Leveling the Playing Field

 When I was growing up, there was an expectation that my siblings and I would study hard, go to college and get a job. I followed that dream and became a teacher. My husband went to college, took a year off, and decided he needed to go back to school. After graduating from college, he went on to law school and came back to Hawaii to work. Our two older sons followed a similar pathway though their eventual professions were not in the field they majored in. Our youngest son took a different path. He went to college after high school but dropped out. Although he graduated from high school with honors, he did not adjust to the expectations of college. He took a different path and enlisted in the Air Force. After serving honorably for six years including a deployment to Afghanistan, he came home, enrolled in an on-line university, and is on-track to graduate this semester. Thankfully, he has no student loans; his GI bill paid for everything. 

Because of our youngest son’s experiences, I’ve been thinking a lot about high schools. There are high schools where students take courses at the college level and earn dual credits. Other schools have academies where students do real work in their area of interest, experiences that could give them a heads-up in the field when they graduate. 

I am surprised that more high schools don’t offer internships though, and that is why I was excited to read about an internship program between students at a charter school here in Hawaii, the State Department of Transportation, and Oceanit (Time to Flip the Internship Upside Down: Education, Imagination, and Industry) When I think of a company here in Hawaii that has been very instrumental in supporting our schools, Oceanit immediately comes to mind. They have trained hundreds (or maybe thousands) of our educators and students on Design Thinking as well as coding using Altino cars. I was able to participate in these trainings, and it made me realize what an important partner Oceanit was with our schools in Hawaii. Internships can be a great way for students to gain valuable experience and work habits that they will need when they graduate from high school.  When students can work on projects that impact our communities, they may be more invested to work collaboratively to seek meaningful solutions. 

Recently, I read a book titled Making It: What Today’s Kids Need for Tomorrow’s World by Stephanie Malia Krauss. As she states, the pathway we went through that helped define success - graduate high school, go to college, get a job, get a promotion or a better job, make money and manage responsibilities, retire and live off savings or investments - will no longer be true in the future. Ms. Krause shares that very possibly, today’s kids could be living longer - maybe to 100 - and they may be working for much longer - maybe for 80 years. Therefore, they will need currencies - competencies, connections, credentials, and cash - in order to be successful in their lives. Below is an explanation of the 4 currencies students will need in the future. 

We are living in a world that is far from equitable, and students from disadvantaged families will find it more challenging to build up their currencies. High schools can level the playing field by providing opportunities for all students through academies, early college classes, apprenticeships, internships, and other types of innovative programs. Elementary and middle schools can ensure that all students have access to enrichment classes, after-school activities, tutoring, summer programs, etc. Communities or businesses can partner with schools to provide assistance, materials, mentors, or other support. We can all be part of the solution to level the playing field, to ensure that our youth are prepared to make it in tomorrow’s world.