MADISON, Wis. — The Madison School Board will soon vote on a proposed high school focused on building career pathways: Forward Academy.
The proposal lays out individual counseling, career exploration opportunities and apprenticeships, all with a goal to serve high school students looking to enter careers after graduation.
“If you don’t think you have a job at the end of the line, why would you study math? Why would you pay attention? Why would you hone up on your reading skills?” said John McKenzie, Forward Academy president.
McKenzie said gaps in traditional high schools tend to leave certain students behind.
“It’s not ability,” he said. “It goes back to motivation. I think we can reach young people and give them hope and opportunity.”
McKenzie and partner Michael Johnson with the Boys and Girls Club of Dane County are hoping to serve students in poverty, who often fall victim to generational cycles.
The partnership already produced one area hub–the McKenzie Regional Workforce Center in Fitchburg, which focuses on training for careers in the trades.
“There’s a lot of jobs available in this community, and we want to see young people tap into those jobs and then be prepared for the workforce,” said Johnson.
And with increasing focus in schools to be “college ready,” the Forward Academy is set to have a broader focus on all career paths, helping students prepare for a labor market that UW-Madison Associate Professor Laura Dresser said is filled with opportunity.
“What’s clear right now, and has been clear for a while is there’s lots of demand for workers,” said Dresser.
According to UW’s 2024 State of Working Wisconsin Report, that opportunity is at a record high, the number of Wisconsin jobs “shattering” previous peaks.
“You’d just be amazed at all of the careers that are in demand,” said McKenzie.
But with that opportunity in mind, the report said Black workers are twice as likely to be unemployed as white workers, highlighting an ongoing racial disparity in Wisconsin’s labor market.
The Forward Academy, according to the proposal, will serve 150 students of differing abilities in its first year.
“[It will set] them up into a career that fits with their skills and interests and then getting them in internships,” said McKenzie.
Eventually holding space to give a “head start” to 600 students.
COPYRIGHT 2024 BY CHANNEL 3000. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.