So. After the initial shock of the dearth of useful resources on vocational topics, I decided to put on my big-girl britches and do something about it.
Our school system has endured intense, serious budget cuts this year. I've had to turn down every peddling phone call this year, all with the dreaded "budget cut" line. However, my school system recently subscribed to Overdrive, an e-book collection/e-library service where all materials therein are covered under a substantial amount of grant money. Eureka! I can look for the appropriate books in Overdrive, order them, and have sources for the kids as soon as they download!
Alas, 'twas all for naught.
The second I started searching Overdrive's marketplace, it quickly became apparent that I was to have no luck here, either. Just to see what they had, (and remembering a senior who focused his senior project on welding last year), I searched for "welding" under the topic line. The suggested results were, in order, "westerns, witches, women's fiction, women's studies, and writing." Then, when I decided to browse the nonfiction section, the vast majority of titles (available to my school system, anyway) were middle-school level science and history books -- often with snarky skeletons or nobly-determined founding fathers gazing back at me from their digital covers. No luck. In the "careers" section, almost everything was geared toward public service: police, emergency response, teachers, etc. -- there were barely options for business-oriented careers. There were myriad books on job interviews, resume building, etc., but nothing on careers that weren't juvenile "teachers/sanitation workers/policemen help society" books.
Overdrive, the "great" online library source, doesn't even have what we're looking for.
To be continued in Part 3: The Crisis Reaches Critical Mass.
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