Though many view a degree from a prestigious university as the ultimate pathway to success, the best career exploration often happens when students put down the textbook and get their hands dirty. For many, the lecture hall isn’t their best fit; it’s a lab or workshop instead.
To support all kinds of learners, Marin high schools must make an effort to reinstate more vocational classes -commonly known as Career and Technical Education (CTE)- to provide diverse career exploration and essential life skills to students.
These classes act as low-stakes trial runs for students considering trades, saving them time and money on post-secondary education. “Learning about electricity is fun,” says SRHS senior Izayah Jagow. “I figured out that I wanted to become an electrician through the Academy of Engineering and Technology (AET) at school.”
Jesse Madsen, a director at the Marin County Office of Education (MCOE) for career education, says, “I believe [vocational] classes give a sense of agency to students; they start to think about how they want to make decisions moving forward, interact with people on a multi-generational level [as they would in real jobs], and connect, ideally, with their interests and passions.”
Without adequate CTE resources like AET at SRHS, teens have to navigate their future careers in uncertainty, which can carry a heavy price tag. The U.S. Department of Education reports that a third of undergraduates change their major, having to invest thousands of dollars in additional tuition and losing valuable time.
Vocational programs offer a worthwhile path. CTE-exposed students are “more likely to enroll in 2-year colleges (i.e. community or technical colleges),” according to the CTE Research Network’s 2024 findings. Their post-secondary education is a thoughtful trajectory rather than a shot in the dark. Teens have confidence and clarity in their education instead of anxiety about what’s next.
A 2017 survey conducted by Advance CTE (a national non-profit supporting state leaders in CTE) found that 76 percent of CTE students have career paths in mind, compared to their non-CTE peers. Further, only two percent of vocational students were undecided about their post-high school plans, while eight percent of non-students remained unsure.
Some may argue that CTE programs are unnecessary when internships and jobs are more accessible to teens than they ever have been. But high school is a safe, instructional environment to learn foundational skills that these avenues may assume a teen already has.
For example, Marin County’s Regional Occupational Program (ROP) offers a Medical Assisting class at Terra Linda High School that uses “hands-on skill learning [as] training for the summer internship [at Kaiser Permanente], where students will be required to perform the skills with patients as student medical assistant interns,” says Marin County’s ROP project coordinator for Healthcare and Education Pathways Lead, Melissa Guerrero. “Hands-on practice is essential to building the confidence of the students during the school year, so that they can be successful in the job.”
“These programs teach soft skills, such as teamwork and communication, that can better prepare students for additional education or the workplace,” states California’s Legislative Analysis Office. The real-world applications of CTE benefit every student, regardless of their ultimate career path.
“Literally and metaphorically, one can see the lightbulb turn on in their minds and in the shop,” says Glenn Dennis, the project coordinator of the Building and Construction Trades and Automotive Technology Pathways Lead for Marin County’s ROP. He is also the former principal of SRHS. “In an ROP Introduction to Building and Construction (BCT) class, students learn how to wire a three-way switch utilizing videos, written instructions, diagrams, and lectures, but it isn’t until they actually attempt the task that they integrate the knowledge and skills.”
The kinesthetic nature of CTE engages students who might struggle with traditional, lecture-based academic environments. A 2019 Harvard Study revealed that students performed better on assessments after active learning versus traditional lectures.
“From my experience, as a student, I don’t think our school [SRHS] offers enough hands-on skill training. For example, learning CPR, first aid, or doing more hands-on science labs would be more helpful than just taking notes or tests,” says SRHS senior Emily Cardenas.
In addition, vocational classes encourage the “competency-based,” hands-on learning The 1990’s Perkins Act outlined. This goes beyond general job skills; it’s about equipping students with the problem-solving tools and “high-order reasoning necessary for economic independence in life.”
Personally, I have found that hands-on practice is the bridge between learning and understanding. In my physiology class, for instance, reading about the skeletal system in a textbook can feel like reading a foreign language until I am performing a lab; the complex ideas finally make sense.
Historical shifts in education policy, beginning with the 1980s “A Nation at Risk” report (prioritized compulsory subjects at the cost of hands-on learning) has systematically displaced vocational education in schools.
The impact decades following was clear: between 1990 and 2009 alone, vocational credits earned dropped 14 percent based on a 2013 statistics study from the National Center for Education.
Matthew Winton, AP World History teacher at SRHS, explains, “my opinion is that in the early 2000s, the No Child Left Behind Act basically said we’re going to set everyone on a path for four-year college,” says Winton. “We kind of pushed everyone [students] towards four-year college [because of this], and vocational programs fell away.” It wasn’t until post-COVID that CTE programs were revitalized at the school.
“When I was a student here [at SRHS from 1990 to 1994], we had auto shop, metal shop, wood shop, home economics, and drafting,” says Winton. Critics often argue that time spent on vocational training steals from core academics. In reality, vocational classes often reinforce them through practical application, helping students realize why what they’re learning matters in the first place.
Dennis explains, “a traditional classroom might teach a set of math concepts and skills from a textbook, but in a trades class, students will utilize those concepts to measure, make cuts, and calculate the materials needed for a job.”
Some also believe CTE courses should be taught to individuals on their own time. However, in-class vocational training ensures that students with after-school jobs or transportation issues still receive the opportunity to participate in vocational programs.
“I think that if [students] had the chance to combine general education: math, physics, and chemistry, with a vocational course as part of the curriculum,” my godfather Lin Ortega says, “it would allow kids to connect the dots between the theory and the practice.”
Ortega, who is in late 50s, has had a career in facility management and took electrical coursework in junior high and high school. He was required to take “talleres,” classes referred to as workshops in Mexico; they could be electronics, carpentry, home economics, tailoring, or sewing.
He still had traditional courses, though, indicating that there can be a healthy balance between introducing CTE programs and preserving college-prep academics. A well-rounded education must include both mental and hands-on skills.
As these vital programs begin to reappear, it is imperative that local school boards champion their return for the best interest of their students. “I feel like I could definitely benefit from more vocational training if they offered more of those types of classes at school [SRHS],” adds SRHS senior Avani Mahayavanshi.
We can’t afford to overlook them anymore.
