Published: Wednesday, February 10, 2010
IN OUR VIEW / VOCATIONAL TRAINING
High schools need more of it
It's easy to find evidence of things going badly, whether economically, educationally, or just generally. Which is why it's always refreshing to read of things going right, which is often easier to find at the local, micro level.
Even at the height of this recession, just as now, employers have had a difficult time filling certain positions. They include: engineers, nurses, skilled/manual trades workers, teachers, sales representatives, technicians, short-haul drivers, information technology staff, laborers and machinists/machine operators.
And so, the state's community colleges are now chock full of students, young and old, learning many of these in-demand skills and trades.
Traditionally, many of those skills and trades were taught in high school. Over the years, however, as secondary education increasingly focused on college, vocational programs disappeared.
Perhaps a silver lining of this recession is the realization that schools need to better blend academic and technical training. Students should have options.
A great example of this can be found at Stanwood High School's Agricultural Mechanics Club.
On Tuesday, Herald reporter Gale Fiege wrote about students who are teaching a welding class for community members. For $60, adult students get 12 hours of instruction focusing on shielded metal and gas metal arc welding. The idea was so popular there was a waiting list.
The idea for the class came from Kaity Hampton, 18, as part of her senior project.
A second-year welding student, Hampton is among a handful of girls in the program and is considered to be one of the state's best high school welders. She put together the course curriculum, got permission from the school board and encouraged her classmates to get involved in teaching the community welding course.
Next year, Hampton plans to attend Bellingham Technical College to study welding.
While Stanwood High's agriculture department (which includes the Mechanics Club) is tops in the state for such programs, career offerings are hit and miss at other schools. Fortunately, in Snohomish and Island counties, most high school juniors and seniors can attend the Sno-Isle Skills Center in Everett, run by the Mukilteo School District. The center offers 19 courses in five career pathways — from robotics to culinary arts.
The idea that technical or vocational training is only for students who are at-risk academically is old thinking. So is the idea that a person needs a college degree to make a good wage. Ditto: Boxing students into a single career or academic path.
Recombining the best of the old and new, integrating the technical and the academic, will give students the most opportunities after high school.
Even at the height of this recession, just as now, employers have had a difficult time filling certain positions. They include: engineers, nurses, skilled/manual trades workers, teachers, sales representatives, technicians, short-haul drivers, information technology staff, laborers and machinists/machine operators.
And so, the state's community colleges are now chock full of students, young and old, learning many of these in-demand skills and trades.
Traditionally, many of those skills and trades were taught in high school. Over the years, however, as secondary education increasingly focused on college, vocational programs disappeared.
Perhaps a silver lining of this recession is the realization that schools need to better blend academic and technical training. Students should have options.
A great example of this can be found at Stanwood High School's Agricultural Mechanics Club.
On Tuesday, Herald reporter Gale Fiege wrote about students who are teaching a welding class for community members. For $60, adult students get 12 hours of instruction focusing on shielded metal and gas metal arc welding. The idea was so popular there was a waiting list.
The idea for the class came from Kaity Hampton, 18, as part of her senior project.
A second-year welding student, Hampton is among a handful of girls in the program and is considered to be one of the state's best high school welders. She put together the course curriculum, got permission from the school board and encouraged her classmates to get involved in teaching the community welding course.
Next year, Hampton plans to attend Bellingham Technical College to study welding.
While Stanwood High's agriculture department (which includes the Mechanics Club) is tops in the state for such programs, career offerings are hit and miss at other schools. Fortunately, in Snohomish and Island counties, most high school juniors and seniors can attend the Sno-Isle Skills Center in Everett, run by the Mukilteo School District. The center offers 19 courses in five career pathways — from robotics to culinary arts.
The idea that technical or vocational training is only for students who are at-risk academically is old thinking. So is the idea that a person needs a college degree to make a good wage. Ditto: Boxing students into a single career or academic path.
Recombining the best of the old and new, integrating the technical and the academic, will give students the most opportunities after high school.
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