High school students find employers and colleges are trying to recruit them

High school students find employers and colleges are trying to recruit them

Transcript¹

As higher education and industry in Wisconsin try to adapt to pandemic challenges, the traditional pipeline² leading students from high school directly to college is being refined.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

College enrollment³ was down across the country even before the pandemic. But for the last two years, it's gotten worse. Same thing when it comes to the labor⁴ market - there aren't enough workers to fill jobs. In Wisconsin, higher education and industry are adapting by redefining what the path after high school can look like. Rich Kremer of Wisconsin Public Radio reports.

RICH KREMER, BYLINE⁵: Public, technical and community colleges have borne the brunt of pandemic enrollment declines. Since fall of 2019, they've lost more than 700,000 students. The drop was around 16% among men and 10% among women. In Wisconsin, enrollment at state technical colleges dropped by 34% over the past decade. It's dropped more than 60% at two-year University of Wisconsin System campuses. That comes as Wisconsin employers say they're increasingly desperate to hire enough workers.

Here at Sheboygan South High, the lunchtime rush starts with a murmur⁶ and quickly engulfs⁷ the hallways at this school of 1,100 students. Guidance counselor⁸ Steve Schneider says the demand for workers has led to intense recruitment. With both employers and colleges knocking on high schools' doors, it falls to staff to clear a path in both directions.

STEVE SCHNEIDER: Let us, as the adults, take the brunt of the aggressiveness and filter that so that when you're presenting to our students and when we're talking with our students about these options, the students are still recognizing that they are in control of this choice.

KREMER: Those choices include a wide range of dual-enrollment classes, with students earning high school and college credit in fields like nursing, web design and skilled trades. The school also offers work-based learning courses, called co-ops, sponsored by local businesses. They pay students to work part-time while exploring career options.

In the city of Plymouth, recent graduate AJ Klug says he felt lost as he neared the end of his high school career. He thought about going to college, but was deterred⁹ by the prospect¹⁰ of taking on lots of student loan debt. Instead, he signed up for an 80-hour co-op with local car dealership¹¹ Van Horn Automotive and felt at home working alongside master mechanics.

AJ KLUG: I got into the shop, and I said to myself, this is actually something that I enjoy doing. You know, I found something. I don't have to, you know, worry about it so much anymore.

KREMER: Klug is now working full-time¹² with the dealership, earning good wages while taking tech college classes toward a certification. The dealership offered an apprenticeship¹³ program with $6,500 in scholarships for tools and tuition. Klug expects to graduate debt-free. Van Horn recruiter Shannon Laehn says the apprenticeship was created in 2020 to address looming¹⁴ retirements¹⁶.

SHANNON LAEHN: So that we can start building these younger technicians and having them work with the master technicians to grow their skills so that we have technicians for our future.

KREMER: As businesses make inroads to high schools, the traditional pipeline from high school to college is changing. Wisconsin Technical College President Morna Foy says the career pathway model, in which employees seek additional education after starting work, represents the most significant change in the higher education.

MORNA FOY: It is now being driven by what students and employers, through their employees, need - not what's convenient for us, not what is comfortable for us as the education provider. But what do they need?

KREMER: Projections¹⁷ show the number of people hitting retirement¹⁵ age in many states will quickly outpace the number of working-age adults. What's been dubbed¹⁸ the silver tsunami¹⁹ is likely to drive more high school recruitment by businesses and even greater changes for colleges.

For NPR News, I'm Rich Kremer in Eau Claire.

(SOUNDBITE OF CHAD LAWSON TRIO'S "A FAIR SKY IN WICHITA")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

3 enrollment   

n.注册或登记的人数；登记

参考例句：

• You will be given a reading list at enrollment.注册时你会收到一份阅读书目。
• I just got the enrollment notice from Fudan University.我刚刚接到复旦大学的入学通知书。

4 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 murmur   

n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言

参考例句：

• They paid the extra taxes without a murmur.他们毫无怨言地交了附加税。
• There was a low murmur of conversation in the hall.大厅里有窃窃私语声。

7 engulfs   

v.吞没，包住( engulf的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Hemingway suppresses emtion, Wolfe engulfs the reader in feeling. 海明威感情压抑，沃尔夫却把读者卷进感情的漩涡。 来自辞典例句
• Consumption ideological trend engulfs the entire world at present age. 当今时代，消费主义呈现席卷全球之势。 来自互联网

8 counselor   

n.顾问，法律顾问

参考例句：

• The counselor gave us some disinterested advice.顾问给了我们一些无私的忠告。
• Chinese commercial counselor's office in foreign countries.中国驻国外商务参赞处。

9 deterred   

v.阻止，制止( deter的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I told him I wasn't interested, but he wasn't deterred. 我已告诉他我不感兴趣，可他却不罢休。
• Jeremy was not deterred by this criticism. 杰里米没有因这一批评而却步。 来自辞典例句

10 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

11 dealership   

n.商品特许经销处

参考例句：

• The car dealership has a large inventory of used cars. 这家汽车经销商拥有数量庞大的二手车。
• A key to this effort is the experience in the dealership. 达到这个成果的关键是销售的体验。

12 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

13 apprenticeship   

n.学徒身份；学徒期

参考例句：

• She was in the second year of her apprenticeship as a carpenter. 她当木工学徒已是第二年了。
• He served his apprenticeship with Bob. 他跟鲍勃当学徒。

14 looming   

n.上现蜃景（光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼）v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• The foothills were looming ahead through the haze. 丘陵地带透过薄雾朦胧地出现在眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then they looked up. Looming above them was Mount Proteome. 接着他们往上看，在其上隐约看到的是蛋白质组山。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望

15 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

16 retirements   

退休( retirement的名词复数 )； 退职； 退役； 退休的实例

参考例句：

• We've had two retirements in our office this year. 今年我们办公室已有二人退休。
• Those may take the form of sackings redundancies, temporary layoffs or retirements. 这些形式有开除，作为编余人员，暂时解雇或退休。

17 projections   

预测( projection的名词复数 )； 投影； 投掷； 突起物

参考例句：

• Their sales projections are a total thumbsuck. 他们的销售量预测纯属估计。
• The council has revised its projections of funding requirements upwards. 地方议会调高了对资金需求的预测。

18 dubbed   

v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制

参考例句：

• Mathematics was once dubbed the handmaiden of the sciences. 数学曾一度被视为各门科学的基础。
• Is the movie dubbed or does it have subtitles? 这部电影是配音的还是打字幕的？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。