At graduation ceremonies across the Upper Valley and the nation this spring, there will be parents and students wiping away tears. Too often, graduation feels like the end — the end of parenting a teen, the end of small-town life and the end of the parent-child dynamic that has been in place for the past 18 years.
It’s easy to forget that each commencement really means a beginning. After years of consideration, the class of 2019 is ready to move from the halls of high schools into the real world, whether through university, community or technical college, working or joining the military.
What comes next is a conversation that parents, educators and students have had — and will continue to have — year after year, especially in light of the ever-increasing costs of college education.
“I think in the last two to three years students have become blatantly aware of the cost of post-secondary education,” said Joy Gobin, extended learning opportunities coordinator at Lebanon High School. “ ‘Just go to college and figure it out’ isn’t going to fly when you walk out with a bill of $60,000-$100,000.”
Here’s what the professionals say about how students can start making plans for life after high school, what they should consider and how parents can help set them up for success.
The extended learning opportunities program at Lebanon High School has been in place for eight years, with Gobin at the helm for four. The program aims to connect students with real-world learning opportunities, as well as giving them academic credit for work that they’re already doing outside the classroom that shows their skills.
“Students earn credit around the work that they’re doing because they can demonstrate their competencies and skills,” Gobin explained.
She has helped students get credit for building a cabin on their family’s property, or for internships at area workplaces. About 250 students participate in extended learning opportunities, including 8 who participate in a STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) internship program that the school runs with Hypertherm and Fujifilm Dimatix.
Often, the skills needed for the programs that students participate in through the extended learning opportunities program are even more applicable in the real world than the skills that students learn in the classroom. Not only can students try out a career that they’re interested in, but they also get real-world experience in a professional setting.
“They’re exposed to the ecosystem of a business, all the different aspects,” Gobin said.
Students learn from people at the companies about the paths that they took to reach their career goals, and the different opportunities that are available. All of this helps students expand their horizons.
“Most of us only really know what our parents or family members do,” Gobin said. “We drive by places every day, but don’t know what is involved in a job or a career there.”
For students living in a rural area like the Upper Valley, intentional exposure to different career opportunities and various paths to get there are particularly important, said Jim Collins, principal of Mascoma Valley Regional High School.
In addition to hosting college fairs, Mascoma Valley brings in people from throughout the region to discuss their careers and how they reached that point. The school, like many in the Upper Valley, uses software called Naviance that allows students to explore requirements for different careers.
“That’s our best service to our students, to give them those options and bring resources to them,” Gobin said.
Most high school graduates will go on to college. Nationally, about 66 percent of graduates immediately enroll in college, which Collins said is similar to the rates at Mascoma. At Hanover High School, which serves the towns of Hanover and Norwich, 96 percent of graduates go on to four-year universities. Even so, school counselor Laurie Harrington said the guidance department urges students to really consider whether college is right for them.
“We kick off junior year with presentations in the classrooms, saying ‘almost all of you will go to college, but it’s not the right thing for everyone, and we have resources if it’s not the right thing,’ ” Harrington said. The counselors then show a slide show that asks a simple but profound question: Why college?
“They look at each other like we’re crazy, or snicker,” Harrington said. “Most say it’s tied to jobs, so we talk about jobs you can get without college. There are reasons why someone might choose to go, or not go.”
Often — especially for students from lower socio-economic situations — finances are a huge consideration when making their college plans. Partially for this reason it is becoming increasingly common for students to earn college credits while they’re still in high school. Special dual enrollment credit programs allow students to take classes that count for both high school and college credit. Often these courses are offered in conjunction with local community colleges and are free, making them a good recourse for many students.
“Whether students are going directly to work or taking time off, having college credits before graduation is giving them an opportunity,” Gobin said.
Carolyn Dow, 21, would have loved to take advantage of free college credits. Dow is getting through higher education slowly, paying for prerequisites she needs to take a dental hygiene course and working as a dental assistant in the meantime. Taking college credits during high school would have saved her time and money, she says.
“The college degree program wasn’t available for me when I was in high school so I ended up paying thousands of dollars that I could’ve saved instead,” said Dow, who lives in Hanover.
Dow urged her 14-year-old sister, who attends Mascoma Regional High School, to take college credits while still working toward her diploma in order to get a jump start on higher education.
“She’ll be saving herself thousands of dollars in the long run,” Dow said.
While college is important for many careers, there are still good opportunities available in the Upper Valley for people who only hold a high school diploma.
“Not every kid wants to go to college, but every child should have an opportunity to get direction and choose an option that makes sense for them,” Collins said. Whether that means entrepreneurship, trade training or technical school, many people are able to have successful careers with no formal higher education.
“There are plenty of jobs, especially in a town like Newport, where once you get a diploma you can get on-the-job training to move up,” said Hayley Emery, head of the Guidance and Counseling Department at Newport Middle High School.
In fact, Gobin recently hosted a job fair at Lebanon High School. Area companies came to talk to high school students about summer opportunities, but also long-term jobs that students could start right out of high school.
“If they are ready to step into something if they don’t want to do post-secondary education, they can make a living beyond a minimum wage,” she said.
This is especially true for students who have strong social and professional skills, she added.
“You can get in the door with a high school diploma, but you need to be able to present yourself well,” she said. Knowing how to listen to advice and communicate well go a long way toward moving up the ladder in any job, especially right out of high school.
Companies can benefit from hiring employees straight out of high school. They can access relatively cheap labor, with workers who can be trained early-on in company culture, skills and expectations.
“Those local companies saw real value in going to a job expo at a high school,” said Harrington.