chky071
Plastic
- Joined
- Oct 25, 2012
- Location
- North Salt Lake, UT
Four or five years ago a local high school had one of the best machining programs in the state of Utah. We along with other companies hired high school grads from there as well as a couple other machine shops. These kids were great they had a great machining foundation and were easy to teach. The school had a beautiful machine shop with some great equipment. A lot of the equipment was older which required the kids to use some old school methods, but I think it is better to learn the basics that way.
There was a meeting held by the school district four years ago and it was decided to terminate the program. All the equipment was liquidated and the space became classroom to teach Chinese. Kind of ironic that the space is now being used to teach Chinese, considering the amount of parts that are now being outsourced to China.
While I have nothing against learning another language it really bothers me how our society looks down upon trade jobs. A couple of decades ago it was a respected thing to be a machinist, auto mechanic or plumber. Now days it seems like society feels that if you aren’t sitting at a desk then you aren’t a success. This mentality is mind blowing to me. I know many very successful machinist who make a lot more than paper pushers.
When I was in high school I based my schedule on getting into college. I was told that I would need some foreign language and a bunch of other classes. The fact is that if you graduate from high school and have a pulse any local community college will take you. After a couple of semesters at the local community college you can transfer to the University. Had I known what I know now I would have taken more automotive or machining courses. Since I feel they would have more practical value in my life than a lot of the other courses I took.
The problem I have with current high school curriculum is that it is geared toward getting kids into college, but doesn’t actually prepare them for the real world. Not everyone that attends high school is a good fit for college. Those that end up going to college typically end up in serious debt by the time they finish. Or worse rack up the debt and then not finish.
According to CBSnews.com only .3% of students get full-ride scholarships. So why do we create and build curriculum around .3% of students? According to the BLS 65% of students continue on to go to college and of those 65% only 59% of those finish College. Which means in a graduating class of 1000 people only 383 people would actually graduate. That is only 38.3%. What about the other 62%? What are they expected to do without a degree?
My point is that we need a change in direction in our society. Not everyone in a functional society can sit behind a desk. We need to bring the trades back into our high schools. The kids that learned machining were making $12 - $15 bucks an hour starting compared to their counterparts who were only making $9 - $10. It is a great way for those who don’t earn a full ride scholarship to pay their way through school. For those who don’t go on to college they have a skill set they can fall back on. They can pursue a career in machining and make a great living for themselves.
Thoughts?
-Chad
Probability of getting a full-ride to college
How Rare Are Full-Ride Scholarships? - CBS News
High school to college rates:
College Enrollment and Work Activity of 2013 High School Graduates
College graduation rates:
Fast Facts
There was a meeting held by the school district four years ago and it was decided to terminate the program. All the equipment was liquidated and the space became classroom to teach Chinese. Kind of ironic that the space is now being used to teach Chinese, considering the amount of parts that are now being outsourced to China.
While I have nothing against learning another language it really bothers me how our society looks down upon trade jobs. A couple of decades ago it was a respected thing to be a machinist, auto mechanic or plumber. Now days it seems like society feels that if you aren’t sitting at a desk then you aren’t a success. This mentality is mind blowing to me. I know many very successful machinist who make a lot more than paper pushers.
When I was in high school I based my schedule on getting into college. I was told that I would need some foreign language and a bunch of other classes. The fact is that if you graduate from high school and have a pulse any local community college will take you. After a couple of semesters at the local community college you can transfer to the University. Had I known what I know now I would have taken more automotive or machining courses. Since I feel they would have more practical value in my life than a lot of the other courses I took.
The problem I have with current high school curriculum is that it is geared toward getting kids into college, but doesn’t actually prepare them for the real world. Not everyone that attends high school is a good fit for college. Those that end up going to college typically end up in serious debt by the time they finish. Or worse rack up the debt and then not finish.
According to CBSnews.com only .3% of students get full-ride scholarships. So why do we create and build curriculum around .3% of students? According to the BLS 65% of students continue on to go to college and of those 65% only 59% of those finish College. Which means in a graduating class of 1000 people only 383 people would actually graduate. That is only 38.3%. What about the other 62%? What are they expected to do without a degree?
My point is that we need a change in direction in our society. Not everyone in a functional society can sit behind a desk. We need to bring the trades back into our high schools. The kids that learned machining were making $12 - $15 bucks an hour starting compared to their counterparts who were only making $9 - $10. It is a great way for those who don’t earn a full ride scholarship to pay their way through school. For those who don’t go on to college they have a skill set they can fall back on. They can pursue a career in machining and make a great living for themselves.
Thoughts?
-Chad
Probability of getting a full-ride to college
How Rare Are Full-Ride Scholarships? - CBS News
High school to college rates:
College Enrollment and Work Activity of 2013 High School Graduates
College graduation rates:
Fast Facts