Apprentice Plumber and High School Senior Leonard Ferguson Isn’t Afraid to Tackle the Dirty Jobs

As an eighth-grader, Leonard Ferguson signed up for the plumbing concentration at Baltimore County’s Western School of Technology and Environmental Science, but he wasn’t sold…

Can America Follow Nevada’s Lead in Giving Students Recession-Proof Job Skills?

Nevada was the fastest growing state for decades. Jobs were plentiful, housing affordable and taxes low. Tourists streamed to the entertainment capital of the United…

Embarc’s Imran Khan on Why College Isn’t the Holy Grail

Recently I sat down with Imran Khan, co-founder of Embarc, a nonprofit that partners with 18 Chicago Public Schools (CPS) high schools to provide three…

Aren’t Colleges Supposed to Help You Find a Good Job?

As parents, we focus so much energy on making sure our kids are prepared for college, because we believe this is the sure path for…

Should We Prepare Students for College and Career? I Don’t Think We Have a Choice.

Career and technical education (CTE) is undergoing a change across American schools. No longer does it resemble the vocational training programs of 10 or 15…

Believe It Or Not, Free College Comes With a Price

To much fanfare and press releases, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo recently announced his free college plan for families in the state earning less than…

I Went to a Good School, So Why Am I Terrible at Math?

Math is/was/always will be my worst subject. It doesn’t matter if it’s factorials (good God, what?), statistics (it looks easy but it’s not), or even…

The Last Thing I Wanted Was Another Standardized Test, But I’m Glad I Took This One Seriously

As a busy high school student with a demanding schedule, the last thing I wanted to add to my plate was yet another standardized test.…

I Go to a Catholic High School and It’s Changed My Life

After spending my elementary and middle school years in public schools, I stumbled upon a private school called Don Bosco Cristo Rey in Washington, D.C.,…

How the Community Is Coming Together to Support Our English Language-Learners

This is the first part of a two-part series about International High School at Langley Park, a school that is fostering community partnerships to help…