Throughout high school, deciding where to go afterward can be a huge game-changer for most students. About 40% of people in America have dropped out of college to pursue a different career path in either the business industry, military, social media, cosmetology, etc; ending up with thousands of dollars in debt. To prevent this from happening multiple opportunities and options are available at one’s fingertips.
Counselors and teachers have recently become more open to breaking the ideology that college is the only way to be successful. For lots of people, extending the course of schooling beyond high school can be misleading and isn’t much of an option.
“There are so many pathways students can take after high school who want to work with kids,” ECE Teacher and Director of The Littlest Cowboys Preschool Deborah Covard said. “My students can leave high school and immediately work in a preschool or daycare anywhere. There are additional courses that students can take to become a director of a preschool if they choose to move in that direction and if they wanted to, […] they can open their own center.”
Although, many jobs and career paths that involve working with children are placed in the category of college. With an Early Childhood Professional Certificate (ECPC), which can be earned while working in the Early Childhood Education Program at CCHS, you are legally allowed in the state of Florida to open your own daycare or childcare-affiliated center.
Students often stop by CCHS’s Guidance/College and Career advisor Christine Siwek’s office more than once to discuss their post-graduation options.
“So usually students who come to me want assistance with a plan, but if they are doing well and you are interested in being an entrepreneur, maybe you would want a little bit of training in marketing and sales,” Siwek said. “It could be a quick two-year program which is always good to have in your back pocket while you are young.”
Students that perform well in school are given the opportunity to achieve a pathway in anything they choose. CCHS provides a College and Career Fair that will offer tons of options for future career paths.
Over 70 colleges, universities, and technical colleges in the CCHS Cafeteria to learn about their programs, admissions standards and other vital information will become available on February 8, 2022, from 6 to 8:30 PM.
Jobs that don’t require college have many benefits; lots of plumbing services, electrical services and even online businesses still thrived during quarantine. While many huge corporate businesses like movie theaters, Disney, sports stadiums and even plastic surgery centers, crashed and weren’t needed during stressful times of a pandemic.
“Throughout high school, they pushed the idea of college way more than any other pathway,” Don’s Plumbing construction director Jason Greenstein said. “I was a young dad and needed to provide for my family, and taking on a trade was the best way to do so.”
CCHS has taken on the responsibility to ensure students aren’t tied into one way of life. There are so many routes for students to take on.
“I was able to gain success faster, my decision to go towards a trade was to be able to work so I can provide for my family,” Greenstein said.”The pandemic shows that some people with college degrees had lost their jobs due to their services not being considered essential.”
At CCHS, service is available for students to have an idea of what they choose to take on in the future. Many students take advantage of these opportunities.
“I plan on going to the Navy when I’m older and I’m not sure if I would take on something serious in college,” sophomore Lane Browning said. “The people from the military that come [to] our school, tell us what they do and give you challenges that would get you ready to join whatever you’re interested in, which is why I like that CCHS allows students like me to get access to that.”
Students like Browning will have constructive ideas that will set their decisions on their future careers.
Keeping up with student interest and requests when they voice the concern of not going to college is so important to keep into consideration. Small changes like these will be appreciated when students are free of debt and are set early on getting jobs and becoming successful young adults.
