Many Paths

[Unkotare]

The school where I teach is not in one of those wealthy suburban districts (to say the least). I just got back from doing some private tutoring in a very wealthy town where nearly all high school students are assumed to be going to college. That's great for them, although some are under more pressure in that regard than is entirely healthy. At my school a significant portion of graduating classes are planning to go into the military. Another large amount are planning on entering the workforce in some manner.

One size does not fit all.

 

[Robert W]

The school where I teach is not in one of those wealthy suburban districts (to say the least). I just got back from doing some private tutoring in a very wealthy town where nearly all high school students are assumed to be going to college. That's great for them, although some are under more pressure in that regard than is entirely healthy. At my school a significant portion of graduating classes are planning to go into the military. Another large amount are planning on entering the workforce in some manner.

One size does not fit all.

This is not my fields of experience.

 

[Unkotare]

This is not my fields of experience.

Ok, and?

 

[MarathonMike]

The school where I teach is not in one of those wealthy suburban districts (to say the least). I just got back from doing some private tutoring in a very wealthy town where nearly all high school students are assumed to be going to college. That's great for them, although some are under more pressure in that regard than is entirely healthy. At my school a significant portion of graduating classes are planning to go into the military. Another large amount are planning on entering the workforce in some manner.

One size does not fit all.

Does your school have a trade school prep option? Back in the day, my high school did. Their was a wing dedicated to auto shop, metal working, wood working and electrical.

 

[Unkotare]

Does your school have a trade school prep option? Back in the day, my high school did. Their was a wing dedicated to auto shop, metal working, wood working and electrical.

There is a voc tech school in the district. The waiting list to get in there is quite long. Even schools out in the wealthy suburbs have woodworking, small engine repair, and other courses available as electives.

 

[MarathonMike]

There is a voc tech school in the district. The waiting list to get in there is quite long. Even schools out in the wealthy suburbs have woodworking, small engine repair, and other courses available as electives.

Too bad they have to go to a special school for trade prep. My son's high school had a few vocational classes. He ended up getting a Math degree but his favorite course in high school was welding.

 

[shockedcanadian]

This is true and there are very few people in life who didnt wish they wouldn't have at least tried to pursue another path even if the path they chose has been fruitful for them.

I should have went back to the military after university started and contacted the intelligence officer who interviewed me to signal my interest in at least knowing more. I was too young and uninformed but as soldiers go I dominated every test on that day and had the perfect education background (though not finished as yet).

At the very least I would have been eventually stationed overseas, been educated in the most complicated and advanced challenges in military college with no cost to me, and above all, never known about how the Creepy Ones operate domestically. Information I didn't care to know before hand.

The purpose I serve isn't one I ever wanted to. In fact, I'm probably the least likely to have wanted this burden. I'm one of millions I'm sure.

 

[Unkotare]

Too bad they have to go to a special school for trade prep. My son's high school had a few vocational classes. He ended up getting a Math degree but his favorite course in high school was welding.

In some districts a voc school and a college-prep school share the same building. The voc tech school in my district is pretty huge, so it needs it's own building. Kids from all over the district go there. They also run night classes for adults looking to strengthen skills or make a change of career.

 

[Leo123]

When I was in HS (a LOOOOONG time ago) we had shop classes, drafting classes, car classes. The stuff I learned in those classes has helped me in real life more than I can say.

 

[Winston]

When I was in school, and even when my sons were at the same school, those vocational classes were a big deal. While you could take college prep and AP courses in all the High Schools, each High School in the county had a particular vocation that they specialized in. For my school, it was bricklaying, and they routinely produced national champions in brick laying competitions.

Another high school specialized in auto mechanics. Can you say NASCAR? Where you think those crew chiefs come from. Electricians, Plumbers, those high schools turned out qualified individuals that easily exceeded anything these for profit institutions throughout the nation, after high school, turn out. Welding, my nephew graduated from high school a few years ago, took all the welding classes. He is knocking down the money and has contemplated going into underwater welding, that is easily well over six figures a year.

One thing my high school did when I was in school, and I don't think they do it anymore. They built a house, each and every year. Masonry classes, carpentry classes, HVAC classes. And it was self-financed. They completed the house in that year and then sold it. The profit was dropped back into the program. And those homes sold, almost immediately, they were in high demand. The quality was top notch.