High school grads shouldn’t dismiss vocational trades

There’s a great scene in the classic movie “Caddyshack,” in which graduating high school senior Danny Noonan, while caddying a round of golf for Judge Elihu Smails, laments his college prospects in an attempt to butter up the wealthy jurist.

Says Noonan, portrayed by actor Michael O’Keefe: “I planned to go to law school after I graduated, but, uh, it looks like my folks won’t have enough money to put me through college.”

Responds an agitated Smails, played by the inimitable Ted Knight: “Well, the world needs ditch-diggers, too.”

There was truth in Smails’ mean-spirited response. College isn’t the answer for everybody graduating from high school. Though unskilled work such as ditch-digging isn’t a good fit for capable high school seniors, trades provide jobs that don’t require an expensive bachelor’s degree. The world needs plumbers, auto mechanics and — especially here in the valley — heating and air conditioning technicians. For people willing to get their hands dirty, and even those who aren’t, there are countless vocations that offer incredible opportunities to build a career and make outstanding money — often far more than debt-burdened traditional college graduates can command.

And the people doing these jobs need to be pretty smart, too.

“One of the major barriers we face is the perception that students who go through vocational programs weren’t college-worthy,” said Gia Moore, director of magnet schools and career and technical academies for the Clark County School District. “But the reality is those are some of the brightest students. It takes a lot of intelligence.”

To its credit, the school district has robust vocational programs that are in high demand. Magnet schools and career technical academies drew 1,001 applicants for 252 slots in automotive and construction programs next school year. (There are several other programs, too.) If a student can’t get into those schools, there are options at five traditional high schools — Chaparral, Silverado, Western, Bonanza and Mojave — that hold a “select schools” designation for their successful vocational programs. Students are allowed to apply to attend those schools, and every other high school in the district has a career and technical program of some sort.

For parents and students who recognize that a traditional college or university isn’t the best or most affordable path right now — or even community college — Moore has real-world examples of better options.

“A diesel mechanic with a mining company can make $50,000 a year right out of high school. They can get that training with us,” she said.

The College of Southern Nevada offers countless similar success stories with its reasonably priced, twoyear certificate and four-year apprentice programs — for example, in the two-year HVAC program.

“We tell our brand-new AC grads that if you’re not making $50,000 a year, you’re not trying,” said Mike Spangler, dean of CSN’s school of advanced and applied technologies.

Think about it. When your AC blows up in the middle of July, you want it fixed yesterday. Demand for technicians far outstrips supply, and the pay scale shows it, even for a rookie technician.

“The term we use is ‘familysustainable wages,’” Spangler said, noting that these aren’t just jobs, they’re careers that can comfortably support a family. “We have to have meaningful employment, meaning that it’s consistent. Air conditioning is a stable industry, but it also has to have a sustainable income. That’s one of our criterion at CSN.”

Like Moore, Spangler fights the idea that vocational programs are a step down.

“The best graduation rates in CCSD are at CSN High School and the career/technical academies,” Spangler said. “The problem comes from misinformation from parents and with students. The reality is there are very few decent careers for someone with just a high school diploma. Almost every discipline has some sort of post-secondary requirement.”

But that doesn’t mean students have to mortgage their future. Perhaps no one knows that better than Dan Gouker, CSN’s senior associate vice president for workforce economic development and apprenticeship studies.

“In my family (growing up), all of us served apprenticeships. All of us have always been gainfully employed,” Gouker said. “The apprentice program was the original four-year degree. The biggest difference is that you’re employed from Day One. It’s just as academically rigorous as any four-year degree.”

And unlike many four-year degrees — as many college graduates are learning these days — the vocational and apprentice programs are often recession-proof. Noonan of “Caddyshack” would want to know that about 15 percent of law school graduates can’t find jobs, and many are forced to take work that barely covers payments on their six-figure debt.

“I have never been unemployed,” said Gouker, 64. “These jobs are recessionproof, based on the individuals’ skill level. You’ve got to want to work. Personally, can I say it’s recession-proof? Absolutely.” Patrick Everson is an editorial writer for the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Follow him on Twitter: @PatrickCEverson.