with the philosophy that I had, and at that point in time I'm thinking, well, I end up going to the priest, I'm set, ready to go.

If I want to go into teaching and I wanted to teach theology, I would have to get my master's in theology anyways, and you need an undergraduate philosophy to do that. So that's what I did. I got near the end of, uh, Purdue, hadn't met anybody, didn't have any life epiphanies, so I'm like, meh. Great, I'll go back into the seminary, be no problem.

And I was looking at being a Jesuit, a Franciscan, a missionary priest called a Maryknoll or Diocesan priest, and really thought I'd end up doing mission work. And I was kind of committed to that. And then about three weeks before I graduated, this girl just saw me walking across campus and couldn't help herself, and begged me and begged me and begged me to take her out on a date.

It's easy how it works. Yeah. When you start losing your hair at 17, you are a desirable choice in college. It really does send a strong [00:16:00] message. Agreed. So, so then she was, uh, so I was like, well, I better flush this out a little bit. And since she was the only girl that would ever date me and she's from Indianapolis, I moved here shortly after graduation and thought, yeah.

And then again, a couple months later, she's like, please, please, would you marry me? And I was like, I don't know. There's just a lot of ladies out there. And so finally she just wore me down. And I said, yes. 

Joe: So you're telling me that The clouds that generally hover over West Lafayette, sunny everywhere else, especially in Bloomington, which truly is God's country.

But God said, hang on Bloomington, hold my beer, I gotta go to West Lafayette and conduct some business, parted the clouds, and said... Tyler. Yeah. I want you to know that this is your soon to be future wife. Right. And as of more recent news, soon to be former wife. Correct. Right. How 

Tyler: well this is going, yes, I think I'll be out there again.

Yeah. I think it was more God thinking to myself, oh good Lord, I really can't have this guy on my team. He'll ruin some churches. So I think that was more of what it was anyways. I [00:17:00] highly doubt that. Yeah. 

Vince: Well, let's fast forward a little bit. Uh, more recent activities here with Providence Crystal Ray, um, what attracted you to the school and we're going to get into the corporate work study program here more specifically, but what.

What was it about the school or what is it about the school that um, just keeps you involved and engaged today? It's a, yeah, thanks 

Tyler: Ray. That's a great question. Uh, you guys should do this, uh, professionally. It's a good question. And um, I think it's a couple of things. I really do think it comes a lot from the improv, what I learned coaching improv for so long at Chittar that I ended up finding that I really liked as an educator, it's my favorite thing I did because I saw the transformation that happened in the kids.

My best improv students were the ones that weren't naturally funny in real life, right? But I could get, over time, coaching and practice, get them to own a room. Get them to bring a house down. And, um, I liked that. I liked helping young people become the best version of themselves. And I [00:18:00] loved being in high school because you get to watch a student over four years kind of find their thing or find their passions and helping them in that journey.

It's just a great way to spend your time. Um, you know, and I spent eight years in the classroom and I enjoyed that work too, but it was, the improv was almost like the shiny object that distracted them from what was really happening, which was helping them become better communicators, helping them be better team members.

And I liked that. So I start there to say, um, you know, after being a Catholic school educator for a while, you start thinking like any other industry, you think, you know, man, this needs to be reworked a little bit. It's got a little stale. I'd already kind of known about Crystal Ray, but when this position was presented, I started digging in a little bit more, learn a little bit more, and the model of the school, and just kind of, you know, teaser here, we'll talk about this a little bit later, but the students go to school four days a week, and then they work one day a week, and I thought, ah, there's something there, because as we all know, you know, I think to myself, Um, all the education classes I had, which are all [00:19:00] valuable on some level.

But when you start teaching, you push aside about 90 percent of what you learned in those classes. And it's really the on the job training, the time in the class, that helped me become a better educator. So that's probably true for any industry, right? It's these students spending time... Um, in these organizations helping to become better versions of themselves.

So that on a very surface level is what, or I'm like, Oh, I like that gimmick. I like the gimmick. We talk a lot about gimmicks and improv, right? What's the gimmick of the game we're playing and the gimmick of corporate work, say drew me to it. And then the other bigger epiphany had later on actually was, you know, a province constraint.

We only serve students from low income situations, right? So we are a private Catholic high school, and we always say, if you can afford the tuition, which this year it's, it's 23, 000 a year. If you can afford that as a family, you cannot come to the school. We're very specific. You have to be from a low income situation to come to our school.

And I look back at my original, uh, you know, life goals or professional aspirations about being a missionary. That was kind of my dream job as a priest. I really wanted to be a missionary priest, kind of in a third world country, working in an [00:20:00] orphanage, taking care of kids. And that just didn't play out for me, obviously with.

Uh, getting married and having four of my own children, uh, but then I looked at this and what we're trying to accomplish at Cristo Rey and realized it's kind of like mission work in my own backyard. It kind of was all these passions and loves that all converged in one spot. Catholic education, uh, helping young people be formed at a whole different level.

And just that idea of going out and grabbing people who are on the margins of society and getting them to meet their potential when they have all these barriers in the way. So that's kind of what got me there. Yeah. 

Vince: Um. Thank Um, being the theme of the podcast being talking about being industrious and, and, and, and the different, what that means to different people.

Um, I know what attracted me to Providence Crystal Array was the corporate work study program. Um, I, it's just, it's unique. No other high school does that to my knowledge. Um, and I think it's, 

Tyler: You know, I 

Vince: was, I was an okay student, but I was not exactly the academic, uh, book smarts were not my thing. Um, and so I think [00:21:00] this real world application is, 

Tyler: is huge.

Yeah. Um, 

Vince: let's talk about if you would, what is the corporate work study program there? And um, What benefits have you seen directly from it? God, 

Tyler: man, that could probably be like a two hour podcast of benefits, but I'll give it, so the way it works is we've got this year We've got 237 students freshman through through senior and every one of them works one day a week, right?

And we've got over a hundred partners Our two largest partners are IU Health And, uh, Eli Lilly. Eli Lilly's been a partner since we started. And their former CEO, John Lechleiter, uh, really helped open up our schools and still very invested in supporting our mission today. And then recently, IU Health just became our largest partner this year.

So, shout out to IU Health and Dennis Murphy and his team for... for, uh, employing 25 of our students. So the students all have a job. They get paired with a company. Um, and that pairing takes place. So our freshmen and transfer students come to school two weeks early. So they start in [00:22:00] July and they go through about two weeks of what we call core training, which is basically how to go to work.

And at the end of that training, we have a job fair. So this year we had about 55 companies of the 100 came and interviewed our freshmen and transfer students. And at the end of that, The, the students list the top 10 companies they met, the companies list the top 10 students they met, and then we get in a big old room, and it's like eHarmony meets fantasy football, and we try to match all the students kind of where they go.

Um, and then about three weeks after that, we have what's called draft day, which we try to model after the NFL draft. The companies come and make their selections or announce where the students are working. It's a big celebration day. And then about two weeks after that, the students go off to work. So, seniors work on Monday, juniors on Tuesday, sophomores on Wednesday, freshmen on Thursday.

Nobody works on Friday. It's the one day a week we're all there together. Uh, we transport the students to and from work. Uh, we have our own bus system. And when the students arrive at work, they do everything from HR to marketing. We've got a number of students that work at the Indianapolis Zoo. So some of them [00:23:00] are working with the animals.

Um, Uh, it kind of just depends on the organization. Some of them work for construction companies, so they're out in the field with the engineers. Um, they don't necessarily do manual labor, but sometimes they do, and the students actually really enjoy that. A lot of students like to work with their hands.

Um, so that's kind of the way the program works, and what's the biggest success of that is the relationships. So many of our students come in because they're from those low income situations, and they don't feel seen, they don't feel valued, and their view of what their life could become is so narrow. Uh, I'll tell one story, I don't want to talk too long, but I'll tell one story that I think kind of depicts what the question I think originally was that you asked about 25 minutes ago, when I keep you know, going on and on, is um, soft skill development, hard skill development, they get to do, you know, career exploration, so many of our students have never been exposed to professional jobs before, they get additional adult mentors in their life, but the biggest thing it does is it provides access, and that's one big takeaway I've seen from our students is [00:24:00] that Because, and this is the only reason, because of the zip codes they live in, they just don't have access to those zip codes.

You know, you look, you compare them to the Bishop Charge students I worked with for 13 years and the Crystal Ray students. The only two differences are the diversity rates. We're a 97 percent diverse student population. Crystal re ATAR around 20, and that the zip codes they live in, if they lived in the Chittar zip codes, they'd have 10 times the amount of opportunities you drive through these students' neighborhoods.

There's no grocery stores, there's just, there's just, there's no pathway to success for these students, often times. So that's what we do. We remove those barriers. So, uh, when I was nervous about coming over there about three years ago. And, um, you know, I'm not from a low income situation myself, and I don't know if you can tell by looking at me, but I'm one of the least diverse people you're ever going to meet in your life.

The hair, the glasses, I only shop at Kohl's. And um, am I going to be able to relate to these students? So I met with 10 alumni to kind of learn from them what this experience was. And the first, one of the first people I met with was Montanilla. So Montanilla, uh, [00:25:00] was part of our first graduating class. And Montanilla growing up, it was her, her mom, and her brother.

And her mom today is even, is her big hero. They have this awesome relationship. And, uh, Montanilla had mentioned to me when she came to Crystal Ray, she only saw herself working in the hotel systems in the laundry department. Because that's what her mom did. That's all she could ever see. Um, so she got placed at Eli Lilly.

And her freshman year she got to work in the mail room. The rest of the story I heard from John Lechleiter, the former CEO. So John, obviously a big proponent of the school, he would always have an end of the year luncheon for the students that worked at Eli Lilly. So first year of the program, 20 students, end of the year luncheon, John's sitting next to Montanilla.

And he says to Montanilla, Montanilla, how did it go? And Montanilla looks up at him and says, I didn't like it very much, I don't want to come back. And I'm hearing this from John, the CEO, so I'm thinking to myself, well, we need to work on tact with our students. You just can't say this to the CEO. And John, being the scientist that he is, said, well, why?

What is it that? And she's like, well, I'm really interested in math and science, but I worked in the mailroom, and if I'm going to work in the mailroom, I might as well work somewhere else. Sounds like, oh, [00:26:00] interesting. So Montagnier comes back, her sophomore year, and gets her work placement, and it's at Eli Lilly.

She's disappointed, but she goes the first day, goes down back to the mailroom, checks in with her supervisor, and the supervisor says, what are you doing here? You're not supposed to be here. And she's like, what do you mean? He's like, oh, you're supposed to be up in the chemistry lab. So first off, who puts a sophomore in high school in the chemistry lab?

John Lechleiter would if you ever get to meet him, he would do something like that. All right, so you fast forward to junior year, same end of the year luncheon. John's gotten to know Montagnier a little bit, become her mentor on some level. Sitting next to her, same end of the year luncheon. Montagnier, how'd it go?

And she goes, well, it's going really well, but I'm super frustrated. We're working on this new cancer drug. It's too toxic. I think it's a sodium level. We'll come to find out Montanee and her team of three others, the four of them, figured out why this cancer drug wasn't working at Eli Lilly and she got co authored and published in a paper her senior year of high school.

As a high school student. As a high school student her senior year. 12 years now. She is just [00:27:00] rolled off our board at the school. She's on the National Christory Network board. She, up to last year, was the Assistant Girls Volleyball Coach at Providence Christory High School, and today she is a biologist with Eli Lilly.

And the reason why I like to tell that story is I think that is a great example of what's happening on a regular basis with a lot of our students, right? It's not necessarily becoming biologists at Eli Lilly each time. But it's opening their eyes to what their life outcomes can be. It's giving them the confidence that they do belong in these spaces.

They should be here. They should be striving for more. And just like improv, it's teaching them some things without them knowing they're learning it. They, they should be asking the world for more. So the benefits of the program, more than anything, I think, is providing them opportunities, giving them the access to those opportunities, and then supplying them with the, the formation to kind of be the best version of themselves professionally.

Yeah, that's 

Vince: a great story. Yeah, she spoke at our last board meeting. Uh huh. I did not know the full background on that story So thank you for sharing that. Yeah, I Just I think the [00:28:00] program's phenomenal Yeah And in each time a new idea pops up in terms of like a company that's not a current partner That I think would certainly benefit from this and vice versa I've worked with the guys that kind of head up that committee say hey Go talk to so and so.

Tyler: It's awesome. Yeah, and we appreciate it. That's how we've grown. The last three years, we've added 70 new companies and um, a bunch of new jobs for our students. And a lot of it has been that word of mouth, right? It's, you almost need to validate it by somebody else that's It's done it before to a company that's thinking about bringing these students on.

And what's really fun for me is listening to the companies who have had a student for a number of years, talk about how much they have gotten out of this. And it almost seems like they've gotten more than the students have. It does. If you open up your doors to these students and you really invest in them, they teach you a lot and they can help raise the internal culture of your organization as well.

Cause it gives everybody somebody to rally around as well. So it's, it's been a neat three years seeing the success stories over and over again. Yeah. Another 

Vince: great story. It was. Again, same, [00:29:00] last board meeting, um, I forget the young man's name, um, I think he's maybe a junior, junior or senior, talking about he's one of the ones that has his, um, his placement was at the zoo and he is literally working in the elephant department, getting to help feed him, take care of him, clean up after him, all that.

And you could just tell that he was genuinely excited and interested in that job. Um, and. I don't know if thankful is the right word, but thankful because he knows that like, without this school, without program, like. He would not be doing that. He would not have that opportunity. And he was like, it's just, it's so cool.

And, and I think this is what I want to do. I like working with animals and here I am. And it's... 

Tyler: Pretty cool. His name, that young man, is Javion, and Javion's outstanding, and Javion, and I don't know how much we told at the board meeting, I can't remember, but Javion, since he was a little kid, since he was like five, wanted to be a zookeeper, loved animals, had a passion for them.

He belongs to Fred Yakey's [00:30:00] church, and Fred Yakey, who's our chief partnership officer, is his youth pastor. And at their church, at the end of the Uh, church services, they'll let the kids come up and, and pray for things, or petitions. And JV, ever since he was little, one week it would be the elephants, one week it would be the jaguars, one week it would be...

Not dogs or cats? No, no, no, the more of the wild 

Joe: ones, yeah, yeah. Maybe for the colts? Yeah, maybe. Because they could use it too. They, they, well, 

Tyler: Anthony Richardson, he's not bad. We'll take him, you know, we'll take it. Uh, as a Bears fan, I'm still very jealous of the Colts every single year. Um, but anyways, so Javion, uh, his freshman year came in and said, I want to be a zookeeper, and so lucky enough the zoo was hiring at that time, and so I took Javion on.

And a shout out to Dr. Rob Shoemaker, who runs that zoo. What him and his team have done with our students is, Unbelievable, they have rolled out the red carpet for those students, provided them opportunities that many other organizations probably wouldn't have. But Rob, uh, is very intentional about trying to foster the love of these young people working at the zoos.

So Jayvion, I remember his freshman year was in February, like halfway through the year, you know, and all the kids are coming back from [00:31:00] work and I'm greeting them at the door. I'm like, hey, how's your day? High school students typically, you don't get much back, right? And J Van comes to the door, he has his zoo uniform on, I'm like, J Van, how was your day?

He goes, it was awesome. I was like, oh, great, well why? What did you get to do? And he goes, husbandry. I was like, oh. I do that every day. Yeah, I was like, yeah. Well, and oddly enough, I didn't know what it was. I said, well, what's husbandry? He goes, oh, I got to clean up after the animals. So my first thought was like, Wow, thank God there's a kid out there that likes to clean up after animals.

You're so excited about it. And two, I was like, that does sound a lot like being a husband. Like that does seem like what my work is. Um, and so Rob gave him, between his freshman and sophomore year, he got to do an internship with the elephants that typically college students get, but they gave it to this student.

And the feedback from the zoo was just, Javon was outstanding, hardworking, committed. At the end of his, or his last day of that internship, that one of the elephants painted him a picture. Right. And that's pretty cool, right? How many people get a picture painted to them by an elephant? And we call that Tuesday at our house.

Bless you. Yeah, I got it [00:32:00] again in the shadow of greatness. And, um, he, this last summer got to work with the orangutans. And this year, I think he's working with the birds. They're really give an opportunity. Last thing I'll say about JV on. It's really interesting. I think this is the impact of these companies have the mission of the zoos, obviously, to care about creation, but they're really focused on trying to inspire folks and conservation efforts.

So we bring a lot of guests in our school building. We always have to meet with students. JV on, you know, gets asked to tell his story quite often for our guests coming in. Uh, if you were to ask him two years ago, what do you want to do? He'd say, zookeeper. If you ask him today, Jamie, what do you want to do?

He'll say, I really want to get into the conservation work. So you can see over time how those organizations have an impact on these young people understanding what other options are out there. I love that as a nerdy educator, like, uh, that's all. I mean, hey, if you become a zookeeper, that's great. I don't care what you do.

But the fact that you're now thinking about things other than what you thought you would do originally, that's pretty neat. And seeing how the zoo helped them come to that is pretty cool. 

Joe: It goes back to what you said about creating opportunity where at one time people wouldn't know opportunity existed.[00:33:00] 

Then another way of saying that is giving yourself something. To say no to yeah, because if you have things to say no to that means you've got one thing out there that you found That you want to say yes to yeah as opposed to being pigeonholed into only one path or one option 

Tyler: So that's pretty phenomenal and that's I love those stories as well, right?

So we had a young one of our great students from that graduate last year floor She found her first two years at Eli Lilly and was really thinking about medical And, uh, then she got interested in real estate, so the last two years she spent at Cushman Wakefield. And it was a phenomenal experience. They loved Floor.

Floor loved them. She got a real strong bond with her mentor, Hannah Ott, who works at Cushman Wakefield. And they spent a lot of time. Hannah would take her out and view buildings and everything. She did junior year, wanted to be in commercial real estate, really grew a love into that. And then senior year, we had guests in the building at the end of the school year.

And I had Floor meet him and I told her, I said, Floor, tell him what you want to do. And she goes, Oh, I want to go into biomedical science. And I was like, Oh, I thought it was commercial. I said, what? I thought you were in commercial real estate. She goes, I've been there two years and it's been a great experience, [00:34:00] but I've learned I do not want to do that.

And I'm like, what a win that is for her. And what she told me is she, that it helped her recommit to. Going to biomedical and what she knew how hard that was going to be and the people, the work ethic at Cushman Wayfield sure that she just needs to dedicate that into the classroom. And I was like, okay, you're getting this.

This is how this works. Great experience. The people there loved her. They would come. They came to honors night because she got a bunch of awards. They came to graduation. So it was a very positive experience, but she learned she didn't want to do it. And what a win that is for our students as well.

Definitely. So. 

Joe: So, uh, what's the enrollment at Providence 

Tyler: Crystal, right? So this year we're at 237. Okay. And that's the third largest we've ever been. Okay. So, 

Joe: and then just for my own clarification, when you do the employment match day, I'm assuming that every year is at the same process of what you get your freshman year.

You don't necessarily have your sophomore year. You go through the cycle every year. So sometimes you may. Re up with where you're at, otherwise you may try something different. 

Tyler: Yeah, it's really, we try to, and we're [00:35:00] always going to stay a little bit smaller, because in education, individualizing the experience as much as you can is the key to success, right?

So we're going to stay smaller. It's different for almost every student and every company, right? So some companies have the same kid for all four years. Some companies have students for two years and they get a new batch. Some change every year. It just kind of depends on the student experience. Student, what they're focused on doing, what the company wants as well.

Um, you know, we've had students, MJ Insurance up in Carmel is another big, big partner of ours. Uh, one of my favorite stories, they had a student there. I talked to John Lofton, their, their lead, a couple years ago in February. I was like, how's the program going? He's like, it's great. And, uh, he goes, I'm super excited.

We just had this one student have been with us for four years. I took her out to lunch and I said, uh, I asked her where she's going. She said, IU Bloomington. And he's like, oh, that's great. What are you going to study? And she's like, oh, business administration. And he's like, oh, well, what do you want to do?

And she goes, Oh, I want to sell insurance. And he's like, what senior in high school is like, you know what I want to do? Sell insurance. And he's got, and I sell insurance. He's like, [00:36:00] so, so, her, she wanted to stay at MJ Insurance over time because she wanted, she wanted to do that and she liked the culture.

Some students stay at the same organization for four years and know that they don't want to do it but they love the people so much, that's okay. Some, like I said, do one or two. It just kind of depends on the student. Gotcha. Yeah. 

Joe: Okay. And then you mentioned in one of your answers Uh, something about the Christa Ray Network.

What, can 

Tyler: you expand on what that is? Sure, so the first Christa Ray school opened up in Chicago in 1996. Which, pause for a second, I think it's extraordinary. Since 1996 there's now 38 others. That's incredible school growth. And it's really growing because of two reasons. One, it's an innovative model, right?

Any student from any demographic, low, high, middle income, would benefit tremendously from this experience. We just choose to only do it for students from low income situations. But the model is the reason for the growth. The second thing is it's solving an issue that all cities have, which is this void of opportunity for the students who have all the potential in the world, but because of the zip codes, because of those barriers, which when you really think about it, how criminal is that?

How much talent has been wasted in cities for [00:37:00] years? If we didn't exist, would JVMN had found the zoo, would Matsuni had found Eli Lilly? Probably not. How much talent has been wasted? So anyways, uh, 30 other schools since 1996. So all of our schools are independently owned and operated. So the network serves as a resource to keep everybody connected.

We have the same 10 mission effectiveness standards that we all agreed to as presidents that we're going to uphold. But we're our own separate entities, part of a network. Um, so you think of schools, there's a central office, that's not quite what it is because they don't necessarily have a governance or authority over us, but they kind of keep us united.

It's really exciting. I think it's three schools reopening up in another two years. I think the last one that was announced was in Orlando, Florida. So there's, there's schools out in the East Coast, West Coast, and everywhere between 39 of them total. 

Joe: Because you mentioned, uh, being a private Catholic school.

I didn't know if there's an affiliation with, is there any official or unofficial affiliation with the archdiocese in any of these cities that they tie in with some of the other schools or are they a hundred percent? 

Tyler: Independent. That's a very good question, and the [00:38:00] answer is yes. So it's different everywhere.

Okay. Um, here in Indianapolis, we are not officially part of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. Now with that said, the archdiocese does have some authority over us, really comes down to our catholicity. If they were ever to deem that we weren't upholding the tenets of the Catholic church or what a Catholic high school should be, they could remove us being able to call ourselves a Catholic high school.

That's about it. Now, they're very good to work with. They are the ones that actually brought our school in. In about 2003, the Archdiocese is the one that started looking at the possibility of bringing a Christchurch school to Indianapolis. And then we established ourselves and became private. Some of the cities that other Christchurch schools are located in are part of the Archdiocesan school system.

Uh, but not most. And all of them have to be Supported by, or connected to, or approved by a religious order. So most of the Cristo Rey schools are supported by the Jesuits. It was a Jesuit priest who started the first one. There's just a strong connection to Jesuits education anyways. We're the only one sponsored by the Sisters of Providence out in [00:39:00] Terre Haute at St.

Mary of the Woods College. And that's why we're Providence Cristo Rey High School. 

Joe: So you mentioned that the, currently the annual tuition is 23, 000 a year. But in order to be admitted to the school, you can't actually afford the tuition, which is kind of, you know, obviously it sounds a terrible 

Tyler: business model, terrible.

Yeah. 

Joe: So tell, talk to us about how, how is a student's education or. Another way of saying it, the operation of the school, funded. 

Tyler: Oh yeah, that's a really good question. So, Um, Every family has to pay something. That's an important investment piece. That we want them to have a little skin in the game.

Average family for us pays about 312 a year. So a big gap between 23, Um, so it's a third, a third, a third. A third is done through the voucher program for the state of Indiana. All of our students, as you can imagine, qualify for that. Uh, two, it is, uh, the corporate work study program. And this year the fee is 7, 000 per student.

So the way that works is The corporation pays? Correct. Yeah, that, that [00:40:00] corporation is basically paying for the work the student's doing while they're there. That was going to be another question. I 

Joe: asked, does, does a student earn any actual income off of their work or is it? You know, sort of in kind through the education.

Tyler: It's in kind through the education through our program, but many of our organizations employ the students outside the program. The program runs from Labor Day to Memorial Day, and it doesn't run during the breaks, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Spring. So a lot of the companies will pay for the student to work during the breaks, and in the summer, and then they can earn an hourly wage that way.

Gotcha. Otherwise, it just, it offsets their tuition, uh, and then the last bucket is fundraising. We do a lot of that in order to kind of close that gap for the students. 

Joe: Gotcha. Okay. Interesting. 

Vince: Is there anything you would want our listeners and viewers to know about either the high school or the Corporate Works Today program that we haven't discussed?

Tyler: Yeah, I think probably a lot of things, but the, the, probably the biggest. Well, two things I can think of right off the bat is one, we are in a very special time in our schools. We're just starting our 16th year. [00:41:00] We're in a, we're in the third year of a five year strategic plan. And it's the second most important time in a new building.

We moved into a new building a year ago. We were for our first, uh, 14 years, we were in a building that was built in 1904, a former elementary school building, 54, 000 square feet. Uh, it had a gym, but you couldn't do any competition. You do a layup, you hit in the wall, had no air conditioning. The ceiling was falling, but the roof was.

The mortar was non-existent? It's a character builder. It was, it was, yeah. Yeah. It's character building. And now we're in a facility that's 134,000 square feet. We have 11 acres. Um, it's just about 20 years old, so it's complete game changer for us. Um, our enrollments, uh, one of the highest that been next year we're projecting that we'll be the, we'll have the most students we ever had.

Uh, of the 39 schools, we're, we're third in the network for the amount of paid and funded jobs we have. So we're on this really, it's just a special time to be part of the organization. And I say that because It's just one of those things where you can feel, and [00:42:00] it's, and you don't get to be part of those things all the time.

And it's just a fun way to, to, to spend our time either as staff or volunteers, those that are serving the board. The second thing is, the kids are absolutely phenomenal. And when you get to meet them and you hear their stories, and you understand a little bit of what their family life is or has been, or what they have accomplished or haven't been able to accomplish, you think to yourself, And I said it earlier, like, man, what happened 20 years ago when the school didn't exist?

Um, getting involved with us, getting to know our students, you absolutely will not be disappointed. Um, there is a certain level that our students have, and I think because life has not been easy for them. That the opportunities presented to them, they take and run with it at a level that most high school students don't.

They appreciate things more. They dig in. They work hard. Um, because they can start to see what that's going to mean for them and they can't mess this up. [00:43:00] Um, so being an educator, working with students like that, um, Getting to work with companies who have awesome cultures and leaders who have accomplished great things who Give so much of their own time to help these students advance and succeed It's just humbling.

So a lot of things how much time do you have? I'll keep going But I just want people to know that this one we're in a special time in our school's history and to the students are everything Yeah, well said yeah. All right 

Vince: Well, thanks for coming in for sharing your story. And yeah Sharing with our listeners and viewers about the Corporate Work Study program and how that's benefiting not just these kids, but ultimately the 

Tyler: community at large.

Yeah, I mean, I think this is when we look at the city, I think each and every one of us has a piece to play in our city being the best it can be. And I think that if we're going to be serious and strategic about being a high functioning city, investing in the next generation is going to be the key, or is the key.

And what we're doing at Providence Christian High School is going to, I believe, play a [00:44:00] significant part in the success of our city in the next 10 years. Um, and to be part of that and partner with like minded organizations and leaders. Uh, it's invigorating. It is great. So I appreciate the opportunity to tell the story.

Maybe a few people learn about it and learn about what we're doing, our mission and, uh, want to get involved on some level. And that's all I can ask for. Yep. Yeah. Well, 

Vince: yeah. All right. Thank all you guys for listening to this episode of the industrious podcast. Thank you for tuning in. If you are watching on the assessor YouTube channel, you haven't hit that little subscribe button, please do so.

And then right after that, hit the little notification bell so you can be alerted when new episodes like this one drop, we appreciate it. And don't forget guys. Be industrious.