Interest in trade schools is growing across the country, and a new one in Pennsylvania aims to fill the nationwide workforce shortage of auto and diesel technicians.

New Village Institute Blairsville's (NVI) inaugural cohort kicked off earlier this month in Indiana County on the former campus of transportation program WyoTech, which closed its Blairsville site in 2018.

Amy Mulligan, campus vice president, formerly worked at WyoTech Blairsville and recalls watching the student population grow from 30 to 1,500 in a few years. She expects the same for NVI, as an asset for the local economy.

"Bringing in students from other areas does also bring in revenue," Mulligan pointed out. "And we've seen it in the past, and I feel like it's going to be almost similar to where you're going to see a lot of those younger folks that want to be in this area because there is still opportunity."

Enrolled students will receive a fast-tracked six-month education to support the immediate need for technicians. There will be 228,000 diesel technician openings by 2025, according to data from the American Diesel Training Centers.

Enrollment in vocational schools has been on the rise over the last two decades, with enrollment numbers up to 16 million in 2014, compared with 9.6 million in 1996, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

Chris Barton, campus director for NVI, thinks the affordability of the schooling plus competitive wages are bringing people, both young and career-changers, into the trades.

"People are realizing that you can have a really good career for yourself and really start at an early age making good money that provides for yourself, your family and the rest of your life," Barton observed. "There are just really unlimited jobs, so you never have to worry about being out of work."

Diesel technicians made an average of $24 an hour in 2020, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Barton added new cohorts will start each quarter, the next class beginning in April.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.

Funding from the infrastructure measure Congress passed last year could benefit a struggling rural community in Oregon. Lawmakers in the state have requested part of the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act go toward modernizing the port at Coos Bay.

The region has seen a decline in timber harvest. Supporters argued a thriving port could bring jobs back, which also could benefit the local school system.

Teri Jones, a school librarian in Coos Bay, said kids growing up in Coos Bay typically have to move away after they graduate, but an upgraded port could change it.

"Whether they're going to school or another occupation, they're probably going to have to start out somewhere else, because there are no jobs here," Jones pointed out. "This is a really exciting opportunity."

Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers have asked the Biden administration to make funds available for the Coos Bay port. Earlier this month, the administration developed a plan to reduce red tape and accelerate federal permitting and environmental reviews for projects.

Valerie Eiselien, special education assistant in Coos Bay, said the region needs to be cautious with how it handles the port upgrade, so it does not disturb the sensitive and unique estuary in the area. The facility is designed to be the first ship-to-rail port facility on the West Coast to cut down on emissions from trucking.

Eiselien thinks it would be worth it if the economics ultimately benefit local families and their kids.

"Funding should always be based around them. They are our next generation, you know, that are going to run our companies and our businesses," Eiselien contended. "Let's educate them and show them that this is their future."

Jones believes kids in Coos Bay would benefit from a productive port for a simple reason.

"When we talk about school success, we tend to look at test scores and attendance," Jones noted. "I've always maintained, personally, that regardless of the programs and curriculum you implement, if you raise the socioeconomic threshold of a community, you will raise test scores."

Supporters of the port also said it would help with supply-chain issues on the West Coast. The upgrade could make the facility one of the busiest in the country.

New York City students in insecure housing situations continue to have alarmingly low school attendance rates, heightened by the pandemic. Youth advocates say city officials should direct federal relief dollars to better support these students.

Last October, students living in shelters had an overall attendance rate of about 79%, almost 11 percentage points lower than students with permanent housing.

Jennifer Pringle, project director at Advocates for Children of New York, said it is disrupting the lifeline education can be for young people.

"If you want to break the cycle of homelessness, we have to make sure that our young people right now who are experiencing homelessness get an education," Pringle contended. "Because students who don't have a high school diploma are four-and-a-half times more likely to experience homelessness as an adult."

The October numbers reflect a return to full-time, in-person instruction for New York City students. According to previous data, students in shelters had an attendance rate of 77%, the lowest of any student group, during the first six months of 2021, when schools were mostly remote.

The New York City Department of Education is receiving $24 million in American Rescue Plan funds specifically for youth homelessness. Pringle said more than 30 organizations and the City Council want to use the money to hire a total of 150 shelter-based community coordinators.

"When a family is placed in shelter, that person can immediately work with the family to figure out, 'Hey, do you need a shelter transfer closer to your child's school?' " Pringle explained. "Parents are put in a position of choosing between 'do I attend to my child's education, or do I attend to finding permanent housing?' "

The Education Department has already committed to hiring 50 coordinators to help families navigate the school system and address barriers to attendance, but Pringle said 50 will not be enough to serve the 28,000 students who spend time in the city's 200 shelters each year.

The St. Joseph Youth Alliance has been awarded a YouthBuild Grant from the U.S. Department of Labor, to help students earn their high school equivalencies and work toward a career.

The Youth Alliance program has two pathways. In one, students earn a construction pre-apprenticeship credential and build a home for a low-income family. In the other, they train to work as a certified nursing assistant (CNA).

Robin Hammond, executive director of the Alliance, said case managers are there to assist participants if they decide on other postsecondary opportunities.

"If there is additional trades training or potentially nursing school that one of our participants are interested in, then we help them to pursue that avenue," Hammond explained.

Overall, the Labor Department awarded nearly $90.4 million, including $1.35 million to the St. Joseph Youth Alliance. The YouthBuild grants are part of a Biden administration goal to create equitable and sustainable jobs in high-demand industries, with a focus on energy efficiency and green building techniques.

YouthBuild is targeted to lower-income people ages 16 to 24, but since you need to be 17 to drop out of high school in Missouri, the Youth Alliance program is focused on those 17 and up. Hammond pointed out just because not making it through traditional high school says nothing about a student's intelligence, or their ability to be contributors to society.

"There's a lot of different factors that come into play why somebody may not make it through the traditional school," Hammond contended. "But we know that a young person that doesn't have a high school education is more than likely going to fight a life living in poverty. And we can support that young person out of that situation."

Hammond added they also work to give participants opportunities for community service, job readiness and interview training, plus education about budgeting and money management; all are skills young people preparing for adulthood will need. The Youth Alliance is one of 20 community partnerships across the state affiliated with the Missouri Family and Community Trust.