Carol Johnson, Southern Indiana Business Report
ORLEANS – A new documentary spotlighting three different approaches to work-based learning in Indiana looks at how an Orange County school is providing work skills and job experience to students.
Bulldog Manufacturing, a school-based enterprise that is part of the Collaboration of Shoals, Mitchell, and Orleans Schools (COSMOS), is one of three Indiana schools featured in a 30-minute public television program.
The documentary, “From Classroom to Career: Work-Based Learning for Indiana’s Students,” highlights the benefits of work-based learning for students and employers.
Developed by the Regional Educational Laboratory Midwest and produced with Ball State PBS, the film also spotlights an engineering internship at Perry Central Community Schools, offered in partnership with Thermwood Corporation; and an accounting apprenticeship at Indianapolis Public Schools, offered through EmployIndy’s Modern Apprenticeship Program.
When it comes to work-based learning, rural schools typically don’t have the opportunities that schools in big urban cities with large companies would have. That’s why COSMOS formed and Apryl Kidd, COSMOS director, said the partnership has broadened opportunities for students in Mitchell, Shoals and Orleans.
“Making the most of the resources we have has always been a priority for us,” Kidd said. “We don’t have access to the same things as larger schools but we want our students to have those same opportunities, whether it’s work-based learning, STEM learning or career pathways.”
The segment filmed at Orleans High School featured its student-led business and the partnership it has with JSI Furniture. About 15 students are part of the Orleans school-based enterprise with JSI.
Bulldog Manufacturing teacher Jacob Smith said students choose a pathway – engineering or manufacturing – as freshmen and then by their junior year, they can work at Bulldog Manufacturing. Students make products as well as keep track of job invoices and product estimates. They earn job certifications and important soft skills like organization and time management.
Kidd said because the work is done during the school day, there are no issues for students who don’t have a car or driver’s license. Transportation is a barrier for students and can limit opportunities for internships and apprenticeships.
Work-based learning gives students a chance to learn about job opportunities in their communities and gain leadership and job skills. On average, about 50 students in COSMOS participate in work-based learning each school year. Kidd said students can discover careers they want to pursue and those they don’t.
“We had a student in the health sciences program and she earned the CNA certification and then decided it wasn’t for her,” Kidd said.
By making that decision in high school rather than after graduation, the student saved valuable time and was able to focus on a different career pathway.
“When we started COSMOS, we had students going to college for one or two years and then abandoning their majors or they didn’t go past the first year,” Kidd said. “Work-based learning can be a cost savings to them because they were exposed to different pathways in high school.”
Momentum is growing for integrating more work-based learning into Indiana high schools. The state is proposing new graduation requirements to allow students to earn more credits via work-based learning.
COSMOS takes a “pathways for all” approach and Kidd said it’s changing how Career & Technical Education is perceived. Certifications, such as the certified nursing assistant, are earned at no cost to the students.
“83% of our high school students take part in CTE, which is fantastic,” she said. “In the past, it was easy for some students to never take CTE classes because some students knew for certain they were going to college. Every student does need a work-based learning experience. It may just be a semester to affirm their dream. Others complete a certification, and end up doing something completely different. To be able to do that in high school makes such a difference because they learned they wanted to do something else.”
The documentary also features commentary from Anthony Harl, state director of career and technical education at the Indiana Commission for Higher Education; Dr. Todd Hurst, senior vice president of strategic partnerships & impact at the Institute for Workforce Excellence, Indiana Chamber of Commerce; and Dr. Katherine Hughes, a principal researcher at the American Institutes for Research (AIR).
Watch “From Classroom to Career: Work-Based Learning for Indiana’s Students” here.