By Shawn Nowlin shawn.nowlin@ourvalley.org
The myth that a college degree is necessary to secure a fulfilling career has long been debunked. More than ever, high school graduates are entering the labor force rather than taking out massive loans to further their education.
Thousands of juniors and seniors attend high school throughout the Roanoke Valley. Several of them attended the 2022 Student Registered Apprenticeship Showcase at the Roanoke Civic Center on February 1 in which Salem, Roanoke City and Roanoke County Public Schools partnered with local businesses to provide opportunities for the students.
Rob Leonard, the Director of Safety & Education for F&S Building Innovations, previously told the Salem Times Register, “The students can see which industry programs may be of interest to them and the various companies can see which of the students may be a good fit for their respective apprenticeship programs.”
When asked to explain the difference between an internship and apprenticeship, Leonard added, “An internship is typically an element or complimentary piece of a college program where the individual may spend a summer or part of a semester shadowing a business or series of businesses to get a firsthand look at day-to-day operations in the individuals’ area of study. Apprenticeship programs can start anytime from when the individual enters the 11th grade to after high school.”
Fifty years ago, most high school graduates who didn’t go to college entered either the food service, military or retail business. Today, a plurality of them, are accepting more and more internships and apprenticeships.
Two things that every employer looks for in an employee, said Supervisor of Career and Technical Education for Roanoke County Public Schools Mark Jones, are accountability and the ability to complete assignments on time.
“Events like this are important to connect students with potential employers to showcase the wide variety of opportunities and career pathways available in the Roanoke Valley,” Jones said at the last apprenticeship showcase. “Often, students and parents are unaware of the many high paying careers available in the Roanoke Valley, so they move away after graduation. This event helps to highlight the opportunities students have here in the Roanoke Valley in the hopes of retaining some of our best talent.”
Said Mary Williams who has two high school teenagers, “The best way to develop teens for life after high school is to prepare them for the real world at an early age. Not everyone is made for college and that is perfectly okay. What’s not okay, in my opinion, is graduating from high school without a skill, trade or passion. I’m happy events like this exist because they help students prepare for the next chapter of their lives.”
Whenever a high school student tells entrepreneur James Shipp, 44, what they want to do in life, he almost always follows up with a question, “So, what is your plan to make that happen?”
“Benjamin Franklin once said, ‘If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.’ It’s really that simple. Never before has more resources been available to high school students. It’s up to them to take advantage of them,” Shipp said.
