Paducah Innovation Hub

Ybarzabal said he found his interest in education through a passion for the sciences. He began in the district at Paducah Tilghman High School as a biology teacher in 2000.

“At Tilghman I became the science department chair, and after that, I was an assistant principal at Clark Elementary School, and then after that, I was the principal at Clark, and now principal at the Hub,” Ybarzabal said. “Every time I took a different job, each one of those changes really allowed me to affect a larger number of students along the way. I think that’s what has always driven me to a different position. Here at the Hub, we’ve got students from Paducah Tilghman, obviously that we’re connected to, but we have students from St. Mary and Community Christian Academy, and this year we have Graves students here. Being able to have an educational influence on the region, I think, is pretty exciting.”

He described acting as principal at the Innovation Hub as “like no other principalship in the region.” He said while the job includes typical day-to-day principal duties, a big part of the position is building relationships with industry partners to pipeline students into high-demand, high-wage jobs in the region.

“A big part of the driving factor here for me is to bring our talent back to Paducah by design, and not by chance,” Ybarzabal said. “Paducah city schools have been around for over 160 years, and we’ve been exporting talent to big cities all across the country and world for all those years. The only way we build a better Paducah is to bring that talent home or keep it here, and so that’s a big part of what we do at the Hub every day.“

Ybarzabal said that with many high-profile industry projects being developed in Paducah and McCracken County, it’s an exciting time to see so many opportunities for students and to help them find their way.

“When I was principal at Clark Elementary, I was sort of on the other end of the education spectrum,” he said. “I had young children coming in as five-year-olds, and they’re learning to read, and they’re building a foundation. Whereas here, we’re helping kids find what they’re passionate about and how they can make a career of that, and connecting them to regional industry partners, and it’s just really exciting to see.”

Ybarzabal said one of the most rewarding aspects of his role at the Hub is seeing students discover and pursue career paths they’re passionate about.

“We have the ability to open kids’ eyes to things that are not even on their radar,” he said. “Like connecting them to schools outside of the state that offer unique pathways for them and very unique skill sets that they can bring back to the community, and I think that’s exciting — that kids go out and get these real-world experiences, gain this knowledge, earn the credentials, and bring that back.”

He shared an example of a student he spoke with just prior to his interview with The Sun.

“He graduated last year,” Ybarzabal said. “We set him up with a co-op with Ingram Barge. He’s a full-time employee at Ingram now, and he was just coming in to check in with us and let us know that he’s gotten a promotion and raise; he’s making good money, happy doing what he’s doing, and it’s exciting to see a student that I had as a kindergartner at Clark now as a young adult being successful in our community.”