New partnership bolsters high school career investigations

  • Published
  • By Howard Rixie
  • 354th Force Support Squadron
EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska --  Col. Michael Jordan, 354th Fighter Wing Vice Commander, Dr. Nancy Wagner, Superintendent, Fairbanks North Star Borough School District and Mario Gatto, Ben Eielson High School Principal, signed a one-year Memorandum of Understanding to launch a new joint venture supporting Ben Eielson High School students in their endeavors to find a career after high school.

The 354th Fighter Wing and Ben Eielson High School of the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District mutually recognized the remote and geographical separation of Eielson Air Force Base from the greater Fairbanks community and population base, and resulting in few educational amenities in contrast to those normally associated with other parts of the Fairbanks North Star Borough.

Specifically, they acknowledged the absence of opportunities for high school students to investigate career venues, as well as other opportunities to pursue and develop vocational knowledge, skills and experience. By signing this MOU they have jointly initiated a cooperative venture to establish a "Career Investigations Educational Program" and a "Pre-apprenticeship Program".

The Career Investigations Educational Program and the Pre-apprenticeship Program have been approved and formalized as a pilot program by the FNSB School District. The pilot program will début on Eielson Air Force Base during the Aug 2010 through May 2011 school year.

The Career Investigations Educational Program will provide high school students with an opportunity to explore career fields on Eielson AFB. Students who participate in the course will gain introductory knowledge in an occupation through an actual workplace setting. In partnership with Air Force personnel and associated contractors, this unique opportunity will validate a student's interest in a given career field, prior to enrolling in the Pre-apprenticeship Program.

Students who register for this course will enroll for a minimum of one 18-week grading period. During this period students will independently rotate between a pre-selected list of career fields employed on Eielson AFB; spending one hour per day, three times a week, up to four weeks in each location.

Principally, students will be familiarized with each chosen career field's mission, job safety requirements and core technical/process competencies through job shadowing. While completing this course, students will also receive preparatory instruction from BEHS and American Red Cross staffs. Over the course of two semesters a student may explore as many as eight career fields. In the end, students will have a stronger foundation for selecting a career field to pursue in greater detail.

For those students who wish to pursue their career explorations, they may enroll in the follow-on Pre-apprenticeship Program; an internship-like program on Eielson AFB. Students who participate in this course will gain knowledge, abilities and technical skills in an occupation in the working environment. Collaboratively, Eielson airmen and civilian personnel will use this unique opportunity to fulfill the void in Career Technical Education program offerings at Ben Eielson High School.

Students who register for this course will enroll for a minimum of one semester and become a Red Cross volunteer. During this course students will choose one career field from a list of 43 employed on Eielson AFB. They will be assigned to a specific Eielson AFB work center with a primary and alternate trainer/mentor; where they will be spending two hours per day, four days a week. This will allow the student to engage in learning activities such as career exploration, workplace safety training, job shadowing, job acquisition skills and service learning that will complement the worksite training experience.

Using the Air Force's dual channel on-the-job training approach, the student will independently complete qualification modules specific to their chosen specialty with teacher support and trainer/mentor supervision. This will allow the student to gain knowledge and concepts that are essential to the understanding and application of the technical skills related to the worksite training experience.

The Pre-Apprenticeship program is a work-based course designed to provide an extended educational experience for students who desire to learn technical skills in a specific occupation. Students will also be able to apply the knowledge they have acquired through qualification modules (Career Development Courses or Qualification Training Packets) that are linked with specific on-the-job training program objectives.

In partnership with Air Force and Alaska Air National Guard personnel and associated contractors, the students learn these skills in an actual work setting located at Eielson AFB. The student's worksite supervisor/mentor and classroom teacher are in close collaboration to assess the student's progress toward successful completion of the course objectives and mastery of technical skills.

The goal for students who complete the Pre-apprenticeship Program is to be certified in a specific occupation consistent with Air Force certification standards, and possess the knowledge, skills and abilities to become employed in the military, government or private industry setting or to continue with post-secondary educational opportunities.

BEHS will counsel, recruit and screen the student body for 10 candidate students to participate in the Career Investigations Educational Program and the Pre-apprenticeship Program. BEHS counselors match students to one or more of the career fields available for study, based upon maturity, academic means, and safety and security risk management factors.

Through the base school liaison officer, the 354th FW and 168th ARW will collaborate with the BEHS counselors to match their 10 candidate students with Eielson units and work centers. The success of these 10 students during the upcoming school year will ultimately determine whether this pilot program becomes a long term staple of the BEHS student body.