A traveling student or area student is someone who travels to a different school to take a vocational program. The vocational programs include automotive, cosmetology, computer programing, carpentry and health science just to name a few. There are many pros to these programs, such as they are very hands on and traveling to a different school breaks up the day very nicely. For those who have a hard time sitting in a desk all day or don’t find school quite interesting, the vocational programs are definitely for you. Heather Hillard ’14 said, “I take the Careers In Education class. I like traveling to Nashua because we get different experiences that HB doesn’t offer and it’s more hands on. We actually work with children rather than read from a text book”.

    Another student, Mitch Glover ’14 said, “Traveling to a vocational program has its ups and downs. Some good things are that if you aren’t into school and enjoy more hands on activity. It also gives you that extra opportunity that can provide for your future.”There are also some cons. For example, traveling to two different schools means you have two different schedules and due to the different schedules, there is a lot of material missed because of missing classes and things that have to be made up. Heather Hillard said, “ But sometimes traveling can be hard because our school schedules don’t always match up so we become behind on our work and miss a lot of class time.” If we have an early release at Hollis/Brookline, there is no transportation for the vocational programs at Nashua North/South, Milford or Mascenic. Most of the schools don’t let travelers drive because there is not a lot of parking space so finding a ride or missing the class is up to the student to figure out. Before becoming a traveling student, think about the benefits and the struggles before making a final decision.