Not on the college path

For seniors throughout the county, their last year of high school is about preparing for the next step in their lives.

A majority of local students will head to two or four-year colleges after graduation in May. As of 2018, about 65 percent of high school graduates in Johnson County enrolled in a public or private college, according to the annual Indiana College Readiness report.

But not everyone has college in their future plans. Local programs offered though the schools help prepare students to go into the workforce.

Meet four Johnson County students jumping directly into their careers after graduation. They are challenging themselves and taking a less-popular pathway, one they feel is more suited for success.

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Years of experience

Keiganne Pavel, a senior at Whiteland Community High School, is following her mother’s example with her career after high school.

Pavel plans to be a certified dental assistant after she graduates. Her mother is the manager at a local pediatric dental office, where Pavel has already worked for four years as an assistant to a dental assistant.

“I kind of grew up around it,” she said.

After so much time spent in the field, Pavel already has extensive hands-on experience. She will be able to take the certified dental assistant exam right after she graduates.

Pavel currently takes dental career classes at Central Nine Career Center in Greenwood. She said she came into the program already knowing much of the material because of her job at the dental office.

“When we started learning here, I thought, ‘Oh, well, I already know that,’” Pavel said.

She will graduate high school this year with a radiology certification, meaning she can go right into work and take x-rays, she said. From there, she will continue working at the pediatric dentist office with her mom. While working, she will take online and weekend classes through an eight-week program at the Indiana University School of Dentistry to become a certified dental assistant.

Designs on the future

Greenwood High School senior Xavier Koehl struggled in school since he was young, but he found a passion for design.

Koehl takes visual communications classes at Central Nine Career Center. Through the program he is learning the software tools and machines used to make graphic designs.

He said the program is great at preparing him for a career as a graphic designer because the two instructors have more than 30 years of experience in the field.

“They do a really good job at making sure you have an established relationship with the work that it takes and what kind of jobs there are,” Koehl said.

Koehl has made posters, vinyl decals, t-shirts and more for friends and organizations such as Cub Scouts and Indiana Association for Adult and Continuing Education. He has also been presented with projects from other faculty at Central Nine, he said.

Koehl said he wants to work for a graphics firm, specifically doing designs for vinyl decals because that is what he enjoys best. He is also considering working in photography part-time, he said.

The experience he is gaining through his work during high school is something he feels he may not get in college, he said.

“I have experience in the work place with this stuff and be more likely to get a job than some kid who just got out of college and doesn’t have any experience,” Koehl said.

Classes complement hand-on culinary experience

Levi Rhyne doesn’t know exactly what he wants to do after high school. But the Center Grove High School senior does know he wants to cook.

Rhyne is a culinary student at Central Nine Career Center. The program features opportunities to learn different jobs within a restaurant kitchen, from management to cooking.

“This is one of those careers fields that is versatile enough, where even if I don’t get a job in it, it will still help me because everyone needs to know how to cook,” he said.

From a young age, Rhyne has always been interested in the culinary arts, he said.

“Ever since I was super young, I cooked. So, I’ve really enjoyed it and I like food, so it worked well for me,” he said.

Rhyne also works as a kitchen manager for Greek’s Pizzeria in Greenwood, where he is gaining more versatile experience working with older professionals there and students his age at school, he said.

That, combined with the program at Central Nine, has made for a well-rounded learning experience to prepare for a job, he said.

“It’s kind of cool that you can completely mess up, and you’re not going to get fired,” Rhyne said. “It’s a learning experience all around.”

Communication skills just as crucial

Lutheran High School senior Jackson Davis said college is not for him because he prefers working hands-on and gaining real-world experience.

Davis is interested in cars, he said. He attends Central Nine Career Center for auto collision repair, where he is learning techniques about working specifically on the body of the car.

“Not really the mechanic part of it, but I’m interested in the body part,” Davis said. “Like if it’s a wrecked car, restoring it, painting it and making it look good again.”

At Central Nine, he is learning real skills he can use in the workforce, he said. Not only is Davis learning the tools he needs to use to fix cars, he’s also learning how to communicate with people, whether those people are coworkers or customers, he said.

Davis said working in his career field is something he would rather do than sit in class.

“I like having a hands-on experience and I like seeing the product of my labor and actually doing it myself rather than sitting in an office somewhere,” he said.