Daily Herald opinion: 60 hours can change a student’s future

Many high school seniors head off to college or the real world after graduation with little idea what they want to do with their lives.

Businesses are often complaining that they can’t find enough skilled workers to fill jobs.

The Alignment Collaborative for Education is working to change that in three suburban districts.

As Daily Herald reporter Rick West detailed Saturday, 150 high school students spent 60 hours last year working in paid internships to give them experience in a field they want to work in after graduation.

“The only way for students to be career-ready is to give them exposure to careers, and in 60 hours it’s amazing what the students see and do,” Nancy Coleman, executive director of the nonprofit, said. “We are moving kids away from just academics and immersing them in the business community. We really are changing lives.”

ACE is currently working with leaders and businesses from 11 suburbs and students from Elgin Area School District U-46, Community Unit District 300 and Central Unit District 301. St. Charles Unit District 303 is expected to join this year.

Not only are the internships paid, students also get academic credit.

Hampshire High School student Michelle Parker entered the program planning to become an engineer, but after going through an internship at Hoffer Plastics, she discovered that wasn’t exactly what she was looking for.

“I really wanted to be involved in creating things like these giant molds I saw there,” she said. “It was something that was really amazing to me, and I wanted to be directly involved in creating those. If I hadn’t done that, I wouldn’t have known what I really wanted to do.”

The nonprofit is adding a first responder this year and has students working with the Bartlett Police Department, Hanover Park Fire Department and Hanover Township Emergency Services.

This work is the kind of public-private partnership that can serve students and businesses well in all districts. Students get on-the-job experience and can leave high school with a plan for their future. Businesses get a chance to help build the workforce of the future. Maybe some of these students will return after graduation and work there.

Sometimes it only takes 60 hours to change a student’s life. Let’s make sure that more students are getting that chance.