A Call to Action: The Need to Reform Secondary Education

Promoting the idea that education at a 4-year school is the only path to success is incorrect. Recognize your child’s strengths and, if it isn’t in the traditional academic courses, it may be in a craft or trade. Encourage that growth and development and seek out those opportunities for your child to succeed. It will benefit them in the long run and may prevent them from getting discouraged with the education system. It is often that discouragement that leads to dropping out and/or a lack of career direction.

SCHOOLS/LOCAL GOVERNMENT
If the parent’s job is to support their child’s path, then the school’s job is to help create and nurture that path. Local governments can help break down barriers between schools — from elementary to high school to local technical colleges — to promote an educational path that recognizes skills and encourages an education that is in the best interest of the student.

Dropout rates in the U.S. are among the highest in the industrialized world. If a kid becomes disinterested, or isn’t challenged at an earlier age, it becomes that much more difficult for them to engage as they get older. By identifying this pitfall at an early age, and having an educational curriculum that works to the strengths of all students, not just those who want to go to college), we may be able to prevent many of these dropouts and put people to work in something that interests them and that has demand.

We must promote manufacturing jobs as a path to a prosperous career.

PRIVATE INDUSTRY
It is more critical every day that private industry gets involved with local schools — even elementary and middle schools — to promote the idea of pursuing a career in the skilled trades and to help provide them with the tools to do so.

All around the country, we hear that local technical schools are turning out welders, but the skills they graduate with sometimes don’t mesh with the specific skills they need on the shop floor. It is important for private industry to work with schools to educate them on the needs of employers in the region and to develop curriculum with that in mind.

Private industry can further help by donating materials and equipment, and create internships and apprenticeships that allow new students to get a better idea of what the workforce will demand of them when they enter the real world. We’re also seeing manufacturers take training into their own hands. This is another solution, but we still need to encourage people from a younger age to consider a career in the trades and take that path.

ESTABLISHING A PATH REALLY DOES WORK
I’d like to conclude on a personal note: I am a true testimony of how this method can work. I was bored in high school with no real direction, nearly ready to drop out, but I was really good at metal shop. My high school metal shop teacher (I was fortunate to have a metal shop class in high school to attend) noticed this and took the time to provide me with some focus and direction.

I began to hone my skills at an early age and eventually participated in SkillsUSA, where I went on to compete on the global stage at WorldSkills and eventually won a $40,000 scholarship from Miller Electric. I went on to get a bachelors degree in welding engineering and I now work in curriculum development and training.

I teach welding at Arizona State University and I write technical welding manuals, all of which rely on my ability to weld. My career path actually followed the European model of learning a skilled trade at a young age, being employed in it, then furthering my education in the discipline.

I am living proof that a system that recognizes a student’s strengths and guides them down a path suited to their abilities can lead to a fulfilling career. For every kid like me who found his way, there are countless others who may have dropped out and not received the support they needed. As an industry and as a community, we can do better and help give our kids a leg up as they enter adulthood and the workforce.