Posted on 07/26/2023 12:25:01 PM PDT by CFW
As school funding became a matter of standardized test scores in reading and math, the budget tightened for classes that taught woodworking and printmaking. From the 1990s to the early 2010s, students took fewer credits in shop class — or as it is now called, Career Tech Education — according to data from the National Center of Education Statistics.
Instead, the priority turned toward securing students spots in four-year degree programs.
But with more job openings in the trades and more questions around the value of a four-year college degree, high schools are turning their attention back to equipping the next generation with hands-on technical skills.
In 2015, 125 CTE-related policies were approved across 39 states, according to the Association for Career and Technical Education — boosting funding for CTE programs was one of the top categories of those policies.
And during the 2016-2017 school year, 98% of public school districts offered CTE to high school students, though the types of programs varied widely, according to the Department of Education. That comes after a years-long lull period, which means many high schoolers missed out and only discovered opportunities in the trades years after graduation. But as demand for trade labor grows, so too does the focus on CTE in high schools.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnbc.com ...
I used to have a pin vise I made in high school shop, but I think Cruella threw it out.
A distant memory. I don’t remember the last time I turned a wrench on a car.
Probably 1998.
I have multiple items from high school wood shop classes including a gun cabinet.
My wood shop and mechanical drawing classes eventually led me to the career I have had for 38 years:
Lumber Broker
And thus the FR name. Why anyone knocks trades is beyond me.
That stuff taught you to be resourceful. When l was a young lad I used furnace parts and a coffee can to repair an exhaust system on the beater l was driving because despite my white privilege l wasn’t making much in those days
“The student has to perform to accepted industrial standards. Many classes of this type enable professional certification at the end of training. That testing is done by a professional organization or third party.”
The course organization may vary by state, My BIL taught shop classes his whole career. He retired about 10-15 years ago. He was disappointed in the quality of the high school students who were taking his classes as he approached retirement. He felt like he was spending most of his time just making sure they didn’t do something stupid. There was no certification at the end of the year. I grew up in a different state a long time ago, and there was no certification there either.
Me too. Now I have one of each in my basement.
and any “gradiuates” of the new WOKE shop classes will be easily identified by their missing fingers.
A longstanding pattern for “progressives” is to bring back things they destroyed decades ago and pretend they invented it, and they are so brilliant.
well...you proved your white privilege just by being resourceful. a big no-no today.
My sister has the cutting board I made in 1959 for my Mom.
“There may be a few people who need a bit of both. Let them have them!”
I was exposed to woodworking in high school and it provided a lifetime of enjoyment and skills I could use in building cabinets and projects around the house even though I pursued a STEM career. It has saved me so much money over the years.
I made a spice rack. It never hung flush against the wall...
Then again, I had to take a sowing class and made a vest from a pattern. One side was longer than the other, so maybe I had a bias to the right going on...
-PJ
High school administration: "We understand you would like to teach woodshop at our high school. What is you opinion of transgenders and abortion?"
I may not be far off.
Most of the trades wrack the body. I’d rather my kids be happy and healthy long into their silver years with a job that requires only straining their brain, than complaining of arthritis and back pain as early as their forties. Just one pop’s opinion.
I had shop class and loved it! In New Mexico schools I learned to do leather work, lapidary, woodwork, Jewelry, etching, and many other home skills.
In another school I did welding and wood work, steel work, forge work. Still have two book cases I made in 1963.
While I was in the military, some of the items were lost in a move into town. Still got the lapidary gems and ring I did in 1962.
I was so bad at wood shop that I wanted nothing more to do with it!
Conversely, there are few woodworkers who can do molecular and cell biology.
To each their own!
The idea is to work in the trades, then gain enough knowledge about the business to start a company and then hire others to do the work.
.....High school administration: “We understand you would like to teach woodshop at our high school. What is you opinion of transgenders and abortion?”........
As I said in another post, I was very bad at wood shop.
But I am much, much worse at transgender, gaysbian, and support for abortion, and cannot begin to understand “nonbinary” !!
And I doubt if most people who identify as “nonbinary” can understand it either—even at Harvard!!!!
The comparison is apples to the entire produce section in a grocery store. In your old yearbook, look up VICA classes (Usually drafting and auto repair) or FFA classes. They were probably separate from the classical shop classes.
When I was a high school student (when dinosaurs ruled the earth), shop class was like a hobby shop type thing where students made small projects like wooden ducks with metal wings. That taught very basic skills with very basic tools.
In CTE classes students work in realistic work emulating environments. Our auto repair shop has three repair bays, two with lifts, engine anayzers and full repair capabilities including tire mounting and balancing systems.
Students went right from there to the auto dealerships as soon as they graduated.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.