Skills center to open summer 2014

MOSES LAKE - The construction contract for the Columbia Basin Skills Center should be awarded around Thanksgiving, with the building ready for summer school classes in 2014. District Superintendent Michelle Price and project consultant John Aultman gave an update on the progress at the Grant County Economic Development Council luncheon Thursday.

The building will be constructed on Moses Lake School District property on Yonezawa Avenue. Christine Armstrong, the district's current career and technical education director, will be director.

The current design is the first phase; the facility is designed to allow expansion.

In the first phase, the skills center will offer training in culinary arts, life sciences and global health, manufacturing and construction and pre-engineering, Aultman said.

The construction training will include all the skilled trades, such as electrical and plumbing, heating and cooling systems, energy systems and others, Aultman said. That's an adaptation of the original planned course offerings following the collapse of the housing industry in 2006-07.

Graduates of the professional medical careers program will qualify for the certified nursing assistant exam and will meet some of the prerequisites for licensed practical nurse training. Three existing classes will continue off-site, including auto mechanics, television production and cosmetology.

The idea behind the skills center is that while young people need post-secondary education, that education doesn't have to be a degree from a four-year college, Aultman said. The goal is to have at least 500 students graduating from the program by 2020, he said. "Which I think is a little low, but that's okay," he said.

Moses Lake, Othello, Ephrata, Quincy, Royal, Lake Roosevelt in Grand Coulee, Lind-Ritzville, Warden, Soap Lake and Almira/Coulee-Hartline are the schools involved. The training classes will be open to juniors and seniors, who will spend half the school day at the skills center, a total of 540 hours training. Young people to 21 years of age who don't have a high school diploma will be eligible for the program.

Freshmen and sophomores will be eligible for summer exploratory classes, Aultman said. After-school classes will be offered for students who want additional instruction. Some classes also will count for college credit, he said.

The goal is to prepare students for careers, Aultman said, and increase opportunities for kids. Students who finish the culinary course will qualify for American Culinary Foundation certification and computer science students will be eligible to take advanced placement tests.

Aultman said teachers are looking for opportunities to work together, citing the example of a medical device designed in the life sciences classes and built in the pre-engineering class.

The rocky economy has had an impact on youth unemployment; the number of people ages 17 to 24 who have no work experience is the highest since World War II., Aultman said. So part of the goal of the skills center is to provide job shadowing and work experience for its students, he said.

"We need you working with us as partners," Price said. District officials will be looking for business owners and employees to serve as expert instructors, provide work experience opportunities, recruiting students and serve on advisory boards and the skills center foundation, among other possibilities, she said.

Students will incur little if any out-of-pocket costs, she said. In answer to a question, Aultman said the curriculum would include opportunities for distance learning.