ABOUT US
WHERE INDUSTRY COLLABORATES WITH EDUCATION
WHERE INDUSTRY COLLABORATES WITH EDUCATION
Mission:
To provide a work-based learning model that any industry can utilize to bridge the skills gap. Combining classroom instruction with on the job work based learning opportunities. This program integrates the classroom with employers to create an introduction to a career path of the student's choice.
What Our Program Provides:
The program simplifies the relationship between an industry lead business and vocational education that can lead into a career path. We ask for no money. Our “ask” is for your time. Time to integrate a student into your business to create a career fit. It starts with 10 hours and can grow into a new employee. Can you “Give Me Ten?”
Vision:
To integrate the students with a business partner to create a career path that is beneficial to both. To enhance education and career growth by providing the student with possible grant opportunities, internships, and apprenticeship paths. This pathway begins when the student and employer enter the “Give Me Ten” program.
Experience:
This program is designed to partner a student with a specific business/industry leader and combine classroom instruction with on-the-job training. One of the best ways a business owner can create its own skilled workforce is through internships.
Objectives:
Businesses partnering with students to explore a future career in the industry of their choice. Take the student out of the classroom and give them a work-based learning experience. Each student will be matched with a business near the home school location. Expose students to general operations of any industry/business from front office to general operations. This experience is not limited.
About Our Founder:
Sue grew up in the automotive world. Her father was a Uniroyal service trainer, and weekends often meant helping him sell tires and parts at flea markets—a childhood that unknowingly sparked a lifelong passion for the industry.
After studying at Northeastern Illinois University and Triton College, Sue joined her father at Closs Tire & Auto in Waukegan. She took over daily operations in 2014 and became sole owner in 2019. When the shop closed in 2024, Sue shifted her focus entirely to connecting education and industry.
In 2017, after seeing firsthand the growing technician shortage, she created Give Me TEN—a simple, scalable work-based learning model that helps schools and small businesses develop future talent through 10-hour career experiences. First launched in the Automotive Repair and Collision programs at Lake County Tech Campus, the model quickly proved effective and expanded to support all career pathways at the Lake County Tech Campus, serving as a pilot incubator program for broader regional replication.
Designed as a straightforward way to engage businesses with education, Give Me TEN has been selected for presentations at national and state conferences, including ACTE’s CareerTech VISION (Las Vegas, Atlanta, San Antonio, Milwaukee), Illinois State Board of Education convenings, and the Illinois College Automotive Instructors Conference (ICAIC).
Supporting HB3296’s Career Pathway Endorsement initiative, the program helps schools meet state requirements while creating real opportunities for students to explore career interests and develop employability skills. Through her dedication to connecting education with business, Sue continues to expand Give Me TEN across Illinois and beyond. She also established the GMT Vocational Foundation (501c3) to fund scholarships and continued education in skilled labor and technical career pathways—building tomorrow’s workforce, one student at a time.