Salem High School

Salem, Missouri

Teacher: John Hendricks

 

 

 

School-Based Enterprises

By Mary Onawa Meier

           

School-to-work programs at the High School level are, in my opinion, a great help for adapting teenagers to the work force.  There is a gap between school and work that needs to be filled. I am a High School Senior and I have been working in a McDonalds restaurant (as a summer job) since my sophomore year. I tried working weekends during the school year but it didn’t work out with my over-crowded schedule. I needed the job experience because I know it is ridiculous to expect to just walk out of high school and into a good job.  Notice I said “good job”.  In my case that means one that involves writing, editing, or illustrating literature. When summer comes I will likely be going back to McDonalds, but I wish I were working with a publishing company or a magazine. Many students start out the same as I did: working in a fast food restaurant.  Most students in High School still don’t know what career they want. Those that do often don’t know how to get started.  School-to-work programs help to fill the gap and get students started in the right direction.

           

Youth Apprenticeship, Vocational Education, and School-based Enterprises are only a few of the programs that link school with work.  The program I like best is School-Based Enterprise. While going to school, students can get involved in activities that give them job experience.  Some such activities are “school restaurants, construction projects, farms, child- care centers, auto repair shops or production of the school yearbook or campus newspaper.”  As opposed to apprenticeships, and Vocational Education, where only the minimal graduation requirements are met, students can attend class as normal and have a choice to change their mind.  If I had been involved in the school yearbook production, for instance, I would have some experience that could help in getting the job I want.  If; on the other hand, I were to not like working on that project then perhaps I would alter my work goal.

           

Another reason to get involved in such programs is to make oneself more favorable to the Employers. Employers are often reluctant to hire teenagers and I don’t blame them. Most people my age don’t have any job experience, are not available full time and are often less mature than older workers. The school-based enterprise program and other similar school-to-work programs help to make the crossover between the two easier and help the student get their foot in the door of the career world. Once they have that first step a hardworking student has a better chance in succeeding in the working world.

Answers to the Required Reading

 

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

 

 The CBOE program is like apprenticeships. The students go to school for half a day and work in a paying job for the rest of the day.  In the VO-Tech. Program students attend High School half a day and a Vocational Technology School for half a day.  They study a trade and work toward a vocational job.  The FBLA (future business leaders of America) program teaches technical skills and others needed in running a business.  FBLA students often work toward high-tech or executive jobs.  FFA (future farmers of America) is a program designed to prepare students for agricultural jobs.  It teaches many aspects of the industry including money management and marketing.

 

 

As above only substitute “state” for “local” programs.  =  NOT ANSWERED

 

Discover and write a paragraph or two describing two examples of federal legislation that have been either proposed or enacted during the Clinton administration.   =         NOT ANSWERED

 

Businesses often make partnerships with schools to introduce students to the workplace.  Discuss a situation like this in your community.

 In the CBOE program students go to school for half of the day (4 class periods) and work for the other half the day.  They work in community businesses and receive school credit.

 

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.”            

 

Outcome-based means that success is measured my ability and not the time spent learning it.  Sometimes students pass a class and still don’t  understand the subject, but in an outcome-based situation one must be able to show that he or she understands what is being taught in order to rise to the next level. 

 

Write a similar illustration of your own.           

 

A lawyer, after graduating top in his class from Law School, will soon find out that it means nothing until he can back it up in the courtroom.  His clients don’t care how many years he went to school they want to know if he can win their case.

           

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

 

 (1)They fear that Labor Laws might to broken or changed because of these programs.  (2)Misuse or loose application of the term “apprentice” could undermine confidence in the program. (3) Not all part time jobs are apprenticeships, there is a lot involved. Some youngsters may get involved in a so-called apprenticeship and then not get the credential certificate.

 

From the reading, give 3 reasons employers might be opposed to youth apprenticeship programs.      

 

(1) Training expenses are merely a debit. (2) High School students are less mature than College students. (3) It hurts productivity.

 

In the reading, Aviation High School, High School for 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.      

 

The St. Paul Public School’s Tech Prep program uses applied learning to blend school-based and work-based activities. The program begins at the high school level and extends through the post secondary level.  There are programs in the following areas: business, Home economics, industrial education, and performing arts.  Representatives from each of the local high schools and universities meet with each other as committees and /or consortiums.

 

 

What are the differences between contextual learning, applied learning, community-based learning and experimental learning? 

 

 Contextual learning, like in most classrooms, focuses on learning text and memorization of information.  Applied learning is where the students get hands-on experience, they learn by doing.  In community based learning schools work with the local businesses and the students often get paying jobs and school credit.  Experimental learning binds reading, writing and math with all subjects and also has work/study programs.

 

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

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