Vocational education is alive and well. It just looks differently than it used to.
So do the students.
“Back when I went to school, vocational education was a dumping ground for kids who didn’t fit in anywhere else,” said Ken Hamel, an instructor at Yuba County Career Preparatory Charter School in Marysville, Calif. “But we’ve seen an increase in students who want to learn something.
The Collectors Foundation is helping high school auto-tech programs include an emphasis on classic car restoration and engine repair. And the timing couldn’t be better. The President’s Council of Economic Advisors reports that the jobs of tomorrow are in nursing, construction, plumbing – and auto mechanics
Hamel, in his eighth year as an instructor at Yuba County Career Preparatory, said Yuba has 500 total students, and they are required to take academic courses that California stipulates for high school graduation. The automotive program currently has 24 students, but Hamel expects that number to double with the...