By Andra Bryan Stefanoni

news@joplinglobe.com

PITTSBURG, Kan. — Were it not for a new masonry class at Pittsburg High School, two of the nine students enrolled in it say they probably wouldn’t be in school at all. Two others say it’s the only thing they like about school, because they are not “pencil and paper” students.

The class is part of a comprehensive construction trades program put in place this fall by Fort Scott Community College in partnership with four Southeast Kansas school districts.

Funded by a $2 million grant awarded in April by the Department of Labor, the program is an answer to a problem that was twofold, said Chris Sterrett, director of construction trades at the Fort Scott school and the grant’s administrator. Construction maintains the most consistent growth of all industries in the United States, but there is a chronic need for workers, he said.

“The construction industry is one of the largest employers in the country, and it is facing huge shortages of trained craftsmen, which means deadlines can’t be met,” Sterrett said. “It pushes back recovery from natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina. There are just not enough workers to do jobs.”

There also is a segment of students who are not college-bound that high schools have been challenged to serve, he said.

“National statistics show that in the current ninth-grade class, 28 percent of them will go on to get a four-year degree,” Sterrett said. “Thirty-two percent of them will need advanced training, 10 percent lack the skills to get gainful employment, and 30 percent will drop out.”

But, Sterrett said, only 20 percent of today’s jobs require a four-year degree, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Outlook Handbook.

“Sixty-five percent of today’s jobs need future training at a vocational school or community college such as ours,” he said.

Enter the construction trades program at Fort Scott Community College. Pittsburg High School Principal Donna Zerr said it came at a wonderful time.

“Occupational programming is expensive, and we lack the resources to do both that and academic programming,” Zerr said.

She said the program fills an important gap in what PHS provides, and she believes that schools and communities should work toward getting past the mind-set that college degrees are something for which all students should strive.

Those who participate at PHS, Girard High School, Fort Scott High School and Northeast High School at Arma can earn industry-recognized credentials in carpentry, masonry, electrical and plumbing, heating and air conditioning, and safety. Certificate programs are being developed for concentration in specific trades.

“We have such interest in the new welding program at Girard, which is a night class, that adult community members are wanting to sign up to take it,” Sterrett said.