Tech ed a big win for students - Right Thinking - rightthinking's Blog - Bakersfield.com

Feb 7, 2009 at 07:02 AM : One auto shop will...

One auto shop will support at most:

3 classes/day. Less than 30 kids per class. That’s 90 kids per shop/Semester. And one semester isn’t enough to amount to a hill of beans.

So where are these shops. How much will it cost to build enough. How much to supply them with the high cost equipment?

I learned a lot from my IA classes at South High. But I was one of the few that got to participate.

We need to think about getting businesses involved in formal apprenticeship training. They need the trained worker. It should be part of there cost of business ownership.

Feb 7, 2009 at 08:02 AM : I find this comment,...

I find this comment, "Considering the board has discussed the plan practically nonstop for two years..." misleading and inaccurate. I was at a trustee meeting when KHSD Superintendent Dr. Don Carter all but admitted that PUBLIC discussion of this plan was NOT discussed for "practically two years" despite what Joel Heinrichs and a couple other trustees keep professing (a few months is more like it). Carter said that Heinrichs started requesting data from his office about two years ago, but that their reason for wanting the data was not disclosed as being for this Pathways program. In fact, I got the distinct impression from the way Dr. Carter paused and delicately tried to answer the audience member's question that Heinrichs had either told him or given him the impression that the data was for something else.

It was also revealed at this same trustee meeting that any discussion of developing a Pathways program was done rather quietly and privately among a very small "committee" (I recall about five names being mentioned) with no input for the plan being asked for from teachers, parents, or any other stakeholders until this past December when the subject was brought up at a trustee meeting. It was clear to me at the meeting I attended in January that this was already a done deal, and that making it public at the end of the process was merely a veiled attempt to make it appear as though others had been included in the process. To me, this does not constitute the open "...the board has discussed the plan practically nonstop for two years..." that you or they are implying.

Feb 7, 2009 at 08:02 AM : It is my understanding...

It is my understanding that BHS might possibly still have their industrial arts buildings still intact - just unused. I don't know about the other HS's.

The educational system never should have stopped those programs just because THEY thought everybody should go to college. Now all of a sudden, after years of dropouts, they have DISCOVERED this trade school train of thought. a-maz-ing. This is another aspect of the 50-60's that was better. Every time the "system" tries to "fix it" they just screw it up and in the process screw up the kids. "if it ain't broke...don't fix it"!!!!!

Feb 7, 2009 at 09:02 AM : It appears that on...

It appears that on entering high school a student must declare college prep or career prep. I also was told that a child can change later if they choose. What would concern me is that if they opt for career prep and two year down the road decide to switch to college prep they would have lost a lot of time.

Do most 14 year olds know what they want to be? And why do they have to choose one or the other? Why can't they take college prep and and auto body or woodshop class?

Still questions.... but it seems the parents and the public were not in on the decision even though the board was asked to not make a decision without input.

Did I get it right? If not, please chime in.

Feb 7, 2009 at 10:02 AM : I would have been nice...

I would have been nice if there was more choices to choose from other than metal/wood shop..auto shop....It would have been cool to have HVAC repair..plumbing..home and industrial electrical...you know--things that are productive trades--good paying trades--careers....Hey--it's food for thought...

Feb 7, 2009 at 10:02 AM : ...

I agree with colornine,

it would've been nice to have been inlcuded (the public) in the planning process.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiOvK4xwr2U

--virgil

Feb 7, 2009 at 11:02 AM : virgil, thanks for...

virgil,

thanks for the music video. I don't understand country music. It doesn't have anything to do with working on the range.

Feb 8, 2009 at 03:02 PM : Are there still...

Are there still cooking and sewing classes offered? If not might want to think about that too - chefs and designers - most go away and don't come back as there is not much here in Bako - Well there is up at the college but it would be nice to have some of those classes at the HS level.

Feb 8, 2009 at 09:02 PM : If you go to the...

If you go to the KHSD's Career Technical Education Board Presentation and scroll down to page 13, you will see a list of the variety of vocational opportunities currently available at each of the different high schools. Phase two of the plan is to expand the offerings so that they are available at more of the high schools.

If a student is interested in a field that his/her school does not offer, he/she can request an intra-district transfer to the high school where those classes are offered. There are some pitfalls to that, however:

(1) If the student participates in athletics, he/she will be ineligible for one year after the transfer;

(2) Students must find their own transportation to the new school they attend.