Episode 171: Graduation is just the beginning

This week we tackle the tough question of, "What happens after graduation?" We dive into the data, including a statistic that shows that 72% of future jobs will require more education than just a high school diploma. We learn why 7th grade is a pivotal time for students, and hear how our district is building student maturity, confidence, and giving them the skills they need to pursue any path they choose.

--TRANSCRIPT--

Doug: Hey everyone, I'm Doug. That's Conor. And you're listening to the greatest school district podcast of all time. That's right, the Bethel School District Presents podcast is back from spring break. We are suntanned and rested and ready to go, Conor. We have a great show ahead. We're going to be talking about post-graduation plans for our seniors and what that means for our staff—what work goes in behind the scenes to make sure seniors are ready for their futures once they cross that graduation stage. But before we get there, Conor, as you like to say, and I think this is trademarked, you know how we do it. It's time for useless trivia. Hit us up.

Conor: It is indeed, and I’ve got a good one to bring us back from the break in case everyone was Jonesing for their useless trivia. So Douglas, did you know the world's longest officially released song is called "The Rise and Fall of Bossanova" by a group called PC3 and it is over 13 hours long? And before you chime in there with your witty bon mots, I'm going to add a little bonus and that the shortest song ever recorded is called "You Suffer" by Napalm Death, which comes in at just 1.316 seconds long.

Doug: I got nothing. That's amazing. I really question the definition of the word "song" with a 13-hour whatever that is.

Conor: Or a one-second—that's really not much of a song either.

Doug: I suppose that's true, but I'd more likely listen to the one-second than the 13-hour. Not too bad, I like that useless trivia. And Conor, you're not going to beat mine because mine was pretty darn good. But let's hear what you got. Well, I'm definitely not because mine actually has to do with today's topic, so it is—

Conor: Boring.

Doug: I'll take it, but Conor, did you know in the early 1900s, graduating high school wasn't just about walking across the stage? It was a public performance, and my sources before I even say this: Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of American History, and the New York Public Library Digital Collections—some heavy hitters. They told me that every single graduating senior was required to stand on stage and deliver an original oration or essay to the public.

Conor: Well, that is fascinating. I didn't know that and I'm glad they did away with that. I don't think I would have done well. And imagine how long you and I both cover graduation ceremonies—just reading the names, imagine how long that ceremony would take.

Doug: Well, back in this day, there were kind of like 12 graduating seniors so it was probably still a lengthy event, but it was definitely more manageable if everybody was given a speech. Some ceremonies were even structured like variety shows, so it was common to have a class prophet who predicted people's futures, a class historian, and a class poet. And Conor, I believe you would have been the class poet over there in Masula.

Conor: And I think you would have been a class clown. Zing.

Doug: Well, our school board has been holding public study sessions this year on a variety of topics and that includes the work of our behavior task force, math achievement, student safety of course, our levies, and right before spring break they held another one, and this was on college and career readiness.

Conor: Yeah, students, teachers, administrators, they all engage in conversation with the school board about this topic and they covered a ton of ground actually. They talked about why post-secondary pathways matter for Bethel students and the community, where our students are today in terms of readiness and engagement, and what Bethel schools are doing to expand opportunities after graduation.

Doug: So with all that in mind, Deputy Superintendent Dr. David Hammond said the vision for him was clear, even though it sounded a little like a greeting card.

Dr. David Hammond: Part of the vision I've been working with this over the last two days to try to figure out how to say this without sounding like a Hallmark card, but there's really no way to do it. So, graduation is an end and it's also a beginning. So there's your Hallmark card. It's an end for us in that the students leave, but it's a beginning for our students. But in the last five years, it hasn't been an end for the district. We've been able to gather more information, more data about students and how they're doing beyond and using that data to inform what we're doing in the schoolhouse while they're with us.

Doug: Now we're actually tracking and learning about our students after they leave Bethel, and we're seeing where we can replicate that success and uncover things that we might need to change.

Conor: Now, we have strong graduation rates here in Bethel—over 90%—but we don't have strong numbers when it comes to meaningful post-secondary learning. So our goal needs to be focused on making sure our graduates have the tools they need to leave school with confidence and are ready for whatever road lies ahead.

Doug: Absolutely, and School Board Director Terrence Mayers agreed with that.

Terrence Mayers: Did we give you what you needed while you were here so that when you're not here you're capable of pursuing whatever it is that you want to pursue or have the ability to adjust when things don't work your way, when life changes? Did you get enough skills from us so that you can make those decisions? I guess that's from my perspective, that's what I want.

Doug: After graduation, students can go in a lot of different directions, either enrolling in a two or four-year college or university, enlisting in the military, getting apprenticeships, or employment right out of high school.

Conor: And our Superintendent Brian Lowney said it's that last one—employment—that he's thought a lot about.

Brian Lowney: Employed for me, I've had to kind of change my thinking on that. It's employed in a way where there's room to grow in the career that they're moving. So that they're not bottomed out in a way that they won't have a family earning wage. You have to see a future in what you're employed in because going straight to work has to mean you're on a path.

Doug: School Board Director Roseanna Camacho said that path can lead anywhere and she wants the world to be wide open with opportunities for each and every graduate.

Roseanna Camacho: Even though we come from a small town in Washington, that they can go anywhere in the country and anywhere in the world and be who they want to be. That there are opportunities that they're not afraid to go out and actually grasp those things and give it their best. Just knowing that no matter what it is that they decide to do, whether it is enlisting in the military, going out into the workforce and beginning that world, or going on to further education, you're not pigeonholed. You don't have to do it in a specific order and that it doesn't have to end with just one of those things. There are people who become policemen, then go to college and become lawyers, and then decide, you know, I'm going to be a business owner—that there's not a specific order and there's not any one that trumps the other and that you can do anything that you want to do and that they have the confidence not to be afraid to do so.

Doug: So now let's take a look at some data, and Matt Yarkosky, our Executive Director of Student Engagement and Safety, has a key piece from a recent study done about the very topic.

Matt Yarkosky: We looked at a 2023 study from Georgetown and they forecasted by 2031, so which is five years from now, which is our current seventh graders, they're the class of 2031, that 72% of jobs available will require some sort of post-secondary education. So whether it's college, a trade school, apprenticeship, some sort of post-secondary education.

Doug: Let's reiterate that number. 72% of jobs by 2031 will require some form of education after graduation. Now that can be military, college, university, vocational or trade school, or apprenticeship.

Conor: 2031. So that means we're talking about our seventh graders right now. They'll be in high school before we know it. So what responsibility does this put on us as a district?

Doug: That's a great question, and the board weighed in on it. Board President Marcus Young kicked that off.

Marcus Young: What I envision is that we have given our students so much confidence within themselves that if they had to go and work for three years, they are not intimidated to go back to school. My era coming up, if you didn't go to school right after high school, then you almost felt like there was no way to go back because you lost all of these skills, this book, the routine, all of that. And then you end up what, 5-10 years later going back and you're like, oh it wasn't that bad, right? So when I say that we have given them the confidence, it's if I gotta work and help out the family for five years and then I gotta go back to school, I know I can handle it because I had the routines down, I had the encouragement from my teachers and from the counselors and the understanding that the decision that I had to make coming out of high school was not one that ruined my life. And so we're so confident that I've given you everything. It's a toolbox and you don't have to use a butter knife when you need a flathead. You have that flathead in there. You might not know what you're going to use it for, but when it's time to use it, hey, I got something that'll work for that.

Conor: Absolutely love that butter knife analogy. Doug, I thought of you when he said that because I've seen your toolbox and it's a grocery bag filled with a hammer, maybe a half-eaten pretzel, a broken scissor half, flashlights, jelly beans—it's a mess.

Doug: It is, and the jelly beans I keep in the flashlight for safekeeping. Yes, I am a very mature adult, and maturity is actually a quality that Board Director John Manning is looking for us to instill in our grads.

John Manning: I'd like to be able to see that in addition to the confidence and the tools that we've given them some level of maturity to be able to fall back and say, okay my first goal is unattainable, I can't do that, so what else can I do? But you have to be able to fall back and adapt and be—have that maturity to know I haven't failed, it just isn't available at this time. And I'd like to have them see that, recognize it, and accept it.

Conor: So we've got maturity, tools, and confidence. What else we need?

Doug: Director Marcus Young had another one, and it's one that we've talked about here on the podcast before, especially when it comes to safety and security, and that is relationships. It's getting to know each and every student.

Marcus Young: Developing relationships with them early so that we can get them thinking about what next looks like. That it's not too early at seventh grade to be thinking about what next is.

Conor: Building those relationships is key, and Spanaway High School senior Autumn Humbert shared her views on why.

Autumn Humbert: Most of our students, they don't feel that sense of accomplishment because they don't have the relationship with either the higher-ups or the teachers or have that sense of knowledge that they can push forward or that they can do greater things. So that accountability on the higher-ups of people thinking of what to do next starts with that relationship.

Doug: So here's a sobering number. Our students who are enrolled in a two or four-year college the first year after graduating high school—the number is only 45% of our grads, and that is lower than the state average.

Conor: And that number is just enrolled in year one. It doesn't mean 45% are completing college and going on to well-paying jobs. And if that's 45%, that means we don't know what 55% of those kids are doing. Of course, there are some military enlistments and apprenticeships, but not 55% worth.

Doug: Good points, but let's remember there is nothing wrong with graduating and going to work.

Conor: Exactly, and Director Manning agreed with that point.

John Manning: I'm a trade school kind of person. I've been around the world a little bit and I've seen that and the United States is sadly lacking in that perspective. It is okay to get out of high school and go to work for Boeing or Toray Composites or any other place that you can find a job that you're happy. That is not a failure. There are people, I think everybody here would agree, who don't want to go or would not succeed in higher education. It's just not for them. And I think that's what we have to recognize and be able to offer paths and direction and support for those individuals.

Doug: Brian Lowney is passionate about this topic and he said even if a graduate doesn't see college in their future, that doesn't mean we don't need to push them in high school to try hard classes.

Brian Lowney: Every piece of data out there right now shows that the skills that it takes to be successful taking an academic course load are the same skills they're going to need in an apprenticeship to advance and become a journeyman. Are the same skills that kiddo at the shop at JBLM is going to need to go beyond private and work in the shop to become advanced in rank.

Doug: Now there's a lot of work going on in our high schools and our middle schools to push more on this, to get kids ready for great careers. Absolutely, and we're building student success skills and challenging them to increase their academic intensity and even using the high school and beyond plan for career exploration. And believe it or not, that begins in seventh grade and it can change with the student as their interest change over time.

Conor: That's awesome because we all know this isn't a one-size-fits-all type of deal. Now let's get back to Autumn, if you remember she's the senior from Spanaway High School. She spoke earlier about Running Start and she said Bethel really stands out when you look at other districts.

Autumn Humbert: For my cousins and my family, they live in the East Coast. They don't have the other opportunities that we have. I mention Running Start—what's that? I mention skill center—what's that? What do you mean you have this extra opportunity of going to college early? What's that, you know? So you guys especially listening to what we have to say and you guys making that change then our students are making more of those numbers and more of those rates come up than what we've seen probably since Bethel School District has even started.

Doug: I really love Autumn's perspective on this, and to wrap things up we're going to hear again from Director Roseanna Camacho. She kind of closed out the study session talking about what she saw as the critical piece in all of this.

Roseanna Camacho: Whenever I see interviews of adults being asked: what got you to where you are today? What was that spark? You always hear it go back to a teacher. Someone in third grade, kindergarten, high school that just really understood them, really connected with them on a different level that maybe no other adult person in their life had. And that they also have the tools and they have the support and they have everything that they need to make sure that we achieve the things that we want to as far as our vision is for our school district. And so I just wanted to circle back to that and thank our educators and everyone that is a part of this system.

Doug: Well, to echo Director Roseanna Camacho, thank you to our educators, thank you to our teachers, and thank you to our listeners. We'll be back next week with another great show.