Industrial technology: preparing students for the real work world

Rick Hamilton says, “Traditional shop classes are dead! If we are not preparing our industrial technology students for the “Real” world of work then we are failing as an educational institution. He goes on to say, “While the Ogden school district, like many school districts, has focused hard on the preparation of students to enter and be successful at four-year colleges, the reality is that over half of the students are not four-year college bound. 

“They need to have a solid education in the vocational fields. The problem is, those types of programs are very expensive and we can’t expect the taxpayers to be able to pay for the expense of a quality vocational program. It is not feasible. 

“My wife, who works in the corporate world, told me 15 years ago that educational institutions were going to have to make some changes if they want to survive. ‘You need to realize that you must reach out to businesses and find out what their needs are.’” She continued with the thought that as long as education is funded solely by taxpayer dollars, curriculum will not keep up. ‘There are many companies out there who would be interested in providing funds if they know their future employee needs are being addressed.’”

Read more about the new technology program in the Nov. 18, 2015 issue of The Ogden Reporter.