From the Bangor Daily News:
More than a dozen local students are on their way to beginning a career in construction after completing a six-week program at Brewer High School this summer.
Brewer High School was one of seven Maine schools to offer a new Construction Academy program this summer in partnership with the Association of General Contractors based in Augusta.
Students first spent three weeks in the classroom learning everything from practical math skills they’ll need in a job site to how to build something from a blueprint, according to Kevin Napolillo, a Brewer High School teacher who coordinates the high school’s alternative education and career exploration programs.
The group then spent three weeks learning how to use equipment while visiting multiple job sites where companies were building bridges, completing electrical and plumbing work and even working on the new field hockey facility at the University of Maine.
The alternative education program was designed to capture the attention of students who are interested in entering the trade industry rather than enrolling in college after graduating high school. Offering an alternative to higher education also has benefits for students who don’t thrive in traditional education.
“We do a great job of getting kids ready for college, but we have some kids that don’t want to go to college,” Napolillo said. “If we can put programs in place that meet their needs and desires for what they want to do in the future, of course they’re going to come back.”
Fifteen students participated — 11 Brewer High School students, three Hermon High School juniors and one Bangor High School senior who graduated in June.
They ended the program with class credits and CPR, first aid, Occupational Safety and Health Administration and crane rigging certifications. Students also attended a hiring event in which various construction companies offered all 15 students apprenticeships registered with the Department of Labor.
“Some students were even offered multiple apprenticeships,” Napolillo said. “It was almost like a bidding war over these kids.”
Two seniors will start their one-year paid apprenticeships with highway builders Wyman and Simpson next week while remotely earning their final few high school credits they need to receive their diplomas, according to Napolillo. This means they’re on track to both graduate high school and complete their apprenticeships within the next year.
Alysaundra Stefanik, who graduated from Brewer High School over the summer, chose to participate in the program because she was interested in becoming a welder after high school.
“I thought it was an amazing idea because it’s a hands-on experience and you get paid to learn about the construction industry,” she said. “We don’t have to go to college, we can jump right into our career instead of sitting at home all summer or counting down the days until you start college. I would do it all over again if I could.”
The Association of General Contractors offered the academy with a grant and each student earned $1,700, and a pair of new work boots, for completing the program. Students received a $1,200 stipend from the Eastern Maine Development Corporation, plus a $500 check for earning a Maine Career Exploration Badge.
In addition to giving her a head start in her career, the program helped Stefanik earn the final few class credits that she needed to receive her high school diploma. She is one of several students who will begin a construction apprenticeship with Wyman and Simpson in the coming months. Participating in the program also helped Stefanik begin a new chapter of her.
The construction program took place in tandem with another six-week pilot program unique to Brewer High School — the Forestry Immersion Program — through which nine local high school students lived in the woods and learned how to use logging equipment while gaining class credits.
The alternative education programs also engage students who may struggle in a traditional classroom setting or are chronically absent or disengaged, a population that grew during the COVID-19 pandemic when students were forced into online and hybrid learning.
In the 2021-2022 academic year, 39 percent of Brewer High School students were absent from school at least 10 percent of the time, far exceeding the statewide average of 28 percent, according to state data. The school’s chronic absenteeism rate sat at 24 percent in the 2018-2019 school year, though district and statewide rates rested at about 16 percent.
It is part of a national trend. Last year, 72 percent of U.S. public schools reported an increase in chronic absenteeism among students following the COVID-19 pandemic compared with a typical school year before the pandemic, the National Center for Education Statistics said.
Napolillo said he watched the students mature and bond over the course of six weeks, and they treated the program like a job they were excited about rather than an education they were required to complete.
“They can earn a good living without accruing college debt or spending more time in an institution that they don’t want to be in,” he said. “This isn’t to say that traditional education is a bad thing, but for this group of students, it wasn’t hitting the mark. They started to realize this career is attainable; it’s not years down the road anymore – it’s close and they didn’t shy away from it.”
Napolillo said Brewer will offer the Construction Academy next summer with at least 15 spots for people ages 16 to 24.