Cole Jensen has some time to decide what he wants to do after high school. He\u2019s only a sophomore. Even so, he\u2019s getting a jump on his research, bouncing from booth to booth at Friday\u2019s college and career fair at Thunder Mountain High School.<\/p>\n
Jensen plans on going into engineering after high school. Maybe civil engineering or geographic engineering, a new field he learned about while talking to a University of Alaska Fairbanks representative.<\/p>\n
The sky-high cost of school and the strength of the engineering program are high factors in his decision-making process.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen there\u2019s faculty-to-student ratio. Smaller classrooms \u2014 20, 30, I guess 50ish would be good for me \u2014 versus going to a massive school like UW (University of Washington),\u201d Jensen said. \u201cI knew there were tons of schools out there, but I didn\u2019t know there was this many.\u201d<\/p>\n
Start an apprenticeship in the trades, attend a liberal arts college or a big state school. Maybe sign up for military service (but which branch?): these are some big decisions for a 16-, 17- or 18-year-old.<\/p>\n
But students don\u2019t know what\u2019s available unless they consider it, TMHS counselorTerri Calvin said. The college and career fair is Calvin\u2019s \u201cmidterm.\u201d She coordinates with around 75 colleges, trade unions, military branches and technical schools.<\/p>\n
They each get a folding table in the TMHS gymnasium, which they populate with program literature, buttons, stickers, bookmarks and the odd Plinko board to try and pull in prospective students.<\/p>\n
Calvin said that, like Jensen, many students worry about paying for school. But many also aren\u2019t aware of the financial aid they qualify for. Some make the mistake of writing college off as financially unattainable.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t know until you try. And you don\u2019t know if you can afford it until you do all the paperwork,\u201d Calvin said.<\/p>\n
TMHS used to have just a college fair. Now it\u2019s a college and career fair. Many of the armed forces have booths, as well as about a dozen technical schools and trade unions.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re able to incorporate more of the unions, the military, vocational \u2014 so there\u2019s a little bit more for kids to kind of go, \u2018Oh, yeah, college isn\u2019t my thing but I still have choices,\u2019\u201d Calvin said. \u201cJust because I\u2019m not going to a four-year institute doesn\u2019t mean that I can\u2019t move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kirk Perisich, a representative for the Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters, said he\u2019s here to dispell myths about union careers. Many students think union apprenticeships have very high hurdles.<\/p>\n
Perisich said that\u2019s a misconception. When asked what requirements the union has for high school grads, Perisich pinched his thumb and forefinger together to make a zero. His other selling point? A mock up of a paycheck for two 40-hour work weeks.<\/p>\n
It totals more than $1,500. And that\u2019s the starting pay.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey need to have a high school diploma or a GED and be able to obtain a driver\u2019s license by the time they graduate,\u201d Perisich said. \u201cRight out of the gate, these kids would be making $23 an hour. And that\u2019s not including their benefits, again. That\u2019s their hourly rate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Five years ago, Pacific Lutheran University representative Hannah Middlebrook met TMHS student Alan Young at the college and career fair. Young is now a teacher at TMHS.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese brief, 30-second, minute conversations with students in a high school gymnasium really matter. It\u2019s changing the course of their life and that\u2019s pretty powerful,\u201d Middlebrook said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"