Kinsley
High School
Kinsley,
Kansas
Teacher:
Dr. Galen R. Boehme
Implementing
a Youth Apprenticeship Program Concerning Politics
By Travis Lovett
Even
though the drawbacks of scheduling and enrollment exist, a youth
apprenticeship program focusing upon politics would benefit the students of
Kinsley High School at least three ways: By teaching them to be independent,
by offering mentorship's in the community, and by allowing students to earn
college credits.
We
define a youth apprenticeship as work-based training combined with
post-secondary education. Apprentices
spend approximately 80 percent of their time in hands on environment under
careful watch of a highly skilled mentor. The other 20 percent of their time
is spent in the classroom, learning the specifics about the job. The
apprenticeship proposed would be a three-way contract among the apprentice,
the employer, and the high school. All of these partners must maintain their
commitment or the program will fail.
Our
community of approximately 1,500 people is located in a rural area in Central
Kansas. The high school of 100
students contains mainly traditional classes. Yet the few advanced classes
offered, such as Composition I and II, are enrolled to the maximum. Offering
the youth apprenticeship program in politics will give the students a great
opportunity to enhance their education. Possible employers for a political
apprenticeship include the courthouse, the local lawyer, and the police
station. The Dodge City Community College (D.C.C.C.) provides a possible
college partnership with my school. This partnership will allow students to
gain college credits. The college may also pick up part of the expenditures.
One
aspect of the program would cover law, with the class focusing on the
specifics of crimes and punishments.3 Another class would deal with
community government. This would explain how procedures are carried out on the
local level. Politics is an extremely broad subject that will allow the
program to contain many different classes. The main objective of this program
is to teach students the basics about government. I want students taking this
program to have an edge over the average student. A final exam will be taken
by all students and must be passed in order to pass the program. Requiring the
final exam will make sure that students taking the course are receiving every
piece of knowledge the course is offering.
The final exam will also eliminate those students who are taking the
class only to avoid taking the traditional classes.
The
benefits of this program will be vast. The program will teach the students to
be independent. The program will teach the basic thinking skills, and personal
qualities necessary for future success.5 Each student will be
responsible for turning in a personalized journal as well as a major project
each semester. The assignments must be completed on the students’ own time
as no class time will be given. The program will offer mentorship's in the
community. The students will be allowed to take part in an internship at the
courthouse, police station, or the local lawyer’s office. The mentorship's
will teach students the inside procedures of how the facilities work. Another
benefit is the college credits. Through a partnership with D.C.C.C. students
would receive college credit through the class. This program will better
prepare those students going into college.
Drawbacks
to the program remain a problem, but the benefits will outweigh them. The
first drawback is the scheduling. Finding time to complete this program along
with all of the other classes will have students struggling. If the time
becomes a factor the students may begin to neglect their primary classes. The
way to overcome this problem is a simple process of time management. The class
could be offered in the summer or as an after school program. During the
summer students often have jobs, but the class could be offered in the
evenings to correct the problem. After school the main conflict would be
sports. Once again the class could be offered in the evenings to deal with the
conflict. The second problem will be the enrollment.
Finding enough students who are interested in government and politics
could present a problem. Students might shy away from this class because of
its degree of difficulty. To correct the problem the class should be offered
only to juniors and seniors. The upper class students in the high school often
realize participating in a post secondary education institution is going to
require advanced classes. The high school only offers a few of these advanced
classes. Offering the class to the upper class students exclusively should
eliminate the problem of enrollment. Obviously if we try to correct the
problems the benefits of the program will eventually overweigh the drawbacks.
Offering
a youth apprenticeship dealing with politics would benefit the students of
Kinsley High School in many ways and should be pursued in the future.