All our High School students take a "Career and Technical Education" (CTE) course called "Technology Studies" which if they were in a public school might be considered a joke course, but they take it seriously (and with glee) because we've added a Friday component that makes it all worthwhile. Parents have all signed their approval of this curriculum although it goes well beyond what kids would normally get out of this class.
Several and sometimes MANY parents attend this Friday class with their kids (me too) to glean what they can. Monday through Thursday, they follow the standard curriculum although accelerated. They also get drilled for homework several times a week with a 15-minute web-based tutorial/game that gives them practice using the terms used in the curriculum.
One Friday session I attended, students were required to "acquire" (carefully remove from a rooftop and return with it to a safe location - the classroom parking lot) a solar panel, wiring, batteries, and inverter from a nearby rooftop (NOT our active system, but one installed for teaching purposes) and get it to charge the batteries and power several lights. Coming into the lesson, they already had a background in the required components and theory, so this was the practical application of carefully disassembling and reassembling the system.
It is HEAVILY stressed that these scenarios are for a W.R.O.L. AND there's a disruption in power" AND the system is being wasted on a vacant building."
Understandably, parents don't want us to develop juvenile delinquents, but everyone understands why these skills are included.
Other Fridays, everyone got to learn how to drive and use a
bobcat, forklift, a scissors lift, a D40 bulldozer, a water truck, a fire engine (just a demo - no one got to drive it!) a dump truck, a school bus, a Sprinter van, and an 18 wheeler (Freightliner Columbia.) More, I just can't remember.
They also learn how to safely start and operate gas, diesel, natural gas, and LP generators, water pumps, a concrete saw, and a compressor. Again, more I can't recall.
Another Friday, they controversially (but parent approved) learned in theory and with some actual vehicles, how to start (if no key) and get (siphon) fuel and other W.R.O.L. skills that might be useful.
We've been doing this with our high school aged kids since 2008 (way before we developed our own school) and we've not had a single kid go off the rails and start a "life of crime," so it's worked pretty well. These kids will be an asset to any group if they end up somewhere else after college. We are fortunate that very few have moved away but understandably, our little town doesn't have the dazzle, the restaurants, and nightlife that a big city can provide...but we like it here just fine!