The Benefits of Technical Schools
A lot of the conversations I have with the other teachers at the high school are about college plans for the kids. I suppose that coming from a home where it was always just assumed that I would go straight from high school to college; it feels odd to me how many kids I interact with now are not planning to go to college. In fact, when I think back to the people I went to high school with, most were college bound. Those who were not were almost always involved in a vocational program during high school.
Our kids here in the district do have access to various vo-tech programs. However, so many of them are just drudging through high school, doing just enough to pass from one grade to the next. If you have the pleasure of having the time to sit down with them and talk about the plans they have for after college, so very many of them have just not given it much thought. They are very focused on graduating their plan ends there. Well, ends might be the wrong word. What I mean is that the days after graduation are just a grey fog of generalization right now.
Yes, there are those who have already been accepted to colleges or are at least interested in thinking about their college plans. There are many who are looking at a career in the military. There are others who have vague plans about attending a vocational program after high school.
I personally do not think our kids have enough access to technical and vocational school programs during high school. Yes, the opportunities are absolutely there after high school, but so many of them could get a head start if they were involved in one of the programs within the district that they could be working on right now. And, since it would be part of the public school system, it would not cost them anything to get that head start.
I was looking over an online technical and vocational school guide and it gave me a lot of hope for so may of the kids I teach. Many of the careers I saw kids writing about for their senior research papers are careers they can have access to via technical programs, rather than a traditional 4-year college. And while I am a fan personally of a traditional college degree, I see so much merit in technical programs that move directly to prepare individuals to work in a specific career area. I’d like to see more of my students take advantage on the training and preparation they offer.
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