Superintendent address to high school graduates

[Eagle]

Everybody thinks their way is the best way. Guys like this superintendent and the teachers that work under him all spent a bunch of time and money on their college careers, so they think it is the only way to go and that you are some lesser form of human if you choose to work with your hands and maybe get dirty in the course of earning your days wages.

The American education system has vilified hands on work for several decades now. They've led kids to believe if you don't attend college you are a loser and won't be successful. Well guess what ..... this preaching worked to some extent and drove kids away from hands on trades and hands on work. There is a huge shortage of skilled trades people in America. The average electrician or plumber (or about any skilled trade) is now +/- 55-60 years old and there aren't yet enough young folks in the ranks to fill the void when these guys retire.

The end result is that good companies are hiring, training and paying new tradespeople very well, and the wages and benefits have never been better. Many of these tradespeople will quickly surpass the income levels that the teachers who condemned these jobs are making.

This superintendent is exactly the kind of guy Mike Rowe needs to smack in the mouth. Some school corporations are starting to get it and developing very good trades programs in their high schools. While this world certainly needs it's share of highly educated people, we need a whole lot more good old fashioned working people.

Speaking of Mike Rowe I heard an interview with him recently with reason.tv

This was pretty interesting:



As opposed to the original picture in 1979:



In the interview Mike Rowe gave an example where welders are in high demand and can pretty much make whatever they want. Mainly because kids don't want those kind of jobs like plumbers, electricians, etc.

Be interesting to see if there's a major shift back to trades in the next couple decades.

[Gailete]

Perhaps there will when people find that they don't have money to eat!

[rob62521]

In the book the Millionaire Next Door a surprising number of the millionaires were blue collar workers. Their wives also clipped coupons.

No kidding! They lived below their means...imagine that!

[disneysteve]

SBe interesting to see if there's a major shift back to trades in the next couple decades.

There has to be. We need people to do those jobs. You can't outsource your broken toilet to China. You need a plumber to show up at any hour and fix it. A factory in Bangladesh can't put a new roof on your house. A factory in Mexico might manufacture kitchen cabinets but you need an actual human onsite to design, measure, and install them.

[NicolasR]

valedictorian +500 !!! Great kid able to express what he thinks.
However, as someone here has already mentioned, probably the Superintendent really spoke about his life regrets, maybe he just expressed what he'd wish to his own kids?