“High school will be what you make it.” That was the sage advice one of my older relatives gave me a few days before I began my freshman year here at Columbia City High School. As I type this document a few years in the future, I can confirm that that advice is mostly true. As a young adult you can choose your friends, you can choose your extra-curricular activities, and to some extent, you can choose your classes. However, as a student you don’t really have the power or ability to bring change to the structure of the high school and its programs. That, to me, sprouts an issue. I feel that to truly offer an impactful experience for all high school students, administrators should seek feedback from all stakeholders--and that includes students. …show more content…
Specifically, I am talking about establishing more of an emphasis on vocational skills classes. College is not for everyone, and along with that, not all students should be forced to take classes on a college track when they have no interest in attending college after high school. Currently at our high school we have the Interdisciplinary Cooperative Education (I.C.E.) program. While this is a great program, it is only open for seniors. I feel that we should begin offering vocational training for students as early as their freshman year. For example, students may be very skilled when it comes to small engines or vehicles. Why not allow them to begin training in those areas early on in their high school career while also having them take business-related classes at the same time? This would allow them to have a trade they can practice upon exiting high school, while also giving them a background in business if they wanted to start their own small business. In talking with a local teacher, we discussed different vocational options in our area. In Fort Wayne, they have the Anthis Career Center, and in Wabash County, they have Heartland Career Center which services over a half dozen area high schools. These places provide training in areas ranging from automotive skills to beautician skills, to veterinary assistant skills (Baldwin, 2017). Students in our school should get those same opportunities earlier in their career to allow for a more fulfilling high school