Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin visited Pinckney for anticipated tour of the Cyber Technology Institute (CTI).

The 8th District Representative met with high ranking members of Pinckney Community Schools on the CTI campus at the high school, Wednesday afternoon. Slotkin is former member of the CIA and worked at the Pentagon under both the Bush and Obama administrations working as a national security expert. CTI Director Jim Darga led Slotkin through the Institute where she met with students and talked about challenges their generation faces with cyber security, before also taking her on a tour of the Career Technical Education program.

Slotkin was impressed with what they are doing in Pinckney. She said, “I think it’s fantastic. It’s the kind of thing that parents and teachers across the district should look at as a model. We have a huge need in our Michigan workforce for IT, coding, robotiics, cyber security, all kinds of STEM jobs… then you have a high school setting where kids can just dig in and learn and be ready for the job market either right after graduation or take more advanced programs at a university. It’s an absolute model the state should be looking at.”

Darga said, following the visit, that it’s not just a passion for Slotkin, but that she also has such a depth of understanding. He said she has a vision for the state and sees the importance of training students to be skilled workers. Pinckney Superintendent Rick Todd agreed, saying they are fortunate to have someone with her stature and experience in her position, and that it can help spread the word of what they doing to a larger community. Board of Education President Michelle Crampo said this meeting gave further validation that they are going down the right path. (MK)