Some High School Grads Choose Non-College Training

A lot of high school graduates may be enrolling in a four-year university this fall, but just as many have plans that don’t include college, at least for now.

Some go into the military. Some travel. Others go to work for a year or two to earn college money.

Teachers and counselors stress the importance of continuing education after high school because today’s economy almost requires it.

Only about 15 percent of jobs require no additional training after high school, said Bob Adams, a counselor at Lewis and Clark High School.

“Those students who take advantage of continuing their education will open more opportunities,” he said.

But many students find their own way to accomplish that.

Shawna Sankari, daughter of Steve and Nancy Sankari, is joining the Marines. She leaves in November for basic training.

The LC grad said getting a college degree seems too easy, and she wants a bigger challenge, such as the Marines.

While serving, she said, she plans to study communications and learn about computers and satellite technology.

“It’s stuff you can use in the real world,” she said.

Chad Clement, son of Joel McCormick and Christine Cary, said, “College is so passe. Everybody is going to college.”

Clement, also from LC, is following a family tradition of military service, he said.

He plans to study nuclear propulsion and is eligible for a $10,000 enlistment bonus. The Navy is offering him the equivalent of a two-year degree in nuclear engineering for his six-year stint, he said.

There are other challenges facing this year’s grads.

Jan Hegewald, son of Denny Hegewald and Pam Crowell, said he’s going to pursue his dream of making the U.S. Ski Team.

He plans to move to Bend, Ore., and join the Mount Bachelor Ski Education Foundation, a training program for top racing prospects like Hegewald.

“I want to see where this goes,” the LC senior said.

Justin Becker is planning to work this summer with his father at a grain elevator in the Palouse to earn money for travel.

Son of Willard Becker and Sylvia Oliver, he wants to see England in September and Mexico in the winter. Eventually he will return to this country and enroll in college, the LC grad said.

Lauren Smatla, daughter of Kim Neumiller, said she’s going to get a job, probably in retail sales, so she can get enough money to pay for training at an art institute. The LC senior wants to be a fashion designer.

“I’m going to move out no matter what I do,” she said, expressing a desire for her independence now that she’s graduating.

At Medical Lake High School, counselor Greg Young said his surveys show that about 50 percent of his graduates attend a two or four-year college. Another 10 percent go into the military.

The remainder work or take time off, possibly to travel.

“We’ve got that other group that enters the world of work,” he said.

Counselors discourage students from taking entry-level jobs unless they have plans to further their educations later. After a couple years, students are less and less likely to go back to school, they said.

“We always recommend, if it’s not college, they get involved in some kind of technical training,” Young said.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo