Next school year, more than 1,250 Butler Tech students will take part in Ohio’s first experiment of allowing career school students to work and job shadow on 14 consecutive Fridays instead of attending traditional classes on those days.
Dubbed the “5th Day Experience,” the new program also is one of the few in the nation to allow high school students to learn in the real work world, experiencing firsthand what their future careers might involve.
Bowling, who is paid $15 per hour for learning and working with Messer Construction Co., is among a few dozen current Butler Tech students who work through traditional co-op programs with local employers.
He said next year’s students “will get a lot more experience on the job and see what an actual day of work is like.”
“The job is a lot of fun. You’re not sitting in a classroom and you’re learning something you can use the rest of your life,” said Bowling.
A.J. Huff, spokeswoman for Butler Tech, which serves 10 school districts in Butler County and northern Hamilton County’s Northwest Local Schools, said Bowling is an example of what’s coming.
“Opportunities like Austin’s with Messer Construction is a driving force behind Butler Tech’s commitment to the new calendar and the Fifth Day Experience,” Huff said.
“We believe these 14 Fridays will open up a chance for nearly 1,300 Butler Tech students to participate in hands-on experiences that will make a huge impact on their futures.”
Butler Tech junior Trishna Subedi agreed and said she’s eager to be part of Ohio’s latest experiment in career-school learning.
“It’s a great opportunity for me and all the other students,” said Subedi between her classes in forensic science at Butler Tech’s Bioscience Center in West Chester Twp.
“I already have it all laid out in my mind. My (school) lab requires volunteer hours so I can find hospitals and job shadow. My classmates are excited about it too. It really does gives us more opportunities.”
Classmate Rey Howard has already spent time job shadowing at West Chester Hospital’s radiology unit and is looking forward next school year to learning on site in the emergency room and the intensive care unit.
“I am grateful because it gives us more opportunities than a lot of other schools have. We get a first-hand look and follow people around while they do their job,” said Howard, who lives in Monroe.
The only downside, said Howard, was the loss in 2020 of Butler Tech’s spring break and a slightly longer school year so all students can still accumulate their state-mandated number of hours of classroom instruction.
“It’s a good experiment,” said Ainsley Stone, a junior from West Chester Twp. studying exercise science. She added that “90 percent of my classmates are excited about it and only 10 percent are hesitant.”
Adding to the uncertainty are the many details of the program, which won’t start until February 2020, still to be worked out.
Abbie Cook, principal of the Bioscience School, said “there is definitely hesitation, but I think a lot of that was because of the unknown.
“Anytime there’s a big change people are unsure, so they think of all the negative things that could happen,” said Cook.
Transportation concerns were among the most frequent questions asked by students.
Butler Tech officials said, however, they plan to use the district’s existing school bus options, a fleet of vans and other options to help participating students travel to and from their Friday jobs during the 14 weeks of the program.
“There is a lot of curiosity about what it (program) will look like. But there’s some excitement too. They want to see what offerings (job shadowing and work) we are going to have,” Cook said.
About the Author