by Lucy Stevens, Junior
Palisades High School offers students the opportunity to attend Upper Bucks County Technical School, along with Quakertown High School and Pennridge High School. Within the UBCTS students have the chance to take part in a school to work program. This gives students several options on how to experience the workforce. The technical school offers programs ranging from healthcare to mechanics to culinary arts and cosmetology, all with the opportunity to go into co-op.
They offer a shadowing experience, which is a 1-3 day, unpaid shadowing experience. They also offer an internship experience available while still in high school, which allows students to have a paid or unpaid short-term experience in their field. The third option is cooperative capstone education, a paid program that gives students the option to work in their trade as an extension of the classroom. This allows students to use the trades they have learned in the real world, letting them experience the real work field of their trade.
Being part of the co-op program has more requirements for the students involved. Students have to complete and submit paperwork before beginning their job. They are also expected to use the program CTE 360 to track their progress and complete assignments monthly, including any assignments from their tech teacher supplies, and NOCTI preparation. Students in co-op are also expected to still attend school and attend the technical school on days they do not have co-op. Students must provide their own transportation both to and from work. They also are expected to adhere to the Student Code of Conduct from UBCTS or they may get removed from the program.
Two technical school students were interviewed about their experience with the co-op program. Luke Stangs, an eleventh grade technical school student in the Welding program, is currently working at Stout Customs LLC while also balancing football and two classes. However, Luke is part of the AM tech school program, which he says assists him with balancing this schedule, as he is already back at Palisades High School by his third period class, so getting to football is much easier for him. At work he is currently working on welding the frames for the Stout Boonie mini bikes. Co-op for him helps him learn how to be successful in his trade and gives him a lot of experience that the technical school cannot, such as how to be a good employee.
Ava Reed, an eleventh grade student in the Exercise Science program at PM tech from Palisades High School, and is currently working at St. Luke’s Upper Bucks Campus. She goes to work from 12-4 four days a week. She works in the radiology program, in which she transports patients from the ER and the waiting room to the X-ray room, answers phones and sits at the front desk, restocks supplies, and assists in patient positioning for portable X-rays. Ava is grateful for the opportunity to be able to get hospital experience before going into the workforce full time, and being able to use this experience for college applications. However, Ava said balancing school and co-op can be a little challenging as she misses 4 days of tech she must make up, and this can be more challenging as she gets off work at 4 pm. Ava said the biggest lesson she has learned from co-op is “being able to learn to work and communicate with the patients and coworkers”. Technical school students interested in the co-op program should visit the tech school website to fill out a co-op application.
Sources:
https://www.ubtech.org/ubt/Programs/School%20to%20Work%20Program%20%28Co-op%29
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