La. Educators Turn To Trades To Cut Dropout Rate

DOUG SIMPSON

WEST MONROE, La. (AP) — Beginning next year, a lot of Louisiana high school classrooms could look like Wes Sebren's: equipped with welding gear, safety goggles and circular saws.

Sebren, a teacher at West Ouachita High School near West Monroe, is at the forefront of public schools' response to a 2009 law passed by the Legislature that encourages teaching skills that students will need in the work force.

The law created a "career diploma" that — in an effort to reduce the dropout rate — will go to students who opt for lower academic standards in math and English, while taking classes such as welding, woodworking and small engine repair.

Sebren has been teaching such classes in rural Louisiana for more than a decade.

"I try to teach them to have pride in their work," Sebren said. "The finished product needs to be something they're proud of."

Roughly a third of the state's high school students drop out or otherwise don't graduate. That figure is down since 1996, when 46 percent didn't graduate.