Vocational Construction Program Provides Valuable Opportunities to Students

Habitat for Humanity Home built by SBHS students

Traditional academic programs are valuable and important in serving the goals and aspirations of many students, but not every student plans to attend a university after high school.


In fact, many students are interested in attending trade school, technical college, or other vocational training related to learning specific labor skills.  Other students desire to enter the workforce directly after high school.  Do we provide opportunities for students to learn vocational skills that transfer to jobs after high school?


Construction Training at South Bend High School

South Bend High School vocational teacher Ryan McMurry developed and runs a construction class that gives students post-high school skilled work options, and up to 16 college credits through an alignment with Grays Harbor College.  Mr. McMurry, a 16 year building contractor, came to South Bend in 2010 as a career and technical education (CTE) teacher certified through Washington's Business & Industry program.  Coming directly from the contractor field and operating his own business, Mr. McMurry has been training South Bend students in most aspects of construction management through real-world building opportunities.

A Better Way to Learn:  Project-Based Learning

Habitat for Humanity homes, church construction, wheelchair ramps, and numerous other community service construction projects provide the real-world curriculum for many aspiring carpenters and builders at South Bend High School.  "I teach my students all aspects of the trade," says Mr. McMurry.  "The projects we work on allow us to do most parts of the job and allow students to complete something they can be proud of while learning good skills."

How often do we teach students skills without giving them the opportunity to put what they learn to practice?  Many times the application component of education is left out.  Especially with CTE classes, it is important we allow students to not only use their skills but develop their skills with practical applications.  This is where project-based learning becomes a powerful practice, and why Mr. McMurry's program, and all CTE programs, are so valuable.


The Future

I believe quality vocational programs require capable teachers, supportive administration, and students willing to do hard work, all of which we are fortunate to have in South Bend.  Some appropriate risk-taking is also required, as we need to be ok with students making decisions and applying their knowledge and skills in various ways that might be different than our own.  We need ways of connecting student learning to real-world opportunity.

Recently, I met with representatives from the Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters.  We are in the preliminary stages of discussing a partnership linking trade certifications to our construction program at South Bend High School.  In conjunction with credit alignment at Grays Harbor College, a partnership with the Carpenters could provide our students the ability to connect with employment opportunities after high school, giving our students job options otherwise unavailable.

We also need to be looking at how our vocational students can be earning English, math, science and other credits while working toward trade certifications and vocational training.  It is important to integrate multiple subjects to bring efficiency and relevancy to our educational offerings.  This brings value to education, and gives real meaning to what our students are doing at school.

Yong Zhao, a leading education visionary and proponent of product-based learning, says that schools must give students opportunities to develop creativity, innovation, and be able to work with others in collaborative ways.  One might ask if this can be accomplished within the walls of most traditional classrooms.  CTE courses should accomplish this if approached in the right way.  Students must develop skills in areas of interest and then have the opportunity to utilize those skills productively.  It is also important that we value CTE programs the same as traditional academic classes.  Real-world learning and skill development through CTE is a valuable opportunity, and can lead to satisfying and well-paying careers.

In small, rural communities we often see eager students with little opportunity.  This is not the case in South Bend.  We have quality schools continually working to provide good opportunities for all students.  We look forward to working with the community to develop our vocational offerings.  These programs can have great impact on our students while helping the community at the same time.