VOORHEESVILLE — A pilot program centered around “work-based learning” will launch in September at Clayton A. Bouton High School. The program will allow seniors at the high school to take either paid jobs or unpaid internships to earn course credits at school.

Previous years have seen administrators concerned over the number of seniors who leave school early or arrive late due to a lack of classes. Superintendent Brian Hunt says the school is no longer allowing late arrivals or early dismissals.

“We’ve been trying to get away from late arrival-early dismissal options for upperclassmen,” says Jeanne Young, a seventh grade Social Studies teacher and coordinator for the high school’s work-based learning program. Young believes the program is a solution to this issue.

High school principal Laura Schmitz says students will now have a “purposeful early dismissal.”

Young currently oversees 10 senior students in the program. She says seniors have to take a certain number of elective credits in high school. The work-based learning program will act as an option for elective credit like an art or music class. One-hundred-and-fifty hours of work will equal half a credit, and students can take up to 600 hours over the course of a semester. However, the program will operate on a 10 week cycle so students can switch out for other career paths if desired.

Young says the program will work around a student’s schedule by using a block period where no classes are scheduled or even during non-school hours. She adds students will also meet to discuss their jobs every week and to review basic career skills. At a presentation by Young at the June 13 board of education meeting, it was noted that students would have to transport themselves to these jobs.

Young says efforts are coordinated among their program, the high school and middle school principals, and the guidance office to begin this program.

“It’s kind of been like a team effort.”

Young said Hunt came to her last fall with an idea to bring back the Career Exploration Internship Program. Hunt described how, in previous years, Voorheesville administered the program, which was dropped after its coordinator retired. However, while CEIP had specific requirements, work-based learning is more generalized. Hunt says that the coordinator for either program needs to have certain qualifications, which Young is now taking classes to qualify for.

The work-based learning program is another option besides programs offered through the Board of Cooperative Educational Service, but while BOCES programs often take up much of a student’s school day, a work-based learning program could take up only a fraction of a student’s day. Hunt says this program will let students see what they do or do not want to do for a career.

This summer Young will collaborate with students on what career paths they are interested in. Currently, there are no designated programs, but Young has been reaching out to potential employers, and some students already have places they work or volunteer at that they would like to continue with through the program. One student, for example, volunteers at Albany Medical Center and would like to continue there in order to explore a career in nursing or caregiving.

Another student, Cooper Smith, says he is interested in the field of finance and jobs such as stockbrokers or financial advisors. He hopes to work at a local business or bank that provides financial services.

“I'm interested in this program because it offers a unique ability for high school students to learn more about possible career interests and understand the possible field they might be going into after college,” Smith wrote in an email to The Enterprise.

Hunt says that although nothing has been confirmed, he has spoken to businesses about being part of the program. He says he has made contact with Atlas Copco, an industrial company based in Voorheesville, and Metweld, an industrial company with a site in Altamont.

Schmitz says that Hunt and Young have both worked well at establishing the program, which was in its early development before she was even hired as principal. Schmitz says Young is attentive to detail and is devoted to students, and the school is fortunate to have her as the coordinator.

“I’m actually thrilled that she has championed this cause,” Schmitz said, “It’s an invaluable experience.”

At the board of education meeting, Young listed future plans including creating an advisory board and expanding the program’s outreach from kindergarten up to 12th grade. Young says the program could eventually approach the middle or elementary school level by teaching communications and collaboration skills and “knowing who your community helpers are.”

Young used to teach at the high school, and says she often heard from students who were unsure about their career paths.

“The number of times you hear someone say ‘I don’t know what I want to be when I grow up, I don’t know what I want to major in college,” she says, “Here are your opportunities.”

Young adds that students will be able to learn more about a certain job before entering a college program or the workforce after graduation.

“I think that this is a fantastic idea,” she says.