 |
    |
    |
 |
Nobody knows exactly what the economy will demand of workers in the future. But one thing is clear.
Darrell Parks is executive director of Ohio's chapter of the Association for Career and Technical Education. He's worked in vocational education for well over 40 years and says extensive research has proven that voc ed is vital to developing a skilled workforce.
And some are coming out of Northeast Ohio's vocational districts, like the Tri-Heights Career Tech Consortium, where Warrensville, Shaker, and Cleveland Heights students are learning everything from biotechnology to cosmetology. Architect Calvin Singleton has worked with many Tri-Heights students over the years.
Cleveland Heights High senior Nathan Boyle is one of Singleton's current interns. Quiet - at least when asked to talk about himself - Boyle is designing a daycare center for Singleton. Next year, he'll begin work toward a degree in architecture. Then, he's coming home. At least that's the current plan.
Think of Boyle as one factor in a regional economic equation. Still in high school, he's training in his chosen profession while helping support a small business. (Singleton is quick to acknowledge that voc ed students are an asset to him). Assuming he completes his education and returns to Cleveland as planned, Boyle will have not only realized his dream, he will have become a plug in the regional brain drain. He also, according to Darrell Parks of the Association for Career and Technical education, may wind up contributing more economically than his college-bound counterparts with no voc ed experience.
Not what you imagined from voc ed? You could be operating on an outdated set of assumptions, according Thelma Williams, coordinator of technical education at Heights High.
And some voc ed students don't continue their education past high school-Singleton says students have taken skills he's helped them develop and gone immediately into the workforce after graduation. But going on to college is also common. Williams says five of her voc ed programs have formal links to associate degree programs. One being added to the list is pharmacy tech, which Anna Kiss began teaching this year.
Kiss is reviewing formulas with about a dozen students, none of whom is wondering why they need to know this stuff. Pharmacy students know that learning how to deliver IV medication according to doctors' orders is relevant to their future. Daryleen Frizzell says she's glad for the training she's receiving, including work in what's called employability.
Frizzell says just being in high school has prepared her well not to rise to anyone's bait, and she feels sure she'll be able to remain calm in the face of unreasonable customers. This may seem less than critical to her training, but it isn't. Employability is woven into every vocational education program, Williams says. And she says, some businesspeople have told her that mainstream students could learn something about how to conduct themselves in the workplace from their counterparts in voc ed.
It's a far cry from vocational-education-as-dumping-ground-for-kids-who-can't-make-it-elsewhere. Voc ed has evolved. And that's just what it's always done, according to Darrell Parks-adjusted to the needs of the marketplace.
It's also tightened academic standards. Last year in Ohio, according to Parks, vocational education students passed the state proficiency exams at a rate of 94.6%. Cindi Deutschman-Ruiz, 90.3. Resources:
|
