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If accepted into the Work-Study Program, MHS students have the opportunity to participate in a paid internship with a local company or business related to their career choice within the fields of Industrial Technology, Agriculture, or Business. Requirements to be considered for this program are: senior status, 2.0 GPA overall, 2.5 GPA in related coursework, and successful completion of 6 industrial Technology courses. Attendance will also be considered.
This program leads to many opportunities within the school. It allows people who aren’t interested in going to college a chance to explore different careers that are more hands-on.
According to counselor Brandon Welsch, the program is two fold in benefits for students.
“Number 1 it can get you some experience so that you're starting to build your resume and learn some of the training that you need that's gonna make you more successful. The other thing is it gives you some insight on what a day at the job site is like,” said Mr. Welsch.
Work-based learning can provide new perspectives for students. It could allow them to know whether or not they enjoy trades and apprenticeships.
“Most people think that work-based learning is just go out to the job and gaining experience, but to be truthful, there's a lot more to it than that.” He continues with, “Well, Work-based learning kinda goes in stages there is an awareness stage that can start when you are in kindergarten, exploration which can be research, or job shadows, etc basically its trying to include in your education some real world on the job experience.”
Work-based learning goes in stages. The stages we will experience during highschool will most likely be awareness and exploration.
Awareness stage - this can start all the way back when you are in kindergarten when you start to learn about jobs.
Career exploration - which is often facilitated in the classroom and can be research, job shadows and even some field trips to job sites
Career preparation - In-person experience, which allows for you to apply your classroom learning with an external partnership
“You can talk about careers and skills all day in the classroom but until you are there it is hard to really know what it's like. And for some kids it can be useful to discover that they definitely do not want to do that in the future, which is just as valuable as knowing what you want to do,” said Mr. Welsch.
To get involved with this program the only thing you need to do is communicate your interests to Mr. Welsch.
“Getting into your junior and senior year, if you have room on your schedule you can come talk to me and we'll try to set you up in a place that fits your career interests, really communication is key,” said Mr. Welsch.
There are some criteria to get involved however, you must be on track to graduate and have some free time in your schedule. If you fit this benchmark, you can start to explore the different opportunities that are offered here. There can be some challenges for students within this program though.
“The only drawback is it can take away from some of the things you need to do at school. If you are a person with a more academic heavy schedule, due to college preparation or maybe there are some electives you would want to take, but if you want to be involved with work-study you would probably need 3 periods free,” said Mr. Welsch.
With the staff of the school pushing for more individualized career cruising, kids here have more and more diverse options for when we graduate and especially so through the Work-Study program.
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