SHERWOOD, Ore. — Elizabeth Barrett is in the business of convincing parents.
For most parents and students, it’s convincing them a four-year college degree isn’t the only choice after high school. Instead, a trade school, certification program or job after graduation may be the answer.
“I think it’s what they know,” Barrett said. “I grew up with a dad who was the first one to go to college, and it wasn’t a choice for me to not go to college because in his world, his brothers and sisters didn’t go to college.
“It’s hard to convince somebody of a reality that isn’t their experience.”
For Barrett, pointing parents to the reality that there isn’t one “experience” is part of her job as the Sherwood High School career center director. It’s about building relationships with parents and students, one at a time, she said.
“It’s a big step for us to introduce and say there are the other routes that we can go, but we still have parents that are like, ‘No, you’re going this route. You’re going to college,'” Barrett said.
According to Sherwood High School records, 70% of students say they’re attending a two- to four-year college after graduation, while 15% say they’re joining the Armed Forces or plunging straight into the workforce.
Sherwood School District enrolled 4,659 students for the 2023-24 school year, according to school data. Enrollment has steadily increased over the past decade. Barrett said she remembered enrollment in 2005 as being around 750 to 800 students.
Economic effects of growth at Sherwood High School
Sherwood is a bedroom community, meaning a majority of the city’s population commutes out of town for work.
Roughly half of Knox County residents live and work within the county, according to a 2022 Knox Pages article.
Regardless of where one is employed, Sherwood housing prices are inflated compared to Knox County.
Sherwood High School principal Adam Mitchell recalled his neighbor’s house selling for $900,000 — an astronomical difference from Knox County starting home prices.
Sherwood’s home values are higher than Mount Vernon’s, according to listing prices from Realtor.com. Sherwood also has a stronger inclination toward homeownership, whereas 39% of Mount Vernon’s population are renters.
“A starter home is now $400,000 and you can’t buy a starter home in our community for less than $500-$600,000 easily,” Mitchell said. “It’s a challenge.”
According to Realtor.com data, the median price per square foot for home listings in Mount Vernon in 2024 was $160 per square foot. The Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro area recorded a median $305 per square foot.
Wage not computing with Sherwood housing prices
Mount Vernon’s home values are more varied than Sherwood’s, with more than half of Sherwood’s owner-occupied housing units valued between $500,000 – $749,999, according to a previous Knox Pages article.
Meanwhile, Mount Vernon’s are valued largely between $100,000 and $249,999.
Additionally, Sherwood has a higher average family size with an average of 3.35 persons in a household; Mount Vernon’s average family size is 2.87 people.
Mitchell said he knows of former students who are two or three years removed from high school making $100,000 as linemen electricians.
“I have a friend who works for a construction company and they’re paying electricians $300,000 to work,” Mitchell said.
Bridging the gap between low-paying college degrees and high-demand, high-paying technical career center opportunities for parents remains a challenge at Sherwood High School, Mitchell and Barrett said.
“They don’t believe that an electrician is making $300,000,” Mitchell said.
But progress is being made in amplifying those career fields, both said.
“Every year there seems to be more and more interest,” Barrett said.
The ‘exposure’ difference maker
Exposing kids to different career paths besides college has made a difference, Barrett said.
Part of her job is helping kids realize they don’t need to go into potential debt to have a successful life.
It allows students to meet professionals in their fields of interest, such as a subcontractor for chip manufacturer Intel.
“We’re changing the mindset of the word manufacturing,” she said.
The gap between employer and student
A hiccup Mitchell and Barrett are running into is bridging the gap between employers and students.
“I’m noticing a lot of times as we’re trying to build these partnerships with businesses, they kind of want the fast track on hiring,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell said the district wants to create a longer pathway for kids to engage with programs like welding, instead of employers simply requesting to hire the school’s top students.
“We need time to build up a workforce so we don’t have three great welding kids, we have 10 great welding kids, and that takes backward planning,” Mitchell said.
Knox County Career Navigator
Knox County WorkDev, a program to assist young adults and high school students entering the workforce, works with the county’s school districts and the career center to make these pathways accessible.
According to 2022 WorkDev data, 80 high school students had in-school job interviews. The same data shows 56 students attended a countywide healthcare career expo.
The Knox County Career Navigators position assists students in exploring career pathways in county high schools, working primarily with Sean McCutcheon, according to the WorkDev 2022 report.
McCutcheon meets with individual students, helping them navigate employment/career pathways.
According to the same data, McCutcheon scheduled and organized over 80 in-school job interviews for students and local companies in Spring 2022.
In Fall 2022, McCutcheon met with more than 175 students, eyeing interest in WorkDev programs, the healthcare expo, local internships, as well as exploring their career pathways.
Another program WorkDev offers students and adults is Knox ASPECT — a county manufacturers’ readiness program. The program guarantees job interviews with 11 county manufacturers for those who complete it.
- Spring 2022: 10 high school seniors completed the program.
- Fall 2022: Nine community members completed the program.
Manufacturing is one of Mount Vernon’s highest job suppliers, with roughly 15.28%, according to U.S. Census Bureau and ESRI Market reports; Sherwood’s is roughly 14%.
Knox County Career Center’s relationship with employers
Knox County Career Center has multiple partners throughout the community, either Kokosing Construction or nonprofit Habitat For Humanity. Those relationships have lasted for several years, career center director Elaine Robinson said.
“I believe that we have a respected mutualistic relationship,” Robinson said. “Our values align. They need a well-trained quality workforce and we need their generosity in expertise and materials.”
Kokosing Construction workforce coordinator Andy Fox said the company routinely goes to the career center to talk with instructors and students for interviews.
“We visit every couple of times a month,” Fox said.
Industry partners also support the career center’s programs by donating supplies and training, Robinson said. They also assist with students’ required industry credential hours before graduation, where the individuals gain their program experience on the field.
Robinson said each career tech program at the career center has an advisory board that they meet with a minimum of twice a year.
“We involve industry partners in a variety of activities such as mock interviews and career exploration days.”