Short for vocational-technical. A high school course of study that emphasises the trades such as electrical work, auto mechanics, hairdressing, sewing, cabinetry, carpentry, plumbing, HVAC, etc.

The social stratification is that all the smart kids are college prep and the rest are gen ed or vo-tech. This is crap--don't you want someone smart wiring your house and fixing your car, or putting up walls so that buildings don't collapse? The trades take not only skill, but intelligence to do correctly. however, since many vo-tech centers were county-wide or regional, it meant the students were away from their high school for a large part of the day.

I was mad in high school because my guidance counselor wouldn't let me take auto mechanics because I was college prep and, well, you just didn't do that. Even though I could fit it into my schedule and we did have a garage at the high school.

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