These Wisconsin schools say tech education is about breaking stereotypes, preventing debt
On a brisk fall morning in Kaukauna, 21-year-old Nadia Trinh prepared for the next five years of her life: learning to become “a surgeon of welding.”
It was her day to formally accept an apprenticeship with the UA Local 400 union in eastern Wisconsin. It’s not just the nearly $50 hourly wage and $1 million pension she'll eventually earn that excites her, but the complex math, science and art required to manipulate metals.
Her experience is one that educators have always made a goal: seeing young people “find their path,” early in life.
K-12 schools in Wisconsin are increasingly being incentivized to expose students to a full range of career options before leaving high school. It’s up to schools whether to invest in programs like career and technical education (CTE) classes, youth apprenticeship and dual college credit. To do so, they need to make calculations about resources like physical classroom space, equipment and staffing.
The state makes funds available for schools that decide to build up those programs. It's part of a broader push to increase the percentage of Wisconsin residents with some sort of post-high school education in the interest of filling jobs due to projected workforce demands.
The Journal Sentinel talked with educators from schools who have moved away from a "four-year focus." For them, the pitch makes sense: Students should try out careers before they invest in a four-year degree. But they also cite expanding options that lead to high-paying jobs, such as two-year degrees, tech college transfer programs and apprenticeships.
Trinh is the type of student who many educators are trying to reach. Although she took welding classes in high school, after graduation she enrolled in a tech college welding program and worked in a shop for about $26 an hour. The classes were useful, but she still wanted a higher-paying, more skilled job.
It’s why she jumped at the idea of an apprenticeship — once she eventually heard about it. She wishes she had learned about an apprenticeship in high school, before she enrolled in college classes that she's still paying off. But she's still happy about her choice.
“Welding is an art; you have to have so much technique to everything,” Trinh said. "You can go till you die and still learn.”
Bowler: Northcentral WI district of 300 students adds $3 million expansion to metals, auto, agriculture spaces
Last fall, educators in Bowler, Wisconsin, students which classes they would take if given the option. Then they ran into a common problem for K-12 schools: resources.
In a district of 300 students total, 28 high schoolers signed up for welding. But Bowler had been offering only six spots. There was just one teacher, and the physical classroom shared space with district vehicles needing repair.
It’s an example of why the district in rural northcentral Wisconsin opened a $3 million expansion this school year, using $75,000 in state grants to purchase equipment. Now, a new metals area has two Haas CNC machines and several welding booths. Students can get a feel for working on construction sites using virtual reality headsets and experiment with 3D printers.
The expanded auto shop makes room for a second CTE teacher, Phil Mydy. It also adds space for a school tradition: building go-kart-like cars from donated metal, both to compete for speed and optimal gas mileage. Teacher Tim Ploeger said students recently reached a record: 765 miles per gallon.
How? “Coasting,” he said.
There's also a new agriculture classroom, designed so its indoor windows overlook a connected barn. Soon, students will see piglets and other farm animals while sitting in class. They will also learn to raise fish and grow plants in a connected greenhouse and aquaponics lab.
Superintendent Glenda Butterfield-Boldig has worked in small schools for 26 years. She said the goal of expanding Bowler's CTE programs is to give students a “buffet of options,” not funnel them into the trades. Especially being in a rural area, she said hands-on skills like welding and fixing cars are useful for anyone. It's one reason why the school will open its new facilities to the community.
But she also said it makes sense for schools to offer skills that could help students find jobs locally. Bowler is not abundant in high-paying jobs that require four-year degrees, she said, but it is home to people who are proud to work in the trades.
"My late husband graduated from Bowler back in the day, and he earned his entire living as a welder, and he was proud to be a welder. And he credited his high school teacher for giving him the skills to be able to earn a great living," she said.
Reedsville: more than half of juniors and seniors worked as youth apprentices
About 30 miles south of Green Bay, Reedsville is among the few districts in Wisconsin where more than half of eligible students worked as youth apprentices last year. Fifty of the 90 juniors and seniors earned credit by working for businesses and taking related classes as part of the growing statewide program.
Reedsville has moved away from a four-year focus, according to the superintendent and principal, who have both been in the small community for decades.
“I think what happened was just exposure to different careers,” said Principal Melissa Wiese. Technical colleges are also spreading the message that “you can have a very high-paying job, go to school for two years, and even get a lot of financial assistance.”
The state of Wisconsin established its youth apprenticeship program in 1991, but participation is still scattered statewide in a program that requires connections with businesses and staff time. Reedsville has been expanding its program since 2016, with the majority of students, though not all, working in the trades last year. Like other districts, additional students are using the program for other fields like healthcare and business.
Wiese said she's encountered stereotypes about the program that should be broken: that it takes students away from the classroom, puts them to work or is just for students on "one track."
“I think we’ve broken that and said ‘No, this is an extension of the classroom. This is an extension of our school. We’re going to work together, we’re going to give them the skills, and then they’re going to go and apply (them),’” Wiese said.
K-12 districts can receive up to $1,000 for every recent graduate who earns certain prespecified “industry credentials," including some tied to youth apprenticeship. State Career and Technical Education Incentive Grants are designed to get more people certified in “industries facing shortages of qualified entry level workers,” according to its website.
A district of about 600 students, Reedsville received $62,654 in those grants during the 2020-23 fiscal years. The state allocated $25.9 million statewide in the same timeframe.
More schools are supplementing youth apprenticeship, CTE classes with free college credit
Bowler and Reedsville are also supplementing CTE classes and youth apprenticeship by giving students the option to earn college credit. That means students can get started on a technical diploma or credits that will transfer to a four-year college, among other options.
The most common dual-credit program in the state allows certified high school teachers to instruct technical college classes. That “transcripted credit” program is free to students; K-12 schools and technical colleges devote staffing time to run the program, but don’t exchange any money for it.
The technical college system has more than doubled the number of dual credits taken by high schoolers in the last decade. Statewide, a quarter of high schoolers took a dual-credit class through a public university or technical college in 2021-22.
Sarah Dillon works with the 11 staff members at Northcentral Technical College whose jobs focus on working with high school students. In her more than 18 years at the college, she’s seen students and parents become more aware about their options post-high school, she said.
K-12 schools and employers are looking for ways to show students that jobs that are available in their corner of the state, she said. In northcentral Wisconsin, often that’s health care, manufacturing and agriculture.
“You can’t open a newspaper in the past couple of years without hearing about the financial aid debt in our county and what a burden that is to students,” she said.
But communities need two- and four-year programs, she said. It's not either-or.
“It’s about helping students understand that ‘there’s a pathway for you,’” she said.
Cleo Krejci covers higher education, vocational training and retraining as a Report For America corps member based at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Contact her at CKrejci@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @_CleoKrejci.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: These schools decided to break the "four-year focus." Why?
