When he became Toledo Public Schools’ superintendent, Romules Durant set out on a path to reinvigorate career and vocational training in Toledo, and nearly eight years later, TPS has successfully established over 30 career technology programs system-wide.
Mr. Durant and TPS administrators call the programming Macomber 2020 — a rebirth of the Macomber brand, which references Macomber High School and its adjoining girls’ school Whitney High School.
The current success of Macomber 2020 does not come without an intricate history, as Mr. Durant’s vision to revive the Macomber brand has been a work in progress since 2014.
“When we say Macomber 2020, it’s saying (1) that industry is investing in it, (2) we’re not asking for taxpayers to pay any more, and (3) we’re taking education to the campuses of industry, where students will get internships that will increase their probability of employment all through a relationship built by coming to school,” Mr. Durant said.
Years following the close of what was casually referred to as Macomber-Whitney — the 1991 closing of which left Toledo without a centralized hub for vocational programming — Mr. Durant hoped to team with Penta Career Center and Cherry Street Mission Ministries to provide a multifaceted career-training program that this time would include college-level curriculum, adult education, and career-technical training all within a two-block radius.
Mr. Durant’s initial plan was to land the “new Macomber” program at the Jefferson Center at Jefferson Avenue and 14th Street. But five years later, the district opted to move in a different direction and, rather than fund a centralized location, spread the programming throughout the district’s 11 high schools.
Rather than spending what Mr. Durant once told The Blade would be $20 million worth of renovations to the Jefferson Center, TPS partnered with industries willing to invest in programming to train the next generation of skilled workers.
“It’s a win-win, and we get more people from the industries investing when we take this opportunity to their campuses,” Mr. Durant said. “...If high school is preparing kids for the industry then they need to be around the industry so they cultivate the culture of the industry as well as develop linkage to that specific industry’s approach.”
But Mr. Durant said there’s a disconnect in messaging, as he regularly receives community inquiries about when the old Macomber High School building will be renovated.
“You have people asking about Macomber and they don’t recognize that Macomber is already in existence, it’s just done in such a different way,” Mr. Durant said. “Every program you recognized at Macomber exists and not only exists but it exists at its own school. If you went to Macomber [high school] and said ‘Hey, I was a part of the aviation program, Dr. Durant,’ well, guess what? It has its own school at the airport.”
The district’s programs include the following 10 career paths, among several others:
- agriculture, food, and natural resources
- architecture and construction
- arts, audio-visual technology and communications
- business management and administration
- education and training
- finance
- health sciences
- human resources
- information technology
- law and public safety
For Waite High School senior Larry Mitchell, the district’s carpentry program has set on him a path post-high school.
“I don’t see it as a class, because I work on houses outside of school, so it’s all chance for me to learn more,” said Mr. Mitchell, 18, who expects to pursue an apprenticeship in carpentry after he graduates.
“I think it’s important because as a teen, you don’t know what you’re going to get into it growing up,” he said. “For the school to have this is opportunities for students to learn new things. Different schools have different programs and it gives us the opportunity to experience and gain skills before we start our lives.”
Shaun Enright, the Northwest Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council’s executive secretary, said career-technical education gives students an advantage when pursuing careers in the building trades.
“Any of the career-tech training gives students an upper hand in the acceptance and application process for all the building-trade unions because of the experience they learn in the classroom,” Mr. Enright said. “It’s enough to have a good understanding of what they’re getting into. A lot of our education for the building trades is paid for by our journeymen, so the journey people in the field pay so much per cents per hour in order to train the apprentices. Having someone already go through a skilled trades program in high school helps us know they’re interested.”
Students coming out of the TPS electrical program, he cited as an example, have basic knowledge of circuitry and of the hand tools used in that trade, “and most have already been on a job site.” That inspires confidence in the union apprenticeship programs and contractors that “we just know these people are going to take it seriously and invest the time and money into their careers,” Mr. Enright said.
The TPS trades programs, he noted, adopted the building-trades council’s Apprenticeship Readiness Program, so they’re learning from teachers “that are trained by our national building tradespeople.”
Apprenticeships range in length up to about five years, Mr. Enright said, and even at that entry-level stage, tradespeople are paid quite well — up to $20 per hour. Once they reach the journeyman stage, the work becomes even more financially rewarding.
“Without a college degree, most of our journey people will make $60,000 plus a year, with a great retirement. All of their pension benefits are paid into by contractors, all of their insurance is paid into by the contractor,” Mr. Enright said.
Denasia Stuart, 18, said carpentry has provided an alternative career path for her. Although Miss Stuart is pursuing post-secondary education at Eastern Michigan University, she said she has gained many practical professional skills through TPS’s programming.
“It’s a good program to get into because say I go to college and I’m not really interested in my program,” Miss Stuart said. “I know I can go into the carpentry union. It’s a good option to have because I don’t think college always has to be the way, trades are a good option.... Especially for women too, a lot of girls may think carpentry is a man’s job but women can do it too.”
Macomber2020 is a clear solution, Mr. Durant said, to economic revitalization in the greater Toledo area and region.
“This is the economic strategy that we’ve been using as a school district and have been echoing it out to the community,” the superintendent said. “We want to educate you here in order for you to work here, which will ultimately allow you to live here.… We are the solution to workforce development, we’re the solution to economic revitalization, we have the strategy and this is how we’re doing it.”
First Published March 20, 2021, 8:11 p.m.
