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A lot of people do this already. It's called tech school (and optionally, if offered, there are co-op programs). I did both, but was constantly bothered by th

A lot of people do this already. It's called tech school (and optionally, if offered, there are co-op programs). I did both, but was constantly bothered by the perception that tech school is for people who are, basically, to stupid to go to college. You go there to learn a trade. That's fine, since the "trade" I learned was configuring wide-area networks via the CCNA Academy. I think it was really valuable for a lot of reasons outside of the good, practical training I got: it got me around kids from other schools since it was a tech school for the whole county; I had access to the co-op program to get some real work experience (which I took advantage of); I was being taught by someone who was actually doing what I was learning. All in all I'd recommend the experience for many of the reasons you cite here.

warfangle 17y ago
Oh, true. It's very similar to a trade school. I'm just saying that it should start much sooner. For a lot of people, a part-time job in high school is just for extra cash to see movies. For a lot of the same people, if the school had been a little more involved and had relationships with a lot of local small businesses, they could have apprenticed at accounting, lab/research assistant (at a very basic level, mainly observing) at a local university, etc. It's a serious shame that tech/trade schools have the stigma they do. It's also a serious shame that said tech/trade schools typically treat their students as older high school students instead of valuable members of the current/future workforce.