American Graduate Week: Beyond the Classroom

This week on Local, USA, communities across America are bringing real-world job skills into the classroom.

This school is making even more efforts to try to bring the shops to a point where they're operating almost like a company I think the skills that I've gained are more of the leadership and communication skills.

Training the next generation of farmers, scientists and artists, in and out of schools.

how many high schools out here are cutting up cars on a Tuesday afternoon?

I feel like I've accomplished so much just in high school.

"Beyond the Classroom," next on Local, USA.

Local, USA is made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

With additional funding provided by the Ford Foundation.

Welcome to Local, USA, the place to meet remarkable people and hear unique stories from communities all over the country.

I'm Nicole Thurman.

What you know is what makes you valuable in any profession.

But when you're a high school student just discovering what you want to do, how do you get started?

This week, we bring you five stories that show how schools and communities are helping young people to join the workforce of their dreams.

We start in Northern California, We start in Northern California, with a unique partnership between a high school and the Future Farmers of America.

and the Future Farmers of America.

From the series America's Heartland, it's "Young Farmers."

This is the Agriculture Academy at Elk Grove's Florin High School in Northern California.

The students here are taking part in something called "Linked Learning," coursework that's career-oriented.

And for these students, it's all about agriculture.

These classes and classrooms are project-based, real-world test kitchens where students get an agricultural advantage at an early age.

Andre Whittaker is a senior here and very active in the FFA, a national organization working to support students who see agriculture in their future.

Andre wants to be a large animal veterinarian.

Today he's in charge of the chickens and rabbits, tending to their needs and care.

Are your dreams coming true already?

They are, like I've always loved horses, so thanks to the ag program I already figured that I can't work with large animals until I work with small animals because I can't just go from nothing to large.

So I knew I had to have prior experience, and with ag offering such things as our poultry and our rabbits, I've done both.

Having the experience with such small animals has helped me set up a foundation for me to work with large animals.

And I knew that if I could work with small animals I definitely could move on, and learn, and take my experience, take it with me for my job.

NARRATOR: California has an extensive linked learning program, offering a number of potential career choices.

There are similar programs in other states, some of which also focus on agriculture.

Students and teachers emphasize, however, that ag education is tough work.

It offers high school students a rigorous academic curriculum combined with career-focused learning.

It means a lot of work for these teens with dreams.

You know, it's so interesting to hear the students here are finding their dreams in high school.

And they're attributing it to ag.

That's one of the really special things that I think a program like an academy and like the FFA can do for a student for their future.

Not only do they get the chance to sample all those future potential goals by being able to sample the world of work at the same time that they're finishing and engaging their high school studies.

But they also get out to see the world and they do that through the world of agriculture.

NARRATOR: Those ag opportunities literally changed Anh Nguyen's life.

Anh moved to America in 2010 from Vietnam.

She didn't speak English and knew nothing about agriculture.

That's all changed.

It's crazy because I remember there were days where I could only remember three words or that I understood, and it was hard, it was hard.

But when I started high school, that's when I stepped into agriculture.

And when I stepped in, my advisor, she took me right in.

And it doesn't matter what my skill level was, it doesn't matter where... how much I can do or my ability.

So that was my first time seeing hands-on activities like dissecting the pigs and doing all these activities where I can actually experience that effort and all the ways to do the different things that I need to know how to do.

So after that I just learned it so fast.

I took another step by just taking opportunities such as competitions.

And I thought about FFA, so I started to excel from there and found my passion through it.

NARRATOR: Anh devoted herself to her passion projects, like this one called Marimo, growing self-sustaining algae that cleans water.

She even won a national award for her work.

I was just...

I was blown away.

NARRATOR: And agriculture is also blowing away students at nearby Elk Grove High School.

The two programs serve more than 150 teens.

The academy here takes more of a farm life approach.

This is Tyler Yates and his prize-winning pig, Sally.

Agriculture is already important to Tyler's life and career choices.

I want to become an agriculture teacher.

Really?

Yes.

I know, you don't usually hear that from high schoolers.

"Oh, you want to become a teacher?"

Yeah.

I love that.

It's just I want to help them like how my teachers helped me learn all this stuff, I want to help other kids learn it.

And it just helps me, and I've always loved animals, I've always been around them.

And so just doing this just is kind of doing what I love.

And what I love about that is that you found something that makes you happy.

Yeah.

So you're going to be an ag teacher yourself.

Yes.

You will be teaching students just like yourself down the road.

What is it you want them to take away from knowing about agriculture?

That farming isn't just growing plants or raising animals, it's about a whole life career.

I've heard you mention several times the word "dream," and you go right back to this program.

This program has clearly impacted your life.

It has.

Even my mom is involved, my mom knows my ag teachers, like she knows how much it means to me and how much I love this program.

I even dropped an AP class for this program.

I was originally enrolled in AP government, but it conflicted with my ag class, so I chose my ag class over AP government because it meant so much to me, and this is what I'm here for.

Agriculture is about literally planting seeds and things growing.

Definitely.

What has it planted in you?

Planted confidence.

I've been like searching for this voice for like years.

I didn't even know what my passion was.

And, you know, just going to conventions, going to events or just doing these small projects about agriculture.

It plants a seed in me basically knowing where I'm going to go and how I'm going to grow up to be.

And I know exactly where I want to go.

"I know exactly where I want to go."

That's what Anh Ngyen learned in her program and what many high school students are looking to discover, too.

In our next story, we go to a school where students have a remarkable opportunity.

As they earn a diploma, they're taking courses to become firefighters.

From UNC-TV in North Carolina, this report takes us inside a high school fire academy.

REPORTER: This may be a typical high school... Today is a normal day of work.

If you're not tagged in, you're not at work.

I need full crews today.

REPORTER: But these students are not getting out their books and settling in.

Once you get your morning checks off on your SCBAs, we'll get ready to do our rotation today.

We are doing vehicle extrication and you will have your first attempt on car fire and a brush fire.

REPORTER: Each of these students had to be ready for anything to happen.

(loud beeping) CHIEF: Get your gear and bring it out here.

REPORTER: Chief Reggie Hocutt is a former Raleigh firefighter who started up the Fire Academy at Harnett Central High School after getting hurt on the job and unable to continue to work with the department.

Each student who comes through this academy must balance their normal classwork with the structured real life training of a firefighter.

HOCUTT: We do a true to real world fire academy in every aspect of the world.

They report to work, they check in and out of work like we do at the normal fire stations.

They're expected to represent themselves as firefighters from the day that they walk into the academy.

We train them in every skill to NFPA standards.

We try to incorporate every authority having jurisdiction, that means every fire department that they respond to, we try to include their standards in it as well so that we have a good diversity of training when they leave so they have the ability to get a job anywhere in the state of North Carolina, 46 other states, six other countries, and seven other providences throughout the world.

Yes, sir.

REPORTER: Harry Hamilton graduated from Harnett Central in 2014.

He used the training from Chief Hocutt's classroom to get him into his profession today.

HAMILTON: I was interested in the fire service at about 16.

And I got with Summerville, and then I found out about the fire academy at the high school.

And I got in there and I loved it, I loved going every day.

That was the first class I wanted to go to.

The instructor was great, always stayed by your side.

Now after I'm out of high school he's a good friend.

Me and him talk a lot.

And he helped me get where I'm at right now.

I'm only 18 and already a paid fireman.

And I'd like to thank him for everything he done for me.

HOCUTT: We had a student graduate in our first year as a certified firefighter.

Most of the certifications had already been achieved through the fire service.

However, in our second year with our program growing we certified 14 firefighters.

Most of those 14 firefighters are now in Harnett County working as junior firefighters or online firefighters with the departments here.

We've had four to move on to post-secondary colleges that are achieving a degree in fire science technology or a related field.

And we have several of those that are already been employed as an EMT and other entities throughout the counties.

(back-up beeping) If the person that's assigned to you, your master firefighter, is asking you to do something, don't question them.

They know what they're doing.

REPORTER: Now, professional firefighters, including graduates like Hamilton, are training the current class of students how to work on real-life scenarios.

MAN: As we get these tools off the truck, we need to have a tarp laid out to put the tools on, okay?

Off of both trucks.

Mr. Lee Marshall, he'll be kind of telling you how he wants his things done off of his trucks, and Mr. Keith Webb will be telling you how to kind of sort things off our truck, okay?

He does a lot of real-life situation type things to sort of prepare us for that.

So it's not just book work, book work, book work.

He wants us to prepare for what we're going to do out in the field.

It's very a lot more than your AFM or algebra II class.

This is-- what other class-- how many high schools out here are cutting up cars on a Tuesday afternoon?

This Harnett County Academy, there's nothing else like it.

And just being able to graduate high school as a certified firefighter, it's a blessing, really.

It's awesome.

HOCUTT: You're first on the scene.

Assess this.

You have nine engine companies out here at least that can help you.

Direct what needs to be done, get me in that car.

Like chief said, we're a family, and you know, if there is something that we need to talk about or something we need to get straight, we talk amongst each other about it and get each other's different views on what it is that we need to talk about.

Today's training's all about teamwork.

The fire trainees get to work with active firefighters here on the scene-- both with extricating this van here, as well as an active fire they're gong to have in this Jeep.

These students hope to take the lessons of discipline and safety, and lead by example outside of the classroom to follow in the profession of their chief.

PENDERGRASS: He's like a father to us.

He has something, the fire service, and he wants us to be the best firefighters we can be.

Firefighter training is an unusual class for a high school, but many of the traditional vocational education classes have also had to retool.

The jobs they're preparing students to take involve electronics, technology, and more.

From WGBY in Springfield, Massachusetts, here's a look at the changes at Franklin County Tech.

REPORTER: 17-year-old Brandan Tarbox has it all figured out.

And that's not an exaggeration.

TARBOX: Ultimately I have desires of operating my own machine tool business, primarily doing gunsmithing and contract EDM work, which is electronic discharge machining.

And I'm not sure exactly how I'm going to go about getting there yet.

REPORTER: But Brandan says he'll find a way.

The senior at Franklin County Technical High School is already working as a CNC machinist and programmer at the Dumont Company in Greenfield.

The company manufactures precision broaching tools for machine companies.

He's enrolled in Franklin County Tech's machine technology program, he's taking honors courses, and taking full advantage of every opportunity that comes his way.

I was working full-time over the summer, so I've been exposed to that, I can handle it.

I think it's a good experience, and my plan for the end of school is to begin working there full-time.

REPORTER: Brandan and others in the machine technology department have their sights set on graduating and making good money with a high school degree.

This school is making even more efforts to try to bring the shops to a point where they're operating almost like a company on a little bit more of stringent deadlines.

That sort of environment trains you better so that when it's critical that you meet those deadlines, it's critical that you're performing at your best, you're used to doing so.

So what did you set last?

There's a lot of industry around here that is starving for skilled help.

We have a work co-op program where in their senior year they get to go out and work in industry.

Starting pay would be $12 an hour, and they have the potential to be making within a year, upwards of $20 an hour.

REPORTER: That's about $41,000 a year for a 19- or 20-year-old without a college degree and no student loans.

It sounds like a good deal to junior Brandon Boudah.

He admits school wasn't always his thing.

No, I didn't really like school at all.

It was just kind of a chore.

REPORTER: But now Brandon is hoping to graduate from machine technology, get a job, and continue on to college, just like his brother who also graduated from this school.

He's an app developer and his company's Temple Studios.

And how old is he?

He's 19 years old.

And he's going to college.

Yup.

So he's doing okay.

He's doing very well for his age.

REPORTER: Richard Martin is the principal and assistant superintendent for the high school, which covers 19 rural towns.

He says the technical school route for some students is the pathway to success.

RICHARD MARTIN: The students begin to realize through the shop experience that a certain amount of math would be required in order for them to access the next level of machining.

So a lot of the kids will then begin to relook at their passion for math and dive into a new level of that.

So now they're able to connect the vocational with the academics and see that that's a clear pathway for a career.

Last year the shop was retooled with all new equipment.

It's all state-of-the-art technology.

And several local businesses came together to kick in more than $200,000 to make this happen.

Steve Capshaw, who owns Valley Steel Stamp, led that campaign because of the need for highly skilled workers in the area.

In addition to the funding from local companies, the state put $250,000 toward the machine technology department.

Another $400,000 came from grants and the Regional Employment Board.

We got rid of many old machines that dated back to the 1950s, and in came approximately 13 brand new CNC state-of-the-art machines.

REPORTER: Martin says the dropout rate at Franklin County Tech, which has 538 students, is less than one percent, and the graduation rate is in the high 90s.

In addition to machine technology, the school offers several programs, including business and health technology, automotive and landscaping.

Hailey Lowell hopes to not only get a job, but to do dual enrollment her senior year at a community college.

Don't quit, don't give up on your dreams because if you do, you're not going to get anywhere.

REPORTER: For Hailey and others, quitting is not even in their vocabulary.

They're looking forward to the future and all of the promise it holds.

TARBOX: If you have the motivation to learn and you can make good use of the time you have, you can learn just as much, I think, in the same amount of time, and you're able to learn more because of the trade area.

If you don't want to go on to college, so be it.

You go to a technical school like this, you do a program like this and by the time you're finished, you have a good chance of making a decent wage.

Some communities have gone even further than creating special programs.

They're creating specialty schools inside their public schools.

Our next story comes from Arizona PBS in Phoenix, where students who know they're going into the sciences find the classes they need.

NARRATOR: Kelsie Lucas may only be 17 years old, but she already knows what she wants to be thanks to a program at her high school.

It definitely helped me choose to go into an engineering pathway.

NARRATOR: Kelsie attends CREST at Paradise Valley High School.

Jack Clark oversees the program.

CREST is an acronym that stands for the Center for Research in Engineering, Science and Technology.

CREST has three areas of study: biotechnology, engineering and computer science.

And the reason that we chose to focus on engineering, biotechnology and computer science is because those areas in industry were identified as lacking in those high-quality, highly trained students.

And so there is opportunity and will be additional opportunities in the future for kids coming out of CREST.

NARRATOR: Students apply to the specialty program in eighth grade.

What we're really looking for is motivation and dedication.

And not only the ability but the desire to learn and to work at a high level.

NARRATOR: Starting their freshman year, the students concentrate on a problem or challenge they want to solve.

During the next four years they research ways to fix it, design a solution, and then senior year they build their design.

Kelsie and her team are working on a portable water purification device.

Our lens has ridges, which collect sunlight and sort of directs it into a focal point.

And we direct that focal point towards our tin can, which will boil the water and create steam.

Which the steam then goes up through our condensing coil and becomes regular water again.

Now all the impurities and minerals that we don't want will remain in the can, which is easy to open up and empty out whenever they want.

NARRATOR: The device could have far-reaching effects.

Many diseases that they get in third world countries are due to their water purity.

So this system will potentially save many lives, especially with the younger... the younger population and the elderly that live there.

NARRATOR: Seniors also participate in an internship.

T-Gen, SRP, and McCarthy Construction are on the list.

These companies are able to get a jump-start on creating the kind of workforce they need and students translate their hands-on experience into a valuable asset.

CLARK: The opportunity that they are able to take advantage of, networking and relationships that they are able to build, as well as content knowledge to prepare them to move into STEM majors, STEM programs of study, when they go from high school to college.

NARRATOR: At CREST, you can see the students creating a new future for all of us.

And Kelsie, for one, cannot wait to get started on hers.

I am extremely excited to graduate, and sort of with CREST under my belt I feel like I've accomplished so much just in high school.

Of course, learning doesn't just happen in schools.

So that's why we thought we'd end this program with the story of two students whose summer internships made a big difference in their personal growth.

From DPTV in Detroit, the impact of good, meaningful summer jobs.

ALIJAH DILLARD: My name is Alijah Dillard, I'm 19 and I live in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Well, this summer I'm working for College of Creative Studies with a group of ten other young people on a mural for the Brightmore community.

We're designing the mural, we're bringing together all the ideas.

Then we'll take that, enlarge it, put it on the wall, and paint it.

This summer I hope to learn to work with people who are from different backgrounds and with different experiences.

Every group has something new to teach you, every group has something new to offer you as an artist because they come with new ideas, they come with new experiences.

♪ We've finalized the concept, we've got paint, and we've moved out here, and we've enlarged the concept to the big wall.

We're kind of adding a lot of symbolism in there that a lot of people can connect to.

The hands bring out work that the community puts in, and the kind of togetherness that you need to make a community.

The tree is family.

You have your roots, but you also have where you're going, towards the sky and up and onward.

Helping people build their skills and kind of put things together.

So you're trying to find people's niches for them so I can step back and do what needs to be done as far as little details.

Being able to work with a working artist is a really unique part of my summer job.

If you have an artist with a sharp, precise skill, it's someone that you can look up to and then you can grow next to him.

So thus far I've learned to be more patient with the people I'm working with.

A less stressful environment fosters creativity.

I've learned from my supervisors to be more accountable, to be more responsible for not only myself, but the project as a whole because you take pride in what you do.

I think the skills that I've gained are more of the leadership and communication skills.

I think that it'll take me further as far as work.

I believe art is a language.

I believe art has things to say to everyone.

Public art projects do have the power to affect communities.

It does have the power to impact a person who can see it every day.

Our job is to give them that inspiration.

My name is Jerlisa Powell-Tate, I'm currently 15 years old, and I live in Inkster, Michigan.

This summer I am a mentor for the summer playground program.

I instruct the activities, I am a chaperone for the field trips, and I am a supervisor over their lunch.

I love children and I love interacting with them, and I love getting to know all of them and their different personalities.

And I just love playing.

You know, I'm a big kid, I can do mostly every sport there is.

I feel that it's important for someone... for kids to be able to have someone to come to, express how they feel and get advice from.

It's awesome to me that I can make a difference to these children because everyone, everyone, everyone has a chance to, you know, show themself.

As a mentor I get to bring that out of them so that they can show it.

This summer I've learned if you have an issue with someone, you can't just let that affect how you work and how you act and your character.

You can't let anyone take you out of character.

I love working with kids.

If I'm over here doing something positive, maybe they can look at that and take it with them, "Maybe I should do something positive when I get older."

They can look at me as another sister from around the corner or from the program.

You know, they respect me, they enjoy playing with me, and they just have fun.

Because having responsibility you get respect.

And with respect, everyone treats you well, so it's a plus.

There are lots of things I've learned this summer that would help me in high school and college.

Working with adults, time management, working with kids, different attitudes.

People like my teachers, my supervisors, they know I have potential and they see a lot in me.

So for them to see that in me, I see it in myself.

Anything you want to do you can make it happen as long as you put hard work and dedication into it.

In five very different communities and programs, we've heard the same message.

As Jerlisa just said, "You can make it happen so long as you put hard work and dedication into it."

Words to live by for us all.

For more information on career readiness for students, please go to worldchannel.org.

I'm Nicole Thurman.

Join us next time on Local, USA.

Local, USA is made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

With additional funding provided by the Ford Foundation.