Bloomington High School South, The Gothic, 1999, Page 40

Description:	ALTERNATIVE OPTIONSStudents learn specialized skills at vocational schooby Jeff CarterWhile moststudents listen tolectures inclassrooms, othersplant trees and fixcars. For thosestudents whowish to engage intechnical careertraining, Hoosier Hills CareerCenter (adjacent to BHSN) offersseveral different courses for highschool juniors and seniors. Thecourses vary from Auto BodyRepair to Child Care Services toNatural Resources Management.One of the main reasonsstudents signed up for vocationalclasses was because they offeredpractical applications to real-lifesituations. Junior Ryan Fippsenrolled in Building Trades,which covered such areas ascarpentry, electrical wiring, drywall and interior/exteriorfinishing, for this reason. Mysummer job is building things, soI figured I might get somepractice, Fipps said.Junior Joe Adams felt anAutomotive Technology class,which dealt with learning thefunctions and relationships of alloperation systems of theautomobile, could help him withMy summerjob is buildingthings, so Ifigured I mightget somepractice.junior Ryan Fippshis future job. Ihave done[automotivetechnology] forabout six years.This class willlook good on myresume and helpme get a job. Also,there are not many people in theclass, so the instructor gets toeveryone. That helps us learnbetter, Adams said.While vocational classesoffered knowledge andexperience, students could alsohave a good time. Senior RichardHall signed up for Forestry andLandscaping, which was dividedinto units focusing on Forestry,Landscaping and GreenhouseManagement because he thoughtit would be a fun class to take,and he could learn new things.His favorite part of the class wassimply being around and talkingwith friends.Vocational classes providedhands-on experience andimportant training for studentswishing to pursue technicalcareers. Students learned manydifferent skills from fixing airconditioners to caring for infantsto exploring natural resources.After Diverse HealthCareers, seniors MandyChildress and Pam Dixboard the bus to go backto BHSS. Studentsattending vocationalschool had to ride a busto and from BloomingtonNorth everyday.AVERYTHATCHERSeniors Jimmy Southern and Justin Beck measure a board at vocationalschool at North. The vocational school helped kids learn abouttechnical skills from Autobody Repair to Cosmetology.AVERYTHATCHERWhat is the bestaspect ofvocational classes9Building TradesWe were able to practice a lot oftrades, and we can get anapprenticeship and follow it.junior Nathan SouthernForestry and LandscapingI like all the hands-on stuff. It is goodto learn by doing. We were also ableto do an estimate on a classmateshouse.senior James Bowlene Spread Design byacademicsRavi Soni
Source:	http://cdm17129.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/hs-bloomsouth/id/6046
Collection:	Bloomington High School South

Further information on this record can be found at its source.