February 1, 2024 • 18 mins
Join Affton School District Superintendent Dr. Travis Bracht for an insightful episode of the Affton Unplugged Podcast, where he sits down with Dr. Jake Lohse, the Principal of South Technical High School. They discuss South Techs unique approach towards education, emphasizing real-world skills and student passion, with first-hand accounts from three Affton High School Seniors who describe their learning experiences.
Students from different programs, ranging from HVAC to Auto Body Repair to Early Childhood Education, reveal their in-depth academic journey. Witness how education goes beyond traditional classroom learning, inspiring students like Ben, Kayleigh, and Zoey, who share their projects, passions, and plans for the future.
Experience the passion and commitment from Dr. Lohse as he credits the school's success to the dedicated staff and Special School District organization, as well as the school's deep-rooted bond with the St. Louis workforce. The students share tips and advice for potential South Tech students, emphasizing how the school successfully augments education with practical real-world applications. This fittingly encapsulates the essence of South Tech's mission – to provide students with real-world experiences, real-world skills, and engaging, hands-on learning to prepare them for college and careers.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Music.
(00:20):
Welcome to Afton Unplugged, a podcast by the Afton School District that highlights
the people and stories that make the district great.
I'm your host, Superintendent Travis Brock, and in the Afton School District,
education is the most important thing we do.
Music.
(00:45):
All right thanks for joining us for this episode of the afton unplugged podcast
and today's topic is south technical high school or a lot of people refer to
it as south tech and we have some seniors from afton high school that are going
to introduce themselves talk a a little bit about the programs they're involved with.
And then we also have the principal, Dr.
(01:07):
Jake Losey. And so he's going to talk a little bit about the program as well.
So guys, thanks for joining me. Thank you.
And we're going to go ahead and do some introductions. So Dr.
Losey, tell us a little bit about yourself.
Yeah, thank you. And thanks for being here today. It's always nice to get South
Tech on the radar for some folks. Definitely.
I'm Jake Losey. I've been been the principal of South Tech for the last 10 years.
(01:30):
I've worked for special school district for 13 years. And prior to that,
I was an industrial technology instructor at Ladue High School.
Little thing about me is I've been very fortunate to be within CTE for a very long time now.
And I'm just so grateful for the amazing staff that we have,
the awesome organization of special school district, and to be able to share
(01:51):
kids with so many different school districts to do CTE.
It's Right. Well, let's meet some of our students. Who wants to go first?
Tell us a little bit about yourself, what grade you're in, what program you're involved with.
Maybe are you involved with things outside of South Tech? And then ultimately,
what do you think you're going to do after graduation?
(02:11):
Yeah, I'll go first. I'm Ben Long, a senior, obviously.
I'm involved in HVAC. And the thing I love most about HVAC is like the amount
of variety that you get with the program.
Program so you're constantly doing electrical work and then you kind of move on into you know,
sheet metal which is kind of what we're working on right now and like I said
(02:34):
I'm only like halfway through the year so I haven't really gotten through everything
but I absolutely love this program,
my plans after graduation is to go straight into the workforce so I can get
the moolah the money I love I love working.
So, yeah, I mean, that's OK.
OK. Yeah. We're going to hear a little bit more about some things you've worked
(02:57):
on. But let's go ahead and meet our other two guests.
Hi, Kaylee Rogers. I'm in the auto body program and I'm also a senior.
And my plans for after graduation are I'm going to state tech in the fall out
in Lynn, Missouri in auto collision.
So I'm going to be in the same program there that I'm in now.
(03:20):
And after that, planning on going to straight to the workforce.
That's good. And how about you? Hi, my name is Zoe Bell. I'm a senior at Apton High School.
At South Tech, I do early childhood hands-on experience with working with preschoolers.
Outside of tech, I have two jobs while also being a part of two clubs at CCLA Skills USA.
(03:44):
After high school, I plan over the summer. I plan to go to Forest Park and get
my general ed and slowly work my way into their early childhood.
All right. Well, thanks for those introductions. And now let's hear a little
bit more specifically kind of about the maybe some program details. And so, Dr.
Losey, I know you talked a little bit about South Tech and how it's organized,
(04:07):
but what is kind of that elevator pitch or what should our listeners know about South Tech? Right.
So South Tech means a lot of different things to a lot of different people,
but I would say it's the convergence of student passion with real world skills.
All of our programs are rooted within the St. Louis workforce.
We have the opportunity, our students have the opportunity to come here, perform,
(04:28):
meet other students with the same passions and similar interests,
and really pave the way to a successful post-secondary opportunity,
such as college, trade, technical schools, or even if they want to go straight to work.
So we offer roughly 22 different programs.
We partner with, I believe, 18 different high schools for students to come,
take a technical skill program and move on from there. We're really excited about what we can offer.
(04:53):
And so that definitely kind of unique that this is a partnership among lots
of districts, lots of high schools.
I know that's not how every every program is organized. So there's a lot of
unique aspects that make this come together and work.
So although we're here talking with Afton High School students,
there's a lot of other high schools represented here.
(05:15):
All right. Well, tell us a little bit about the specific programs that you're
involved with. I know you mentioned that real briefly, but maybe what are some
examples of things you have worked on so far this year that you think our listeners
would enjoy hearing about?
So, yeah, like I said, I'm an HVAC.
And what we did junior year was we did specifically in the construction program.
(05:39):
We did we took four different classes. I can't remember how many choices there
were overall, but you took four different classes.
And originally when I was like
you know freshman sophomore I really wanted
to do carpentry like that's what I saw myself doing that's what I you know like
just really wanted to do and I did all these programs finding like new love
(06:02):
for things that I wouldn't would have never thought that I would have loved
like electrical like I never saw myself touching things that are considered are dangerous,
which, I mean, the safety here is completely, like, it's awesome,
like, literally nothing ever happens that's bad here. But...
Yeah. So one of the things I wanted to follow up on, you said you took a course
(06:25):
here your junior year. Is that right? Yeah.
And Dr. Los, you want to talk a little bit about that specific experience and
what's that like? Right.
So that's our construction innovations program where students get to select
four different topics to spend a quarter learning and understanding what those
are so that their senior year they can make an educated decision on which program
(06:48):
they want to focus their full senior year on.
So some examples of that would be HVAC, carpentry, general construction trades.
Floor laying, electrical trades.
And it just gives students the opportunity to try different techniques,
different skills, learn different instructors, and just see what they can master
and what they develop an interest in.
(07:10):
It really helps that educated decision the senior year really focus the students
on success once they're done. Yeah.
So thanks for bringing that up, Ben. Obviously HVAC is what you kind of,
kind of gravitated to her, right? Right. Yeah. Yeah. I love it. It's, it's awesome.
Some of the things we kind of worked on this year, we learned how to wire like
transformers and different things,
(07:31):
but we did it on a board instead of going straight to the furnace to actually
enjoy a lot more because you get a little bit better understanding of how things
actually work rather than just going straight to the actual item.
You're like more individually learning about them.
And now we're starting to to work on the furnaces. We did gap black iron threading, so like piping.
(07:52):
So, and yeah, so we've laid out the pipe to our furnace.
We are starting to do the sheet metal for like the, like the supply and everything.
And we're starting to also do the wiring for the high voltage stuff to the furnace
so that you can actually like be able to operate it. So yeah, it's pretty cool.
(08:13):
And Kaylee, you want to tell us a little bit more about the automotive
program that you're involved with what are some specifics that stick out
to you yeah so i'm in the auto body and collision repair
program so we do a lot of taking
dents out of vehicles and we fix scratches and pinholes in your paint we actually
do paint we learned how to mix paint in there which is awesome super super fun
(08:38):
to mix paint this year i actually learned how to mix this really really a really,
really pretty purple shimmery one.
And then I painted my fender with that, that I was working on.
And the fender that I painted this year, actually, I took the dents out of it
last year and figured out how to fill it and everything and straighten it back out.
And now I'm working on a bowling pin for the Icar bowling pin trophies.
(09:03):
And I'm turning mine into the piranha plant from Mario. All right.
And then were you involved your junior year?
Yeah, I was involved in this course last year as well. Okay.
All right. Zoic, tell us a little bit about your program.
I'm in early childhood where you get hands-on experience with working from ages two to five.
(09:24):
We have two different classrooms, which is roughly two to three and a half.
And then we have three and a half to five.
So they come in as little babies.
And do they come here on site? Do you get a chance to go to other early childhood
facilities? Talk to us a little bit about that.
We actually have a preschool on site. Last Friday, we went to St.
(09:50):
Louis Community College to view their Early Childhood Center.
My senior year, actually this week, I'm working on my lesson plan.
So I'm planning a whole week for the preschoolers, especially John-themed.
Today, they're making pizzas.
All right. Well, that's some good details. Also, Zoe, were you involved your junior year? I was.
(10:12):
You was. Okay. So all of you were this year, year two. And so that's that's very impressive.
I know that's a unique kind of aspect of the program.
Kids can get involved as their junior year.
All right. Anything special that has stuck out to you in your program?
So is there maybe a specific interaction with a business partner or a client
(10:33):
or anything that you've gotten a chance to do that really sticks out to you
guys as this this is has been a memorable moment or maybe something that that was really special?
For me, Ben, I would say overall, just getting to know so many different people
from so many different schools is like, like such a great opportunity.
(10:53):
Like, not only you putting yourself out there to like get different opportunities
from different people, but you're also like learning about new like other people too.
So like that's that's honestly, that's probably my favorite part about the school,
other than obviously like doing work and stuff and learning about what your
(11:14):
career is potentially going to look like.
Really just getting to know different people and the opportunities that come
from that is awesome. All right.
Kaylee, what would you say? What's been most memorable for you?
I actually have a few things. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. So the first thing,
I have learned how to MIG weld, which honestly, I think that's a really great
(11:38):
skill to know because now I can do basic repairs on my car.
Well, when I get one. Uh-huh. Yeah.
So that's been fun. And then I have met so many new people.
I actually met my best friend, Sabrina, here. She went here last year.
And I met my boyfriend here, who's in my program, actually. Okay.
(11:58):
Last year, while somebody was welding, we accidentally set a van on fire.
But everybody was totally on top of it, and we got it put out before the fire alarm even went off.
And we also got to repair and paint a fiberglass boat last year. So that was really nice.
(12:19):
And going back to me getting into state tech, I actually got to meet the leading
lady for state tech and Missouri Western University, Sally DeFani.
And she took my transcripts and my test scores and everything.
And she's the one that sent them out to the colleges. And I ended up getting
(12:41):
into State Tech and Missouri Western University.
So I get to decide this for where I'm going. Yeah. Always good to have options, right?
All right. Well, thanks for all that. That was really, really good.
Zoe, what about you? What's been memorable?
Definitely the people. I love how close we are with the teachers and the preschoolers.
(13:02):
It's really cute how they come up to me and call me Ms. Zoe.
Yeah, definitely people. Okay. So yeah, it sounds like you made a lot of good
connections with your instructors and then certainly other folks that maybe
you wouldn't have gotten a chance to know.
You don't go to high school with them, but you've got a chance to meet some
people from other high schools that have made some good connections. Dr.
(13:25):
Locey, what sticks out to you as maybe some of your favorite moments or favorite
things about South Tech? Yeah.
You know, just to echo what everyone else has said is the relationships and
the partnerships are really what makes South Tech work well.
All of our programs have advisors that come in and they speak with classes.
They might do demonstrations. They'll invite students out to their companies
(13:48):
or out to their businesses to just let the students see, like,
what's the potential pathway that they can develop.
Schools like Afton who bring in sometimes eighth, ninth, and tenth graders to come visit,
allowing our current students to show off for their own population is great
because it gets the notion rolling in students' heads about what's next after high school.
(14:10):
And, you know, it's those relationships that probably create the best stories for me as an example.
Twice a day, I have to go out and do parking lot duty while the students exit
and go back to their homeschools.
And one day I was standing at the bottom of a hill and I watched these two young
men come down the hill and they were clearly having an argument.
And I was very concerned about what was going to happen next because they were
(14:32):
very heated at each other.
And so as I watched them come down, I started to listen to what they were trying to say.
And they were two students from our welding program and they were arguing over
what size welding rod they should use for a particular metal.
And I was immediately relieved.
But it was just a great example of how the conversation that students have based
on their programs extend outside of the classroom, on the way to the parking
(14:56):
lot, at home, on the weekends when they're doing additional work, things like that.
And so you can't underscore how important relationships are in student learning
and how much the relationships really advance a student's desire to perform
in a program. Yeah, I think that's well said.
And hopefully that maybe goes without saying, these are all programs that you
(15:17):
chose to be involved with.
So you're interested, you're putting that investment in. And I think that's really important.
When kids choose to do something, they typically put a lot of effort into it.
And as you mentioned, it extends beyond the classroom because they're that interested
in it. And you guys get to still stay connected to your home high school, too.
(15:37):
So if there's things back there that you like to do, you can also take advantage of that as well.
With that, anything else that you guys think we need to cover?
Anything else? I know you guys are about ready to graduate here in a semester.
Any words of wisdom for people that might be thinking about South Tech or anything you can think of?
I would just like to say that, honestly, thinking about it the last year,
(16:01):
South Tech has probably been one of the greatest decisions I've ever made in
my life to actually go through with.
Because the amount I've learned here compared to what feels like at like a normal
school because I was always bored at school Like I'm just gonna be honest and
like here you're actually doing hands-on stuff with things that you know are
(16:22):
actually important like well,
I'm not saying that like regular school is important, but I'm just saying like,
Something that like you can actually put towards your future
and your career is just absolutely awesome awesome
like phenomenal yeah anything you guys
want to add kaylee zoe oh yeah definitely join
like definitely apply for south tech because whenever
(16:46):
i joined or applied i was really really really burnt out with school and i just
did not want to go anymore and i thought that this would be a really good change
of pace for me and i happen to be right and i really love attending and in South
Tech and the program that I'm in.
And I have a newfound love for working on cars.
(17:07):
Anything else you want to add, Zoe? Overall, it's just amazing people and the
experience you get in each program.
All right. Well, I think you guys said it best. I don't know that there's anything
more to say this episode, but I appreciate you guys joining me.
Definitely sounds like you found your pathway and you're well on your way to
being successful. And again, Dr.
(17:29):
Losey, everyone else, thanks for joining me. Thanks for being here. Soundstrike.
Music.
Thanks for listening to Afton Unplugged, a podcast by the Afton School District
(17:49):
that highlights the people and stories that make the district great.
In the Afton School District, education is the most important thing we do. We'll see you out there.
Music.
Music.
(00:20):
Welcome to Afton Unplugged, a podcast by the Afton School District that highlights
the people and stories that make the district great.
I'm your host, Superintendent Travis Brock, and in the Afton School District,
education is the most important thing we do.
Music.
(00:45):
All right thanks for joining us for this episode of the afton unplugged podcast
and today's topic is south technical high school or a lot of people refer to
it as south tech and we have some seniors from afton high school that are going
to introduce themselves talk a a little bit about the programs they're involved with.
And then we also have the principal, Dr.
(01:07):
Jake Losey. And so he's going to talk a little bit about the program as well.
So guys, thanks for joining me. Thank you.
And we're going to go ahead and do some introductions. So Dr.
Losey, tell us a little bit about yourself.
Yeah, thank you. And thanks for being here today. It's always nice to get South
Tech on the radar for some folks. Definitely.
I'm Jake Losey. I've been been the principal of South Tech for the last 10 years.
(01:30):
I've worked for special school district for 13 years. And prior to that,
I was an industrial technology instructor at Ladue High School.
Little thing about me is I've been very fortunate to be within CTE for a very long time now.
And I'm just so grateful for the amazing staff that we have,
the awesome organization of special school district, and to be able to share
(01:51):
kids with so many different school districts to do CTE.
It's Right. Well, let's meet some of our students. Who wants to go first?
Tell us a little bit about yourself, what grade you're in, what program you're involved with.
Maybe are you involved with things outside of South Tech? And then ultimately,
what do you think you're going to do after graduation?
(02:11):
Yeah, I'll go first. I'm Ben Long, a senior, obviously.
I'm involved in HVAC. And the thing I love most about HVAC is like the amount
of variety that you get with the program.
Program so you're constantly doing electrical work and then you kind of move on into you know,
sheet metal which is kind of what we're working on right now and like I said
(02:34):
I'm only like halfway through the year so I haven't really gotten through everything
but I absolutely love this program,
my plans after graduation is to go straight into the workforce so I can get
the moolah the money I love I love working.
So, yeah, I mean, that's OK.
OK. Yeah. We're going to hear a little bit more about some things you've worked
(02:57):
on. But let's go ahead and meet our other two guests.
Hi, Kaylee Rogers. I'm in the auto body program and I'm also a senior.
And my plans for after graduation are I'm going to state tech in the fall out
in Lynn, Missouri in auto collision.
So I'm going to be in the same program there that I'm in now.
(03:20):
And after that, planning on going to straight to the workforce.
That's good. And how about you? Hi, my name is Zoe Bell. I'm a senior at Apton High School.
At South Tech, I do early childhood hands-on experience with working with preschoolers.
Outside of tech, I have two jobs while also being a part of two clubs at CCLA Skills USA.
(03:44):
After high school, I plan over the summer. I plan to go to Forest Park and get
my general ed and slowly work my way into their early childhood.
All right. Well, thanks for those introductions. And now let's hear a little
bit more specifically kind of about the maybe some program details. And so, Dr.
Losey, I know you talked a little bit about South Tech and how it's organized,
(04:07):
but what is kind of that elevator pitch or what should our listeners know about South Tech? Right.
So South Tech means a lot of different things to a lot of different people,
but I would say it's the convergence of student passion with real world skills.
All of our programs are rooted within the St. Louis workforce.
We have the opportunity, our students have the opportunity to come here, perform,
(04:28):
meet other students with the same passions and similar interests,
and really pave the way to a successful post-secondary opportunity,
such as college, trade, technical schools, or even if they want to go straight to work.
So we offer roughly 22 different programs.
We partner with, I believe, 18 different high schools for students to come,
take a technical skill program and move on from there. We're really excited about what we can offer.
(04:53):
And so that definitely kind of unique that this is a partnership among lots
of districts, lots of high schools.
I know that's not how every every program is organized. So there's a lot of
unique aspects that make this come together and work.
So although we're here talking with Afton High School students,
there's a lot of other high schools represented here.
(05:15):
All right. Well, tell us a little bit about the specific programs that you're
involved with. I know you mentioned that real briefly, but maybe what are some
examples of things you have worked on so far this year that you think our listeners
would enjoy hearing about?
So, yeah, like I said, I'm an HVAC.
And what we did junior year was we did specifically in the construction program.
(05:39):
We did we took four different classes. I can't remember how many choices there
were overall, but you took four different classes.
And originally when I was like
you know freshman sophomore I really wanted
to do carpentry like that's what I saw myself doing that's what I you know like
just really wanted to do and I did all these programs finding like new love
(06:02):
for things that I wouldn't would have never thought that I would have loved
like electrical like I never saw myself touching things that are considered are dangerous,
which, I mean, the safety here is completely, like, it's awesome,
like, literally nothing ever happens that's bad here. But...
Yeah. So one of the things I wanted to follow up on, you said you took a course
(06:25):
here your junior year. Is that right? Yeah.
And Dr. Los, you want to talk a little bit about that specific experience and
what's that like? Right.
So that's our construction innovations program where students get to select
four different topics to spend a quarter learning and understanding what those
are so that their senior year they can make an educated decision on which program
(06:48):
they want to focus their full senior year on.
So some examples of that would be HVAC, carpentry, general construction trades.
Floor laying, electrical trades.
And it just gives students the opportunity to try different techniques,
different skills, learn different instructors, and just see what they can master
and what they develop an interest in.
(07:10):
It really helps that educated decision the senior year really focus the students
on success once they're done. Yeah.
So thanks for bringing that up, Ben. Obviously HVAC is what you kind of,
kind of gravitated to her, right? Right. Yeah. Yeah. I love it. It's, it's awesome.
Some of the things we kind of worked on this year, we learned how to wire like
transformers and different things,
(07:31):
but we did it on a board instead of going straight to the furnace to actually
enjoy a lot more because you get a little bit better understanding of how things
actually work rather than just going straight to the actual item.
You're like more individually learning about them.
And now we're starting to to work on the furnaces. We did gap black iron threading, so like piping.
(07:52):
So, and yeah, so we've laid out the pipe to our furnace.
We are starting to do the sheet metal for like the, like the supply and everything.
And we're starting to also do the wiring for the high voltage stuff to the furnace
so that you can actually like be able to operate it. So yeah, it's pretty cool.
(08:13):
And Kaylee, you want to tell us a little bit more about the automotive
program that you're involved with what are some specifics that stick out
to you yeah so i'm in the auto body and collision repair
program so we do a lot of taking
dents out of vehicles and we fix scratches and pinholes in your paint we actually
do paint we learned how to mix paint in there which is awesome super super fun
(08:38):
to mix paint this year i actually learned how to mix this really really a really,
really pretty purple shimmery one.
And then I painted my fender with that, that I was working on.
And the fender that I painted this year, actually, I took the dents out of it
last year and figured out how to fill it and everything and straighten it back out.
And now I'm working on a bowling pin for the Icar bowling pin trophies.
(09:03):
And I'm turning mine into the piranha plant from Mario. All right.
And then were you involved your junior year?
Yeah, I was involved in this course last year as well. Okay.
All right. Zoic, tell us a little bit about your program.
I'm in early childhood where you get hands-on experience with working from ages two to five.
(09:24):
We have two different classrooms, which is roughly two to three and a half.
And then we have three and a half to five.
So they come in as little babies.
And do they come here on site? Do you get a chance to go to other early childhood
facilities? Talk to us a little bit about that.
We actually have a preschool on site. Last Friday, we went to St.
(09:50):
Louis Community College to view their Early Childhood Center.
My senior year, actually this week, I'm working on my lesson plan.
So I'm planning a whole week for the preschoolers, especially John-themed.
Today, they're making pizzas.
All right. Well, that's some good details. Also, Zoe, were you involved your junior year? I was.
(10:12):
You was. Okay. So all of you were this year, year two. And so that's that's very impressive.
I know that's a unique kind of aspect of the program.
Kids can get involved as their junior year.
All right. Anything special that has stuck out to you in your program?
So is there maybe a specific interaction with a business partner or a client
(10:33):
or anything that you've gotten a chance to do that really sticks out to you
guys as this this is has been a memorable moment or maybe something that that was really special?
For me, Ben, I would say overall, just getting to know so many different people
from so many different schools is like, like such a great opportunity.
(10:53):
Like, not only you putting yourself out there to like get different opportunities
from different people, but you're also like learning about new like other people too.
So like that's that's honestly, that's probably my favorite part about the school,
other than obviously like doing work and stuff and learning about what your
(11:14):
career is potentially going to look like.
Really just getting to know different people and the opportunities that come
from that is awesome. All right.
Kaylee, what would you say? What's been most memorable for you?
I actually have a few things. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. So the first thing,
I have learned how to MIG weld, which honestly, I think that's a really great
(11:38):
skill to know because now I can do basic repairs on my car.
Well, when I get one. Uh-huh. Yeah.
So that's been fun. And then I have met so many new people.
I actually met my best friend, Sabrina, here. She went here last year.
And I met my boyfriend here, who's in my program, actually. Okay.
(11:58):
Last year, while somebody was welding, we accidentally set a van on fire.
But everybody was totally on top of it, and we got it put out before the fire alarm even went off.
And we also got to repair and paint a fiberglass boat last year. So that was really nice.
(12:19):
And going back to me getting into state tech, I actually got to meet the leading
lady for state tech and Missouri Western University, Sally DeFani.
And she took my transcripts and my test scores and everything.
And she's the one that sent them out to the colleges. And I ended up getting
(12:41):
into State Tech and Missouri Western University.
So I get to decide this for where I'm going. Yeah. Always good to have options, right?
All right. Well, thanks for all that. That was really, really good.
Zoe, what about you? What's been memorable?
Definitely the people. I love how close we are with the teachers and the preschoolers.
(13:02):
It's really cute how they come up to me and call me Ms. Zoe.
Yeah, definitely people. Okay. So yeah, it sounds like you made a lot of good
connections with your instructors and then certainly other folks that maybe
you wouldn't have gotten a chance to know.
You don't go to high school with them, but you've got a chance to meet some
people from other high schools that have made some good connections. Dr.
(13:25):
Locey, what sticks out to you as maybe some of your favorite moments or favorite
things about South Tech? Yeah.
You know, just to echo what everyone else has said is the relationships and
the partnerships are really what makes South Tech work well.
All of our programs have advisors that come in and they speak with classes.
They might do demonstrations. They'll invite students out to their companies
(13:48):
or out to their businesses to just let the students see, like,
what's the potential pathway that they can develop.
Schools like Afton who bring in sometimes eighth, ninth, and tenth graders to come visit,
allowing our current students to show off for their own population is great
because it gets the notion rolling in students' heads about what's next after high school.
(14:10):
And, you know, it's those relationships that probably create the best stories for me as an example.
Twice a day, I have to go out and do parking lot duty while the students exit
and go back to their homeschools.
And one day I was standing at the bottom of a hill and I watched these two young
men come down the hill and they were clearly having an argument.
And I was very concerned about what was going to happen next because they were
(14:32):
very heated at each other.
And so as I watched them come down, I started to listen to what they were trying to say.
And they were two students from our welding program and they were arguing over
what size welding rod they should use for a particular metal.
And I was immediately relieved.
But it was just a great example of how the conversation that students have based
on their programs extend outside of the classroom, on the way to the parking
(14:56):
lot, at home, on the weekends when they're doing additional work, things like that.
And so you can't underscore how important relationships are in student learning
and how much the relationships really advance a student's desire to perform
in a program. Yeah, I think that's well said.
And hopefully that maybe goes without saying, these are all programs that you
(15:17):
chose to be involved with.
So you're interested, you're putting that investment in. And I think that's really important.
When kids choose to do something, they typically put a lot of effort into it.
And as you mentioned, it extends beyond the classroom because they're that interested
in it. And you guys get to still stay connected to your home high school, too.
(15:37):
So if there's things back there that you like to do, you can also take advantage of that as well.
With that, anything else that you guys think we need to cover?
Anything else? I know you guys are about ready to graduate here in a semester.
Any words of wisdom for people that might be thinking about South Tech or anything you can think of?
I would just like to say that, honestly, thinking about it the last year,
(16:01):
South Tech has probably been one of the greatest decisions I've ever made in
my life to actually go through with.
Because the amount I've learned here compared to what feels like at like a normal
school because I was always bored at school Like I'm just gonna be honest and
like here you're actually doing hands-on stuff with things that you know are
(16:22):
actually important like well,
I'm not saying that like regular school is important, but I'm just saying like,
Something that like you can actually put towards your future
and your career is just absolutely awesome awesome
like phenomenal yeah anything you guys
want to add kaylee zoe oh yeah definitely join
like definitely apply for south tech because whenever
(16:46):
i joined or applied i was really really really burnt out with school and i just
did not want to go anymore and i thought that this would be a really good change
of pace for me and i happen to be right and i really love attending and in South
Tech and the program that I'm in.
And I have a newfound love for working on cars.
(17:07):
Anything else you want to add, Zoe? Overall, it's just amazing people and the
experience you get in each program.
All right. Well, I think you guys said it best. I don't know that there's anything
more to say this episode, but I appreciate you guys joining me.
Definitely sounds like you found your pathway and you're well on your way to
being successful. And again, Dr.
(17:29):
Losey, everyone else, thanks for joining me. Thanks for being here. Soundstrike.
Music.
Thanks for listening to Afton Unplugged, a podcast by the Afton School District
(17:49):
that highlights the people and stories that make the district great.
In the Afton School District, education is the most important thing we do. We'll see you out there.
Music.
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