Alumni tell Granite School Board GTI helped launch careers from nursing to aviation and PlayStation

At a meeting of the Granite School Board, several alumni and a GTI staff member described how programs at the Granite Technical Institute (GTI) prepared them for postsecondary study and careers.

"The GTI was sort of the inflection point," said Gary Hanson, a GTI alumnus who attended in 2005–06, describing multimedia and AP programming classes and an internship with SpyHop that he said led to animation classes and, ultimately, a job at PlayStation as a technical artist.

Other alumni described direct pathways into licensed or credentialed work. Isaac Cheromenko said his GTI coursework in 2013–14 "fueled my love for aviation," led him to Utah State University, work as a flight instructor and later roles at Envoy Airlines, Frontier Airlines and Delta Airlines. Sofia Ortega, who attended GTI from 2014–16, said medical assisting and anatomy and physiology classes gave her a "good foundation" that helped her pursue nursing studies at the University of Utah.

Edwin Santos Lepis told the board he took health sciences, EMS, biotechnology and EMT courses at GTI and now works as a hospital social worker in an emergency department. Palle Poy Gilmore said completing GTI's certified nursing assistant coursework allowed work in long-term care and later in a cardiovascular intensive care unit while finishing undergraduate studies; Gilmore added they later began medical school at the University of Utah.

Macy Moore, a GTI attendee from 2019–21, said GTI classes in biomanufacturing, composites and computer-aided design helped secure an internship and hands-on experience in catheter production and 3D printing. Another alumnus said GTI's electrical trades program helped him get a job with Hunts Electric, one of Utah's largest electrical contractors.

Nicole Zinger, who attended GTI from 2016–19 in the professional pilot and air transportation programs, said GTI helped her identify a career path and led her to Utah State University's aviation program and flight operations work.

GTI staff member Mandy Chapel closed the alumni comments by summarizing the institute's mission: "Our mission at the GTI is to help students in finding their personal purpose, potential, and a pathway to the future." The speakers generally framed their remarks as personal accounts of how GTI classes, internships and concurrent-enrollment options affected their education and early careers.

The statements came as part of the meeting's public comment portion and did not include any formal motions or board decisions on GTI programming during the recorded segment.