Wednesday, February 09, 2000
Students gain skills to sell
Lloyd program puts class to work
BY ANDREA TORTORA
The Cincinnati Enquirer
ERLANGER — Hanging drywall, pouring concrete and laying foundations are all in a class period's work for a group of students at Lloyd High School.
The vocational-construction class takes place in and around a house on Sunset Avenue.
Here, Ruey Newsom's class added on a room and bathroom, put on a new roof, refinished a bathtub, widened the driveway and rebuilt the front porch.
“I've helped out with stuff like this before, but now I'm really learning how to do it,” sophomore Steven Shepherd said. “This will help me when I get a job, and when I own my own house.”
The class is part of the “industry models” program developed by the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce and the region's schools. Students learn about a career by actually working at job sites with company employees.
Business and schools created the program to better prepare students who leave high school and go straight to work. At Lloyd High, for example, 40 percent of graduates go to college and 60 percent work.
Lloyd offers the construction class and one in hospitality and customer-service taught by Jane Arnold and a variety of restaurant staffs.
Conner High School in He bron piloted the finance and banking class with help from Huntington Bank.
The elective classes let students earn credits while learning skills. Students in the class who are 18 can earn money by co-oping at companies.
The classes are an extension of the old school-to-work program. But in this case, businesses gain employees with more than basic training.
Spectrum Interiors in Crescent Springs works with several co-op students from Lloyd and Newport high schools. Butch Bowling, apprentice and human-resource manager, said the program teaches students about the business as well as work ethic.
“It's not a dead-end street for these guys,” Mr. Bowling said. “Labor is so short that we feel if we can get high school students to work with us at this level we can devel op our future work force.”
For Allen Kelly, a Lloyd senior, the work experience is a foothold on a job. Allen spends two hours a day, from 7 to 9 a.m., working at Spectrum Interiors. He earns $8 an hour.
“I'm learning what it's really like to work for a construction company,” he said. “And it's pretty much something I've been thinking of doing after I graduate.”
Mr. Newsom said most of his students already hold down jobs at fast-food restaurants. He wants them to learn a trade that can provide a long-term career.
Students work on residences, school buildings and projects with the city of Erlanger.
“When you have kids doing stuff they like to work on, you see success,” Mr. Newsom said.
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