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High school students have not always been informed of some career-oriented paths following graduation. But the Associated General Contractors’ Oregon-Columbia chapter is trying to change that via its Educator Externship program. A select group of high school teachers are being trained in how to establish connections with the building trades and inform their students.

鈥淚t’s about getting kids to know and understand more about these career opportunities,鈥� said Mario Garza, a college and career counselor at Woodburn High School. 鈥淏ut a lot of that is unpacking things they’ve been hearing all their lives about college, college, college. We have some work there to do, and one of the next steps we’re working on is trying to bring a career expo to our campus in the spring to get all our students exposure to these things.鈥�

Garza also led a group of students on a recent field trip to Salem, where they visited the Independent Electrical Contractors of Oregon and Chemeketa Community College to check out the apprenticeship opportunities that could be waiting for them when they graduate.

鈥淚t went really well for the kids,鈥� Garza said. 鈥淚 would have liked to have seen more kids go, but that’s one thing we’re still working on.鈥�

Last summer’s Educator Externship was the third held by AGC. Each year, the head count of teachers taking part has increased significantly, said Frosti Adams, workforce and professional development manager for the Oregon-Columbia chapter.

From 10 participants in 2016 to 27 in 2017, the program jumped to 68 in 2018. They spent time with general contractors at job sites in the Portland area, and learned about the back office and business side of construction. Adams and the Oregon-Columbia chapter were honored last year by the AGC of America with second prize in its annual Innovation Awards for their work in growing the Educator Externship.

鈥淎t this point we’re just consulting with other regional chapters,鈥� Adams said. 鈥淚t’s definitely something we could scale up on a national scale, but there are, I wouldn’t say barriers, but inhibitors on funding is an issue. Every school district even in Oregon has a different funding model for participants, so funding is something that would have to be on the national level; the logistics of it are pretty intense, even the Portland-metro area.鈥�

In 2019, however, the Educator Externship will expand into the Northwest Regional Education Service District covering Clatsop, Columbia, Tillamook and western Washington counties. In addition, the High Desert Education Service District, which covers schools from The Dalles to Klamath Falls, also will take part. AGC is even in talks with the ESD covering Vancouver, Washington to bring the program across the Columbia River.

Administrators in the Woodburn School District are largely supportive of expanding CTE instruction, Garza said, but doing so takes time, planning and funding. The district, he added, has been meeting with local contractors and manufacturing firms to try and create new partnerships for reaching students. And a new CTE administrator has been hired by the district to oversee an expansion of programs related to construction and manufacturing.

鈥淲e seem to be on the same page,鈥� Garza said. 鈥淚 think we’re moving in the right direction. We do have a class approved for next fall; there seems to be some momentum and thinking in the same way across the campus and district, so I’m excited. We’re on the right path and moving ahead.鈥�