Work-based learning experiences can be a powerful way to help students envision themselves as professionals and make connections between what they are learning in school and the skills they will need for future jobs.
鈥淢y experience has been that it鈥檚 a very powerful engagement strategy,鈥� said Jon Cerny, the superintendent of Bancroft-Rosalie Community Schools in rural Nebraska during an Education Week K12 Essentials Forum on March 16. His district allows every senior to spend their Fridays either doing an internship or other work-based learning experience or taking online courses.
Some students are coming away with possible job opportunities, he said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e had students at hospitals where the doctors or nurses are [asking] 鈥榃hen are you going to graduate? We want you to come back.鈥欌��
The experiences also help students better understand how their coursework will matter in the working world. 鈥淚鈥檝e had students in manufacturing who said, 鈥楴ow I understand why I took geometry,鈥欌�� Cerny said. Once students see those connections, they 鈥渨ork harder in those classes, because now they understand the importance it鈥檚 going to have in their real life work.鈥�
Internships can also help students figure out what careers they want to pursue and which ones to shy away from, Beth Benson, the workforce development coordinator for the New Albany and Union County school districts in Mississippi, said during the forum. Her two districts allow more than 70 students to do a 100-hour summer internship in a field that interests them, covering their pay of $8.50 an hour.
鈥淥ne of our girls went to work at the department of human services. She thought she wanted to be a social worker,鈥� Benson said. 鈥淎nd after just one day, she was like, 鈥榩lease, let me do something else.鈥� And I鈥檓 like 鈥榠t does take a special person to be a social worker. And I鈥檓 glad you didn鈥檛 just spend four years going to college getting that degree and realizing after that you don鈥檛 like it.鈥� That was a win.鈥�
Benson鈥檚 advice to districts that want to start their own work-based learning programs: It鈥檚 OK to start small. Her program went from 13 participating students to more than 70 in about five years, she said.
Educators should also realize it鈥檚 not a problem to pull a student out of an internship if it is not going well, she said. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 want to let the business down because two years from now we might want to place another kid that will be wonderful there.鈥� But she conceded 鈥渋t might be a hard lesson for that child to get pulled out of their internship.鈥�
Cerny emphasized that it doesn鈥檛 make sense to encourage only students who aren鈥檛 planning to go to college to get on-the-job training in high school, Cerny said.
After all, he explained, even when employers are hiring for positions that require post-secondary education, they would rather take on workers who have had some hands-on experience in their field, even if it was through a high school internship.
鈥淚 think people are starting to come to the realization that vocational or career technical education isn鈥檛 just for some kids, it鈥檚 for all kids,鈥� Cerny said.
