medical field with that as an entry level position and not have to go into more colleges. They can just go straight to work.” To assist students in finding these opportunities, Anahuac ISD leverages strong community relationships.“We reach out to people that we know,” notes Duhon.“We’ve had former board members that worked for these different companies, and we could call them and say ‘We have a graduate that would like to do this job. Could you possibly help get them an interview?’” A local business owner and Anahuac graduate who operates East Side Honda in the Mont Belvieu area, is an example of this community collaboration.“He has specifically come to the high school and recruited kids who would like to pursue mechanics, because he would like to have them come in and intern there, and then eventually hire them,” she recounts. “They get on the job training there.” PATHWAYS TO SUCCESS Among Anahuac ISD’s most recognized programs is its welding pathway, which combines technical knowledge with hands-on application. Students enter with little or no experience and progress through the curriculum. “He will start them at the very basics. They can’t even go in the shop until they’ve made 100 on his safety test,” Duhon says. “When they graduate, they have had experience with all different types of welding. They’ve built farm trailers with hydraulics, water pumps, cooking trailers, they’ve had a wide variety.” Abshier adds that the welding program also opens doors to competitive opportunities. He says Mr. Lane, the teacher and sponsor of that part of the agricultural program, makes a point of bringing students to competitions where they have the chance to excel.“They do quite well.They’re in teams of four and they have a set amount of time to build a barbecue pit from scratch,” he explains. “We did quite well in that category, which is huge. We’ve heard people joke before that when they go out to a job site, say in a pipeline, that if there are 30 welders there, it seems like all of them are from Anahuac. We are really proud of our students’ ability 410 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 07, ISSUE 01
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