The Van Wert County Courthouse

Thursday, Mar. 28, 2024

VWCS gets kudos for program

What’s best for all students, regardless of which school district they attend? Van Wert City Schools is on the right path as they roll out an effort to better connect the content taught at VWCS with what our community’s employers need.

Vantage applauds high school principal Bob Priest and counselor Kerry Koontz for stepping out of the typical practice of encouraging so many students to attend college immediately after high school. The school’s data closely matches national data, indicating that schools across our nation are doing the same, only to find out that at least 40 percent of those attending college don’t finish it or are saddled with debt and “under-employed”. Now is the right time to take a closer look at how to better prepare a significant percentage of students for life after high school.

New Vantage logo 5-2008Vantage Career Center hopes all students who can benefit by the depth of specialized training in any of the 16 programs we currently offer, are given the chance to choose Vantage for their junior and senior years of high school. We hope employers, if not already familiar with the level and variety of programming we offer, will tour our facility and become aware of the level of skills taught.  Employers should also steer students to hone their skills at Vantage, if it can mean a better, more productive gain for the company. And VWCS should be open to these select students choosing Vantage while in high school.

Students have lots of choices for careers. But there’s been a gap in making sure students know of the various jobs and ultimately, careers, here in our local area. Career technical educators like myself and my staff have long known that so many more students could find their path to a good career, earning a solid living, at their local career center. I encourage parents, if skeptical about Van Wert City Schools’ expanded scope of career awareness, to ask questions and become informed. The mindset that college is a prerequisite to success must be changed. I define success by loving what I do for a living and being able to meet my family’s basic needs. How will each student define their own success? Students and parents must consider this question, and realize that a choice other than the college degree may lead to a successful career and life.

VWCS can bolster the new career awareness initiative, and the individual outcome for each student and employer, when all possibilities for education are presented. Vantage hopes to see additional students choosing the specialized training we offer.

POSTED: 12/24/15 at 7:39 am. FILED UNDER: Opinions