ITW x Noble Schools: A Partnership for Success

We knew there’d be 300 kids coming out of this high school with a strong STEM education, well prepared to make a positive impact on their communities and the lives of others. And that's exactly what happened." —Rosemary Matzl

"We are each other's harvest: we are each other's business: we are each other's magnitude and bond," wrote lifelong Chicagoan and Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Gwendolyn Brooks in her 1983 poem, "Paul Robeson." While Brooks, who was also a dedicated educator, wrote these words in the late 20th century, the spirit of community and collaboration lives on in the city she loved so well, made manifest in ITW David Speer Academy, a collaboration between Noble Schools and Illinois Tool Works, Inc. (ITW).

Since its founding in 1912, ITW, now a Fortune 200 company, has embraced the values of Integrity, Simplicity, Trust, Respect, and Shared Risk, with the goal of creating an environment that fosters innovation. Guided by their culture and core values, ITW has committ ed to investing in the communities where their colleagues live and work, and where they do business. This ethos is enshrined in ITW’s practices and policies, which include a $3-to-$1 matching program for qualifi ed charities and a volunteer match program that provides $10 for every volunteer hour submitt ed by colleagues. One area that remains central to ITW’s dedication to social responsibility is the organization’s longstanding support for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) education, particularly for youth in under-served communities.

An engineer by trade, David Speer spent his entire career at ITW. In 2005, he took over as Chairman and CEO and was, by all accounts, beloved by his colleagues. “He had this heart and this level of intelligence and this level of leadership that is just so, so rare,” shares ITW Vice President of Community Aff airs, Rosemary Matzl. His death in 2012 devastated those around him, but this grief was soon channeled into action. A group of Speer’s ITW colleagues and board members, along with David’s widow, Barbara Speer, began thinking of the best way to honor his memory. Matzl reached out to Steve Solomon, who had worked with Noble to build the Rowe Clark Academy. Solomon introduced Matzl to the Noble team, and discussions for building a school were soon underway. “I interviewed other charter schools,” says Matzl, “but Noble’s culture and values really spoke to ITW’s. And when we talked about the possibility of ITW underwriting a high school, knowing the market, we knew that STEM careers are very high in demand, and Noble didn’t have a STEM high school yet.” That was all about to change.

Finding a space was the next order of business, and it was no easy feat. The new academy had to serve an area in need and could not utilize any existing Chicago Public School buildings, even those that had recently been closed down. The hunt continued until Noble’s Michael Madden found a lumber yard on fi ve acres in the middle of the Belmont Cragin neighborhood that was listed FOR SALE BY OWNER. Noble bought the property and ITW fi nanced the construction of a brand new, state-of-the-art school on the site. “It looks and feels like an ITW offi ce. Everything— and I mean everything—about the construction of this school has ITW product in it,” says Matzl. “It’s a stunning high school.”

In September 2014, Noble’s ITW David Speer Academy opened its doors for the fi rst time, welcoming 300 students into its freshman class. This spring, that inaugural class is set to graduate from college. Matzl remembers: “When we cut the ribbon and brought in that fi rst freshman class, we knew that aft er four years of going through a Noble model and the type of high school that we built, that instead of building a museum that has David’s name on it, every year, there’d be 300 kids coming out of this high school with a strong STEM education, well-prepared to make a positive impact on their communities and the lives of others. And that’s exactly what happened.”

Another corporation might have deemed the venture a success and walked away, but not ITW. David’s widow, Barbara Speer, along with hundreds of ITW employees and its current Chairman and CEO Scott Santi remain

actively involved in supporting the school’s mission and supporting the students’ education. “We worked very closely with the leadership of that school,” explains Matzl. “Not to tell them what do, but to listen to them to say, ‘What do you need?’” This partnership has allowed for some very unique educational experiences.

Every freshman at ITW David Speer Academy attends a field trip to visit ITW’s various segments to learn about what the company does. Afterward, students are invited back to the corporate offices for an hour-long lunch with Chairman and CEO Scott Santi, where they are given an open mic and encouraged to ask him anything. “It’s probably one of my favorite days to meet the new kids that are coming into the school,” says Matzl. “They’ll ask him, ‘Mr. Santi, where did you go to school? What’s your degree in? What’s your average day like?’ So they get to know us, and we get to know them right when they start school.”

All ITW David Speer Academy students also participate in Summer of a Lifetime after their sophomore year, during which students are sent to college campuses where they live in the dorms and attend specially designed 2–8-week STEM-related classes. Initially, the school could only afford to send the top 10% of the class, but ITW now underwrites the experience for every child at the David Speer Academy to have a Summer of a Lifetime. “It took us probably a year and a half to build out those university relationships to accommodate all [the students],” says Matzl. “We focused on universities that have strong engineering and STEM programs." Colleges and universities that have lent their support include Marquette University, University of Wisconsin, Fox Valley Technical College, Hobart Institute of Welding Technology, Troy University, and many more. Upon returning to ITW David Speer Academy for their junior year, students pick an elective like engineering, health, science, or accounting. “They pick a discipline so that the back half of their education then gets tailored to that elective in their senior year,” explains Matzl. The partnership between ITW and Noble has created an impressive model that offers students an education that challenges conventions, but in recent years, the instruction is also happening outside of the classroom. Noble and ITW worked together to ensure that all ITW David Speer Academy students complete an accredited internship in their senior year. Matzl and her team spent a year inviting Chicago employers to participate in a program that runs on Fridays from October to the end of April. Instead of attending classes on Friday, students work with an employer in their field to gain experience as well as education. “When they’re filling out their college applications, [the students] now have an accredited internship under their belts,” explains Matzl. “And a lot of those employers stay with them through their college experience and will bring them back for paid internships.”

What’s next for ITW David Speer Academy? It seems that the partnership that started with the opening of the school will continue to deepen. “We attribute all the success to the leadership of that school,” says Matzl. “But ITW never left. Our engineers designed a robotics program, and they’re there every week, teaching robotics; our women’s group created a girls club. We—Scott, our CEO, his wife, Nancy, Barbara Speer—all of us are there every day for that school. It is a true partnership in the sense that they tell us what they need, and then we, in turn, mobilize our efforts to meet the needs. And for everybody at ITW, it’s our favorite place to be, and the kids love coming to ITW. It feels like we’re an extension of the school, and the school is an extension of ITW.”