WEST MONROE, La. (AP) — Beginning next year, a lot of Louisiana high school classrooms could look like Wes Sebren’s: equipped with welding gear, safety goggles and circular saws.Sebren, a teacher at West Ouachita High School near West Monroe, is at the forefront of public schools’ response to a 2009 law passed by the Legislature that encourages teaching skills students will need in the work force.The law created a “career diploma” that — in an effort to reduce the dropout rate — will go to students who opt for lower academic standards in math and English, while taking classes such as welding, woodworking and small engine repair.Sebren has been teaching such classes in rural Louisiana for more than a decade.
 
 
 
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