Kinsley
High School
Kinsley,
Kansas
Teacher:
Dr. Galen R. Boehme
Initiating
an Art Apprenticeship Program
By
Brianna Medina
Even
though the drawbacks of withdrawal from school and cost exist, a youth
apprenticeship program focusing upon art would benefit the students of the
advanced art class of Kinsley High School at least three ways: Hands-on
training, an additional class elective, and preparatory skills for college.
A
youth apprenticeship at Kinsley High School, focusing upon art, would promote
partnerships among schools, employers, and the community. The program would
also establish high standards for the students of Kinsley High School to meet.
An
art apprenticeship program is needed at Kinsley High School as many students
desire a broader area of knowledge in art so that they can continue their art
education at a post-secondary facility. The art apprenticeship program at
Kinsley High School would be available to any junior or senior enrolled in the
advanced art classes. The student
needs to be in good standing with the high school art instructor and the
principal. The apprenticeship program will allow master traditional artists to
pass on their skills. Local
nationally acclaimed artists will provide a chance to study. The facilities
necessary for use in the apprenticeship program will be provided by the artist
where the apprentice is training. Required
equipment at the facilities may include these: A full working darkroom, a
pottery kiln, pottery wheels, jewelry making equipment, and computer art
equipment. A few of the local artists are: John Winter, Nancy Klenke, Pete
Felder, and Joan and Jerry Weaver. Winter
owns a glass blowing shop in the community. A student wishing to further
his/her education in the glass field would benefit from an apprenticeship
under Winter. Klenke and Felder
own Dream Builders. Dream Builders is a shop that makes carousel horses and
other animals. One who is interested is carving should apprentice under Klenke
and Felder at Dream Builders. Jerry and Joan Weaver are husband and wife but
each is an artist in his/her own right. Jerry mainly creates drums that the
Native American Indians would have used.
Joan Weaver mainly makes crafts, the kind varying greatly. Both artists
are worthy to conduct apprenticeships.
The
purpose of the art apprenticeship at Kinsley High School is to allow students
to gain a broader exposure to different art techniques/areas. The students
participating in the program are those who desire to study art in college.
When asked why he/she is getting an art degree, 84 percent of the
students will answer saying because they are interested in or they love art.
In being exposed to a variety of areas a student will be able to better
prepare him/herself for areas of interest in college.
In
participating in the art apprenticeship program, the apprentice will be able
to gain hands-on training. The student may first be required to listen to
lectures or sit and watch the master artist, but in time, the apprentice will
create on his/her own. Another benefit of the art apprenticeship program is
that the program will serve as an additional class elective. The program is
designed for juniors and seniors. Most of the juniors and seniors
participating in the program will have already completed the school
requirements for graduation. The art apprenticeship program will serve as an
elective. The apprentice will also gain skills preparatory for college.
Many college art programs may require an artist to take electives in
areas not of an individual’s choice. The
college may do this in an attempt to expose the individual to many different
styles of art. The art program at
KHS will have already prepared the student for such a situation.
The extra help of an apprentice will benefit the employer/artist as the
artist’s work will be reduced in size.
The knowledge of the artist will be passed to the apprentice where it
can live.
With
any program, drawbacks will exist. The possibility of student withdrawal from
school will be present. The program may interrupt the student’s class
schedule as the program will take place during the school day. Since many
juniors and seniors have fulfilled the requirements for graduation, the
problem may solve itself as students search for an elective for their empty
class schedules. Cost of the program is another possible drawback. The artist
may not want to pay the student wages. The artist may charge the school for
agreeing to participate in the program. Thus, confusion may exist as to who,
if anyone, should pay or be paid. The school should appeal to the
state/national government for available grants for such an art apprenticeship.
The school may qualify to receive a mini-grant, a project grant, or an
operating grant. A mini-grant is a smaller grant offered quarterly and may be
used to support residencies with roster artists, curriculum, and professional
development work with a consultant and conference. A project grant is a larger
funding opportunity that may be used for a variety of projects that develop
and sustain meaningful arts programs in or for the schools.
An example is preparing non-arts teachers to use the arts effectively
and imaginatively in all aspects of their engagement with students. Operating
grants are grants that provide operating support for organizations whose
primary mission is strengthening education in and through the arts. The
limited availability of artists may pose a problem.
If the school is an applicant of the grants and did not receive funding
from the program in the previous year, the chances of receiving aid will
increase significantly. The availability of artists may also pose a problem.
The number of professional artists willing to cooperate with the school
may be limited in proportion with the number of students wishing to
participate in the program. The school may wish to set up a rotation that
alternates a student/group of students on a daily or perhaps per nine-week
period basis. Any rotation would prove effective as long as each student/group
of students receives the same amount of “apprentice time.”
A
youth apprenticeship program focusing upon art at Kinsley High School would
prove beneficial to the students and the community as even the drawbacks of
such a program can be overcome.
Responses
to the Questions For
Required Reading
1.
Discover and write a two-line description of four programs in your community
that currently operate on the school-to-work philosophy.
Our
school, Kinsley High School, offers an internship program to seniors.
The program allows any senior who desires to do so to “work” or
“intern” at a local business. The
senior will receive a grade for his/her participation in the program.
Each day the participant must write in a journal and describe what
tasks he/she has completed for that day. Before leaving to attend the
“internship,” the student must report to and sign out of the office. When
the student returns, he/she must report to the office and sign in.
Thus far, the internship has been in operation with a limited number of
businesses in town. One could
hope to expand the internship to businesses such as the local banks for
hands-on and social experience, grocery stores for the managing skills, and
even to the feedlot since we are an agricultural based state and community.
2.
As above only substitute “state” for “local” programs.
Kansas
offers many programs/schools that are targeted to help students gain a
hands-on work experience. Many
high schools offer internship opportunities.
These internships allow students to “work” or “intern” at a
local business for one to two hours during the school day.
Many Kansas high schools, Wichita South High School is one example,
offer a program called JROTC. JROTC
is a program to motivate young people to be better citizens.
JROTC is considered a military-prep class.
Students wishing to join a military branch may select a head start and
do some of the basic training during high school.
Experiencing a taste of military life in high school could help many
students decide if a military career is the area they want to pursue.1
Kansas School to Careers is an initiative funded by the federal School-to-Work
Opportunities Act. The federal
funds are passed through as grants to local partnerships.
The local groups of educators, employers, elected officials, parents,
and other community members determine how Kansas School to Careers money is
spent to address the needs of each community.
The mission of Kansas School to Careers is to provide an education that
empowers students to make confident choices that will ensure economic and
vocation success.2 Another
program, School-to-Work in Kansas, encourages students to meet high academic
standards while exposing them to the learning opportunities offered through
technology. The School-to-Work
program links the resources of the business community with the classroom.
The links may exist as internships, apprenticeships, job shadowing, and
other career exploration. Employers
and educators involved in partnerships are inspired to work together to
provide students with work-based learning opportunities.
3.
Discover and write a paragraph or two describing two examples of federal
legislation that have been either proposed or enacted during the Clinton
administration.
During
the Clinton administration, the Senate Bill entitled Income Tax-Credit for
Youth Apprenticeships was proposed. The
bill was assigned to the Budget and Taxation Committee.
The bill’s status as of March 22, 1999 was unfavorable budget and
taxation. The Income Tax-Credit
bill is designed to act as an incentive for businesses to participate in youth
apprenticeship programs. Another
bill that was proposed during the Clinton administration is the Senate Bill
778. The bill is entitled
Creation of a State Debt- Wicomico County-Salvation Army Youth Center.
The committee that the bill has been assigned to is the Budget and
Taxation Committee. The bill’s
status as of April 12, 1999 is unfavorable budget and taxation.
The bill would give aid to create a Salvation Army Youth Center.
The Center would help youth interact with other youth and gain an
insight on what is acceptable both morally and socially to our society.
4.
Businesses often make partnerships with schools to introduce students to the
workplace. Discuss a situation
like this in your community. (Hint: Contact your local Chamber of Commerce.)
Kinsley
High School offers an internship program to any member of the senior class.
The student can spend one-two hours of the school day “interning” or
“working” at a local business. Usually
the business that employs the student outside of school is the same as the one
where the student “interns” during the day.
Some of the businesses pay the student wages while others simply give
the student a hands-on experience in the particular field.
Some of the local businesses that participate or have participated in
the internship program are these: City
Hall, Medicalodge (a rest home), Duckwall’s, Cameo (a beauty salon), and
Avery’s (an auto-mechanic repair shop),
5.
What is meant by “outcome-based” in the illustration below?
“Apprenticeships must be outcome-based like a cosmetology school.
When you finish you must be able to cut hair, not just say you
completed 1,000 hours of training.“
Write a similar illustration of your own.
Outcome-based means the skills that one has acquired through training,
not that one has simply completed the training.
One must be able to do or perform acts that his/her training has
prepared him/herself for. Apprenticeships must be outcome-based like an
auto-body repair school. One must
be able to install a brake line, not just say that he completed nine months of
training. Something that is
outcome-based must have concrete results.
6.
From the reading, give three reasons the AFL-CIO might be opposed to youth
developmental programs.
The AFL-CIO expresses concern about efforts to undercut child labor
laws and the Fair Labor Standards Act, about misuse of the term
“apprentice,” and about the “rush to embrace apprenticeships” that
could destroy the very purpose of the programs.
Concern is expressed about dealing with efforts to undercut child labor
laws and the Fair Labor Standards Act because these fall under the heading of
promoting youth apprenticeship programs.
The term “apprenticeship” suffers from misuse.
The term should be reserved for the registered apprentice programs.
If the term is not reserved for the registered apprenticeships, then
anyone could begin an “apprenticeship.”
McDonald’s could have an employee come in, flip hamburgers, and try
to call the process an apprenticeship. The
line may become too finely drawn. The
rush to initiate youth development programs could cause corners to be cut and
confidence of the programs to be lost. The
efforts to bring forth youth apprenticeships could result in loose application
of the term “apprenticeship.” Parents
and students may see the more unsavory apprenticeship environments.
Then, the desire to participate in apprenticeship programs, in general,
could be lost.
7.
From the reading, give three reasons employers might be opposed to youth
apprenticeship programs.
Three reasons employers might oppose youth apprenticeship program are
that employers are “wary of violating child labor laws, hazardous-work
orders” and insurance regulations, that youth apprenticeship programs might
add to training costs, and that the employers themselves as well as the
parents must be supportive of the apprentices.
Employers do not enjoy having to watch the red tape to be sure they do
not break any laws or regulations. Youth
apprenticeships might add to training costs because “participants are
guaranteed a rotation through different parts of the company and would be
relieved of certain demands for productivity.”
Furthermore, apprenticeship programs need supportive parents.
The parents and employers must give the apprentices time off from home
duties and work to do the activities that high schoolers do such as making
college visitations and shopping for a prom dress.
The employers and parents may have a difficult time realizing that as
valuable as the apprentice program is, the students must not be deprived of a
personal life or of a high school experience.
8.
In the reading, Aviation High School, High School of Fashion Industries and
the High School for Agriculture Sciences were mentioned.
Research on the Internet and describe the program at one of these
schools or another at another school you discover through the National Center
for Research in Vocational Education.
Aviation
High School has what is termed the first of its kind of aviation partnership
in the country. Students from
Aviation High School, located in Queens, New York, now have the opportunity to
gain hands-on experience working on state-of-the-art aircraft technology.
The students are able to gain this experience at John F. Kennedy
International Airport, due to a new 5,000 square foot annex to the high
school. The program has been
designed to enable the transition of students from the high school level to
the business work via hands-on experience coupled with classroom instruction.
9.
What are the differences between contextual
learning, applied learning, community-based
learning, and experiential learning?
Contextual
learning takes place when a textbook is involved to educate.
Applied learning occurs when one applies the skill as he/she is
learning. The person is
experiencing a hands-on learning experience.
Community-based learning is when one goes out and interacts with the
community in a work environment. The
student learns from community-based projects and gains an insight how to work
socially. Experimental learning
is actually doing the job. One
must experiment with the criteria and gain a “feel” on how to perform the
tasks at hand.
10.
In the required reading the federal government’s role was described in one
word. What was that word?
The
government’s role in the required reading can be described in one word,
catalyst. The definition of a
catalyst is a substance or item that modifies and increases the rate of a
reaction without being consumed in the process.
The federal government must act as a catalyst to “harmonize the
curricula, job training, and hiring practices” of local school systems and
businesses. The goal is to
“gain national credibility for apprentices as highly trained workers.”
These skilled workers will prove valuable to employers and will act as
an incentive for other businesses and employers to adopt a youth
apprenticeship program.