Execs see education in action at BHS
Five business executives walked the halls of Butler Senior High School on Tuesday in search of a student perspective.
As they finished their last classes of the day, all five seemed to have found one. The group was in Butler for an Allegheny Conference on Community Development program called CEOs in the Classroom. About 30 chief executive officers from businesses in the Greater Pittsburgh area split into six school buildings in the region to see first-hand how education is conducted today. Each paired up with a student and spent the day as their shadow.
Butler students saw folks like Pittsburgh Penguins CEO David Morehouse heading into Latin class with Connor Bachman, an 18-year-old senior.
Morehouse and Connor did everything together. When Connor built a birdhouse in shop class, Morehouse painted its roof Penguins gold.
“I can't remember the last time I was in a high school,” Morehouse said.
The pair bonded over Connor's future plans. He wants to be a park ranger. Morehouse said he wanted to do the same when he was young.
If that doesn't work out for Connor, Morehouse said he had him covered.
“I'd hire him,” Morehouse said.
Connor was pleased: “There, I've got a back-up plan.”
Morehouse said he's interested in workforce development outside the typical college route.
“There's a shortage in Western Pennsylvania of workers,” Morehouse said. “These guys are going to be filling all those positions. Seeing how these guys interact and how they think, it's encouraging. The future is going to be bright.”Chloe Paulisick, a sophomore, paired up with D'Ann Swanson, a senior program officer at the Grable Foundation. The foundation worked with the Allegheny Conference to put on the program.Chloe said she liked meeting someone in a good job that isn't one of the few obvious career options she sees available.“I'm talking to all my friends, and there's no diversity in our job ideas,” Chloe said. “You're going to become a doctor or a nurse or a teacher.”Several of the business-people said that their classes were more open-ended than their own high school experiences. Swanson was happy to see it.“It's not nearly as much the teacher as leader and student as listener as I remember,” Swanson said.Still, the old classics of high school life are present. Swanson learned that the hard way.“We took a quiz,” Swanson said. “I did not do well.”Several of the executives remarked on the unusual configuration of the senior high school. Morehouse loved the natural lighting. David Motley, CEO of MCAPS, a personnel firm, said the experience was like stepping back in time 40 years to find that everything had changed.“The kids are a lot smarter these days,” Motley admitted.
