Trade schools. Why are they looked down on?

Yep, still operational.

Newaygo County Career-Tech Center / Home

 

This one is over 25 miles away from my old highschool. Schools from several districts buss the kids up there. It a 5 days a week 1/2 day program. We would get back to our school long after the non voc school kids were gone.

 

My old school serves 10 towns, and offers twenty career choices with 1,100 students grades 9-12. They also have tons of evening courses for adults.

 

My High School in Brunswick Ga. offered Electrical shop, wood shop, Auto Mechanics, HVAC shop, welding shop and probably some others. I don't know if they still do but here in Tacoma, Washington it seems that High Schools are doing their best to scrub any of these from their curriculum. There are, of course, a couple of Voc Tech schools and trade union apprenticeship schools. Having worked for many years as a Union Carpenter/foreman/superintendent and then Project manager, I have seen hundreds of clueless young apprentices (both sexes) of all crafts, become disciplined, competent, confident journeyman. They make solid living wages, support their family's AND give back to society in the form of schools, hospitals, homes and infrastructure! Hard to look down on that!!! Especially since many of them would never have gone to college for whatever reasons. FAR better than frying fast food burgers or working as a floor sweeper at a discount department store.

 

Forgot to congratulate you on your fine son, his job and his bright future! Good on you both!

 

I was in the first class requiring computer literacy. Basically we could turn one on and off, type something in and print it. Save stuff on a floppy disk, which a few years ago my wife said something about a floppy disk and a huge argument ensued cause they ain’t the same thing now apparently. That class never did anything for any of us in my opinion.
Daughter just graduated undergrad. Mac laptop got her through a couple years. Starting med school next year, her graduation present was $1600 in iPads. Apparently one isn’t enough and you gotta have the Apple Pencil. She has me blocked on her phone because I send texts to her, I guess when she was in class, they come across the Mac screen, might be offensive to many.

 

I’m still taking classes. They are threatening to kick me out. I guess I argue too much when I keep asking which one there’s only 2.

 

No hate for trade schools here! I went to our local vo tech high school (serves the whole county/all high schools) my last 2 years of high school and the Jr year teacher is the one that got me started working at the bike shop evenings and weekends my Sr year...and the last semester I went to work at noon instead of at school for the afternoon!
I just looked it up and they currently have 25 different programs available for high school students now...another 16 for adult ed!
I have also taken evening adult ed classes there since high school, all training paid for by the school system, or mostly an employer.
To me, people that go to college not knowing exactly why, are the suckers here! Colleges have largely priced themselves out of being a good "investment" these days...but they won't realize that until people quit going/paying their prices.

 

Definitely a small town and still is. Heck, they've had drive your tractor to school day for years.

x2 here Bob.

 

When I was a kid the local high schools had pretty impressive shops. I built a bandsaw, a friend built a trailer. Lots of big projects went through.
A few years ago I went to donate a bunch of materials, bearings, motors ect. all new stuff.
New shop teacher said all they do now are plant stands and other catalog projects.
Casting class has been gone for years due to liability.

 

Some still do here...

 

I certainly don't know anyone who would knock on trades schools.


Heck.. some of the young "engineers" at the shop could hardly engineer a way out of a paper bag.


Seems that these days, colleges breed out common sense and critical thinking.

 

Our High school still has some wood working, welding, small engine classes.

When I was there I remember our one shop teacher was building a muzzleloader stock. He had the muzzleloader in the corner of the room! This was 90-93.

Still have a local Vo-tech school. They also have adult classes. A friend of mine had his son go there for welding. The entire class had jobs before they were half way through the program. He said it was the same for HVAC program.

Thanks metalcuttr and The Wood Wolverine, it's all him though. Im just trying to guide him in the right direction and look at the big picture. One step at a time and you never know where life will take you and what opportunities will come with it.

 

I think it’s like enlisting in the military. The perception is that trades and enlisting are fall back positions if you can’t go to college. It is still true that lifetime earnings of college grads far exceed that of the others. We all want the best for our children.

 

I'm in charge of 135 people at work. I'll hire every kid that comes out of the local vocational schools.

 

A shop class of some sort was mandatory here. Even if you were in college prep. Same with gym 3 days a week The regional high school trade school here (didn't exist in my day) is so popular it is tough to get into. No fooling around if you get in either, they'll kick you out in a heartbeat as there is a long line hoping to get in.
Like racism, I tend to believe trade school bigotry is mostly perpetrated by those writing about it.