Many schools have college and career fairs like the one coming up at Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School Feb. 24. But not many boast the kind of working relationships with area employers the school maintains year-round through a focus on preparing students for the workforce.
Skills USA Championship Region 1 first place masonry winner, Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School student DJ Farmer, left, and his instructor, LFO High School construction teacher Mike Mayfield, stand beside a Mud Hog gas-powered mortar mixer. The students at LFO use the mixer to create mortar to stack bricks with in class.“There’s a lack of skilled workers in the United States,” said LFO High School Career Technical Education Supervisor Wayne Weaver. “We have more technology in career-technical [classes] than the average classroom. We want businesses to partner with us and guarantee students jobs.”
Advanced Foot Care’s Dr. Ira Kraus said he has been working closely with the school for five years.
“We were approached to start a work-study program for students interested in the medical field,” said Kraus, a Ringgold resident. “It’s a free work-study program. We hire them on for a 30-day internship to make sure they enjoy it. We pay the students. We’ve done it for a few years and it worked out great.”
He has hired five students in the past five years who stayed on while enrolled in college as an employee, working as a receptionist.