Texas produces
29 PErcEnt
of u.s. peTroleum and
coal producTs.
weeks, and some students get hired after the place students. It can be summer work or
crEatE a career
internship.” Students who choose to continue after graduation,” says Phillip Gilbreath,
coursework at STC after graduating from director of career and technical education for
POrtfOLiO
high school can continue at STC to earn an Garland Independent School District.
associate’s degree in precision manufacturing “In the afternoon, some students can go to
One valuable tool that can help you get
and a bachelor’s degree in applied technology work in an industry they’re studying. And
ready for college and beyond is a career
or engineering. in the second year, in the spring semester,
portfolio—a collection of items that
students can go straight to work in the
document your achievements both in
Early Employment machining industry.”
and out of school, assembled in one
Such arrangements are fairly common Gary Burgess, a machining teacher at Klein
convenient package.
in manufacturing. Dallas-area Garland Forest High School in Houston, says job
A career portfolio is not simply
High School, for example, has a popular prospects are also bright in his area. “There
a resume, although it can certainly
machining program that provides skilled are lots of opportunities for students when
include one. So what should go in a
employees for area industries. “We work they graduate. They can have a job by the
career portfolio? A variety of things,
with manufacturers in the community to spring semester of their senior year,” he says.
depending on your own personal
experiences. It could include transcripts
and grades; writing samples; letters
of recommendation from teachers,
S P o T L I G H T
mentors, or employers; awards you’ve
received; and items that document
other activities, such as internships and
job shadowing experiences.
MANufACtuRING MAStERy
“You need to be specific—dates, how
SkillsUSA and TSA Competitors Strut Their Stuff
many years, any awards, what they
meant, and who you received them
I
magine walking into a competition in an exhibition types of joints,” says victor
from,” says Grace Brauchle, who helps
hall packed with students and spectators. You’re ramirez, an el paso high school
students put their portfolios together
going to be given a drawing and some materials. teacher and a board member of
as the career center coordinator for
You’ll have to write a computer program, set up skillsusa Texas.
Lehman High School in Kyle.
a machine, and manufacture a shiny metal part. Tsa competitions focus
Brauchle says portfolios come in
You’re not just competing for a trophy, either; your on technical events such as
handy when students apply for jobs or
performance might lead to a scholarship or a full- computer-aided design (cad), and
admission to college. “First impressions
time job. electronic research and experimentation. In the
are a very big thing,” she says, “and
That’s what it’s like at the skillsusa manufacturing prototype event, students design
you want to be the one whose papers
and Technology student association (Tsa) regional, and manufacture a product prototype and describe
get passed around the office. You want
state, and national competitions held every year. how the product would be mass produced in a
to be the one where the admissions
about 16,000 Texas students belong to skillsusa state-of-the-art american plant.
counselors say, ‘Wow, look at this one!’”
and 9,000 belong to Texas Technology students competitions in cad are among the most
And a portfolio doesn’t have to be
association, learning the leadership, employability, popular, says Tsa state coordinator curtis green.
simply a collection of papers. Artists
and workplace skills it takes to succeed. “students are given an engineering or architectural
and photographers use their portfolios
skillsusa members compete in more than problem and asked to solve it by the end of the
to provide visual examples of their
75 different events in a wide variety of skills, but time period.”
work, and so can you. Do you have
students interested in manufacturing have an competitors at the skillsusa national finals play
photos of someone giving you an
invaluable opportunity to develop the technical for big stakes, says ramirez. “some of the bigger
award? Put them in. How about a video
skills they need to reach their career goals. technical schools in the country give out a lot of
of a performance? Include it on a DVD.
competitions include events in computer numerical scholarships,” he says. “one of my students came
Do you have experience in Web design?
control (cnc), welding, milling, and turning. in third place, and a company offered him a job as
Make an online portfolio to showcase
“for welding, they might give students a an apprentice immediately, and to put him through
what you can do.
blueprint and they would have to weld various school for free.”
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