At a time where distribution networks are expanding and employers are scrambling for skilled workers, a school district in Fresno, California, decided to think big, by creating a comprehensive educational program to give high school students the tools they need to gain a foothold in the world of logistics.

Roughly a decade ago, the Fresno Unified School District came up with a plan for an alternative education campus, where high school students could learn online, conduct independent study, or recover lost credits from failed classes. The district purchased a site that once housed a juvenile detention hall, tore it down, and invested $70 million in a state-of-the-art facility now known as the Farber Educational Complex. A sizable part of that investment also went toward a multi-year logistics and fulfillment program, which included the construction of a 10,000 square-foot on-campus warehouse that doubles as a training ground for students.

"From day one, it was very important that we made sure this was not just a fabrication for practice — the students would be doing real work, dealing with real product, receiving shipping, and doing inventory," said Fresno Unified School District executive director Michael Niehoff, while speaking at Amazon Business's Reshape conference in Seattle, Washington on November 12.

Students can acquire a range of technical skills, including forklift and OSHA certification. Perhaps even more important though, Niehoff said, is the teaching of soft skills, encouraging students to be better communicators, collaborators, and critical thinkers. With those tools in hand, students can go beyond the initial goals of finding gainful employment, by building opportunities for career advancement down the line. More than anything, "we want them to be leaders," Niehoff explained.

The program includes a focus on serving the Fresno community too, in hopes of inspiring students to be civically engaged in their professional lives. A partnership with their local food bank became a no-brainer with that goal in mind, especially given that 17% of households in Fresno County struggle with food insecurity. The collaboration saw the Farber Complex include its warehouse in the Central California Food Bank's distribution network and, today, the so-called "Farber's Market" program distributes thousands of pounds of food to hungry families each year.

The program's community-facing mission has had a profound impact on both students and the surrounding community, Niehoff said. By integrating service directly into the logistics curriculum, Farber helps students understand how supply chains shape daily life in the Central Valley, and gives them valuable experience in a field clamoring for skilled workers. And as the program has grown, a ripple effect has spread throughout the region, where students are gaining confidence, neighbors are leaning on Farber as a reliable community resource, and local employers are taking notice of a talent pipeline that's both skilled and service-minded.

"If you can get to a student's heart, you can get to their mind, and this is trying to do both," Niehoff said. "We are emphasizing all those skills and career development opportunities, but we're also really trying to create civic-minded citizens."