Salem High School
Salem, Missouri

Teacher: John Hendricks

 

Youth Apprenticeships
By Maggie Rasor

 

The last year of high school is a time of decisions. Seniors must make choices that will impact the rest of their lives. For some young people, the choice is obvious. They fill out their college applications and the next fall they head off to a four-year college. But for many youths, the choice is not as clear-cut. Often, these young adults have little guidance as to what their options are and end up dropping out of high school or working at minimum wage in a job offering few advancement opportunities.

       

At Salem High School there are many programs designed to improve the job prospects of those students who traditionally have had a limited career outlook. Among these programs is the cooperative Business Occupational Education program, called CBOE.

       

CBOE is a work-study program for seniors, which allows participants to attend high school on a part time basis and work during the remainder of the day. There is a written agreement between Salem High School and the students’ employer, which ensures the student, will receive appropriate vocational training. The learning activities are planned and supervised by school officials and employers so that everyone Involved contributes to the learning experience. CBOE students usually take courses related to their jobs, such as business technology, business law, desktop publishing or marketing.

           

Every CBOE student must take business technology, a two-hour block class. Each student’s curriculum is individualized according to the career the student has chosen. The goal of the course is to give students the skills they need to become productive, independent employees. They learn how to use Microsoft Word, Excel, Access, and PowerPoint; business math; and filing as well as participating in a mock interview and learning how to make a resume, all important skills that many mew members of the workforce do not have.

       

Some critics say that programs such as CBOE are detrimental to students. They say that high school is a time for intellectual development, a time when students become well rounded, not a time when students should start on a vocational track. But by the senior year of high school, most young people know if they have the aptitude for further academic study or not. If the answer is no, what is to become of these young adults? Should they sacrifice their future earning potential for the sake of ‘intellectual development,’ which will not benefit those who have neither the interest nor aptitude for such endeavors. Many students weary of school simply drop out, leaving them with few skills and even fewer employment opportunities. Without the incentive of programs like CBOE, many more high school students would drop out of school. Although CBOE students may not be learning Shakespeare or advanced chemistry, at least they are learning something.

       

Some people contend that seventeen year olds are not ready to commit themselves to a vocational track, that such a young person cannot be emotionally ready to make a decision that can affect them for the rest of their lives. But isn’t this exactly what all high school seniors do? These young adults decide if they wish to remain in high school to get a diploma, if they will get a full time job after graduation, of they will attend a trade school or if they will go a junior college or a four-year college or university. If a student decides on a four year college, he or she much decide whether to attend a school close to home or halfway across the country, a decision which will likely affect where the student eventually gets a job and lives. If the student decides that trade school is the right choice, then he or she must decide what program to embark on, carpentry, cooking, plumbing or something entirely different. In many countries, students fourteen years old and sometimes younger must choose to attend either a vocational or an academic secondary school. So, it is not at all too much to ask of a seventeen year old to make this important decision.

       

Some parents fear that if their child decides to participate in a program such as CBOE their child will have no academic opportunities, such as attending a four-year college.  However, if a CBOE student is somewhat academically inclined, he or she may complete the admissions requirements of the college of interest and apply for admission. Many CBOE students go on to complete college degrees at institutions such as the University of Missouri.

       

Upon high school graduation, CBOE students have a high school diploma, valuable work experience, and many options for their futures. They are well prepared for the rest of their lives in large part thanks to the CBOE program.

 

Responses To Questions

 

1. Discover and write a two-line description of four programs in your community that currently operate on the school-to-work philosophy.

CBOE, COE, RTI and VoTech are programs operated in my community that allow students in the last two years of high school to attend school part-time and work on a vocational program.

 

2. As above only substitute “state” for “local” programs.

“Sponsorship and Mentoring Program” is an initiative, which further links school districts and employers to provide career-enhancing opportunities for Missouri’s students.

Missouri’s Community Careers System is a school-to-work initiative, which received federal funding in 1996.

A+ is a program, which pays for two years of a vocational education for students who have met academic and community service requirements.

Tech Prep is a system of high schools and community colleges, which provides vocational education.

 

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.

The Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act were passed in 1990. It gives one billion dollars per year to fund state and local vocational education initiatives.

The School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994 provides funds to state and local communities to develop school-to-work systems.

 

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.

By outcome-based it is meant that when one finishes the training, one should know a new skill.  An illustration would be trucking school. When a person finishes trucking school, that person must be able to park the truck.

 

6. From the reading, give three reasons the AFL-CIO might be opposed to youth development programs.

The AFL-CIO may oppose youth apprenticeship programs because they believe these programs may violate child labor laws and the Fair Labor Standards Act.  Also, they believe that by overusing the term apprenticeship the value of these programs will be undermined.  Thirdly, the AFL-CIO may oppose youth apprenticeships because they do not lead to a certificate.

 

7. From the reading, give three reasons employers might be opposed to youth apprenticeship programs.

Employers may feel that youth apprentices may add to training costs but contribute little to productivity.  Employers may also be concerned about violating child labor laws and insurance regulations.  Thirdly, they may feel that youth apprentices are not as mature as older workers.

 

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 school you discover through the National Center For Research in Vocational Education.

The High School for Agriculture Sciences educates people on plants, animals and soils. There is fieldwork and time for individual projects.

 

9. What are the differences between contextual learning, applied learning, community-based learning and experiential learning?

Contextual learning is learning in context. Applied learning is applying what you have learned. Community based learning is learning through a community. Experiential learning is learning from trying different solutions to a problem to see which one works best.

 

10. In the required reading the federal government’s role was described in one word. What was that word?

The word was infrastructure.                                                          [Back]