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| Welding is a high-paying tech option. |
According to The Quad, an online blog, the career technical/vocational school option is gaining more and more popularity. College is costing more as the value of the degree is shrinking. Many
college students finish with high debts that take many years to pay off just for one degree. Some debts go into the hundred thousands while tech school is free if it is finished in high school. Students can then go right into a career with the skills they learned, or they can continue to a community college for additional training.
J.I. Burton students attend a combined tech school with Wise County Schools. The tech school offers many programs, including culinary, cosmetology, carpentry, computer technician, graphic design,auto mechanics, electrician, JROTC, and nursing. Some of these classes can take up two blocks or a student can choose more than one to fill up the two blocks. Those blocks can be in the morning or afternoon with high school classes filling up the alternate time.
During the first few days of the semester there is a big, ten-day test on safety. After that, the learning is hands on and straight forward from there. There is some book work for basic skills. It takes up to two years of hard work to get a certification in an industry or field of tech study.
The students at tech can obtain a certification in the career that they want to pursue. If they want to keep going beyond high school they can get an associate's degree by going two years at a technical college. Many students choose this path to further their education in the field they love. They also choose this path to make more money than the people with just a certification; however, with just the certification people can still get high paying jobs.
Many kids who love tech classes like them for the more hands-on learning they provide. Most kids at tech are kinesthetic learners so it makes them feel like they learn more because it's the preferred learning type for them. Ricky, an auto mechanics student, says, "I do tech because I want to be a good, outstanding citizen by doing something I love."
Co-written by Hunter Rose