I know this is sort of ancient history but I was wondering...
Do you think your high school program track (college-prep, business or vo-tech) adequately prepared you? Explain how it did or didn't.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Prepared?
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9 comments:
I was in the college prep program, and it defintely prepared me for college - and not much else! When I graduated from high school, I went to Millersville for about a week and half and realized that I wasn't ready for college. So I went home. Then I realized that I didn't know how to do anything except be a student, so I worked at Clover for a year and then went to the University of Tampa.
I would say yes that going to vo-tech prepared me to go out into the workforce and get a good paying job. That however was because I took the course seriously and made an effort after HS. Of course I know many who didn't from the Graphic Arts class. That was the 80's though and I doubt very seriously that would be enough today. I can't imagine a kid graduating from HS and getting a good enough job to support themselves today let alone a family. School is way more advanced now. I know at East Penn they offer first year college classes in HS with a very accelerated course schedule for those children who need/want it. For those that dont take that route are the base courses good enough I don't know ask me in about 8 years.
Vicki, why weren't you ready for college?
MJ, I would say the best way to get a good job out of HS today would be to study a trade. Electricians and others do very well.
Sure but I imagine they would have to do some sort of apprenticeship program to get started. Employers would most likly take someone from a trade school over just a HS diploma.
curious why do you ask?
The other day I was thinking back to when I started college and wished I had been better prepared academically. Most people I knew had had more advanced classes in HS and were better prepared. I even knew one guy who was majoring in electrical engineering who had sophomore standing as a freshman.
Then I got to wondering what experience my fellow classmates had.
In my head, I just wasn't ready. I didn't want to be there. I think I was sick of being in school, and wanted to do something else. Then I realized I didn't know how to do anything else, so I went back to being a student.
When I think back to the way things were done at CHS and what they had to deal with (no real levels - like a one room school house in some classes), I think most of our teachers did as best they could under the situation.
Doing this for so many years now (19th year and counting), I would not want to have to teach my different levels as one class. I have so much to deal with in tracked classes, nonetheless in a mixed group.
I know we did not have the AP courses that are offered in some schools, but for a school that only had 400 students in 4 grades, Catty High teachers did very well.
In Stroudsburg, we have more than 500 kids in some of our graduating classes, and most classes are over 400 per class (not per 4 grades).
So, yeah, I think I was prepared to go to college and compete.
i took the business route and i think i was prepared ok. i took a job in dc with the gov and it was a great experience. i think steve was on the right path. our teachers did the best they could with the circumstances they had. the high schools out here (az) are well over 850 per graduating class with many ap classes and tons of non-english speaking students. i think it varies greatly because i see the good and the bad mixed for my children! my oldest graduated last year (she did well in school), decided to do community college two years before attending u of a; i think she made the right decision based on her maturity and also paying for her schooling herself! todays times are different and students are much farther along than i think we were!
I think CHS did a great job. When I got to college I sat thru math and physics classes freshman year which were mostly reviews of senior year at CHS, and many of the (also prep, top-of-their-classes) students sitting next to me were seeing it for the first time. I placed out of a few things on my entrance exams, too.
I think I was one of the best-prepared students in my class - altho my many of my classmates were coal-region natives. Maybe CHS just seems like an awesome school when stacked up against the likes of Tamaqua, Hazleton, and Marion... or maybe it's just because I'm just totally awesome (as I'm sure you all already know).
Obliquely related: in HS, I really wanted to go to Vo-Tech for cabinet making but it wasn't allowed because it didn't fit in the prep curriculum.
At PSU, I really wanted to take guitar as one of my arts electives, but I wasn't allowed - it wouldn't earn credit against my major (mechanical engineering).
Now guess the two things that:
1. I still do, and I've enjoyed most of my adult life,
2. I've made the most money at in $/hr when I did/ do them for money,
3. I wish I could go back in time, tell the administrators to 'fuck off,' and do anyway.
I've seen some quiet rumblings from the establishment realizing that someone who would make a great college student might also make a great electrician, mechanic, etc. - and for every Tech guy now making a great living with their own business, I know an army of college grads (even masters in some cases), waiting tables.
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