Community Viewpoints: preparing students for life after graduation

It won’t be long, and about 99 Williamsburg High School students will have earned the title of “Raider alum,” having completed the requirements to graduate. I remember my school counselor helping students through an interest and aptitude survey that generated possible career paths which could be researched and potentially pursued. My survey indicated “Gift Shop Attendant” was a likely successful career path, and I spent a few summers before and after graduation working in the gift shop attendant industry at a local tourist attraction in my hometown. Fort Belmont had a gift shop, small museum, a sod hut and a model flour mill. Those were good days, giving tours and selling flour in small burlap bags, by the way.

The path the survey indicated might be my best option didn’t come to fruition over the long term, and that might be the case for our upcoming Raider graduates, too. What we think is our passion and plan today, might not be the case a month or a year or a decade from now. That begs the question, how are teachers, leaders, and students themselves preparing for life after graduation?

School counselors help students create four-year plans, starting in eighth grade, that give them a chance to investigate potential careers and choose courses that will help prepare them for that particular career path or career preparation path. Do kids need to identify that path when they are 13 or 14? Of course not! But the four-year plan encourages kids and families to start thinking about what they might want to explore.

On average, between 2018 and 2020, 73.5 percent of all Raider graduates enrolled in a college course within one year after graduation. I was talking with a local resident just recently, and they told me they remembered growing up in a time when the only option for success seemed to be pursuit of a four-year degree. That certainly wasn’t true then, nor is it true today. Williamsburg Schools has started to work with local industries like Williamsburg Manufacturing on pre-apprenticeship programs that will give students the opportunity to participate in coursework and experiences while in high school that will prepare them for work in manufacturing that can look more like a job in robotics.

Some of you may have heard the district leases a suite at Outlets Williamsburg. This suite serves as a classroom for students who are enrolled in Kirkwood Community College courses related to business and management, as well as a storefront that will allow students a place to market products that they have designed, produced and marketed. We’re still in the beginning stages of this experience for students, but we think it has great potential to give students authentic, real-life experience working with peers, with customers, and with supply chain and other partners.

Over the past couple years, business education teacher Todd Subbert has spent time developing experiences for students that allow them to explore and prepare for careers. This past fall, the district partnered with Grant Wood AEA, Vinton-Shellsburg and Benton Community Schools to hire a work-based learning coordinator. Laura Miner spends time in each of our three districts and her primary responsibility is to build and enhance experiences for our students to develop employability skills, explore careers, and gain practical experience that will help them in the world-of-work. This, coupled with extensive opportunities for internships and job shadowing experiences, also led by Grant Wood AEA, have been utilized by many students at WHS. If you’re interested in that opportunity for your child, please reach out to our school counselor at the high school, Erica Wilkinson.

Kirkwood Community College is a valuable partner to Williamsburg Schools. Last school year, 48 percent of all WHS students were enrolled in at least one concurrent (college course) through Kirkwood and 54 percent of our students earned at least 12 credits. That amounts to over $243,000 in tuition savings for Williamsburg families. That reduces the debt students incur while taking courses that can prepare them for college or the workforce, and it starts a college transcript for students while they still have the support and security of being a high school student.

You don’t have to look hard to find Williamsburg Raider students who are participating in formal apprenticeship programs with local contractors. Apprenticeship experiences require students to take coursework related to the career and acquire hundreds of hours of OTJ, or on-the-job training. These opportunities help contractors fill workforce needs and introduce future employees to their company culture, job demands and benefits.

Several Raiders are currently in formal apprenticeship programs, and we’re excited to see even more of that in the near future, I think. If you ever wonder if a local contractor has apprenticeship opportunities for an upcoming graduate or if you’re a person looking for a change in career path, please reach out to them and ask. So many of our local contractors are anxious to build relationships with potential employees, and there are lots of ways to earn the experience and “know-how” to do really important work.

We’re fortunate to have graduates who choose to serve their country in the military every year, as well, and it’s no secret that while the sacrifice for individuals and families is great, skills and experiences developed through service in the military has great value to both self and country. Each year, some Raider graduates choose to serve.

At Williamsburg Schools, we’ve embarked on a project to develop what’s often called a Portrait of a Graduate. With the help of local employers, staff members, students, higher education representatives, clergy, and parents, we’ve set out with the following goal in mind: to prioritize the academic skills, interpersonal qualities, and employability traits needed for Williamsburg students to thrive in the 21st century. There will be more to come about the work to develop and implement our Raider Portrait of a Graduate, and we look forward to continuing to serve students, families and our communities.

Take care, and as always, Go Raiders!

(Leaders through Iowa County have been asked to share updates and outlooks for their organizations as they relate to the communities they serve in this weekly column. Our hope is to provide a forum for towns to share progress and success from different viewpoints. We are still in the process of scheduling columnists and will continue reaching out to connect with school, municipal, economic, tourism, youth and other community leaders. If you are interested in taking part, please contact Melinda Wichmann, editor, Hometown Current, at (319) 654-4740 or email Melinda.Wichmann@Southeastiowaunion.com.)