Columbia Basin Skills Center taking shape in Moses Lake

MOSES LAKE - The new Columbia Basin Skills Center will be shown to the public in May, with a grand opening in July. Construction work is continuing on the interior, and exterior landscaping will wait until spring. But skills center administrators are giving interested district patrons a look inside with biweekly tours.

The skills center will be used by a consortium of high schools including Ephrata, Quincy, Soap Lake, Wilson Creek, Almira/Coulee-Hartline, Othello, Wahluke, Royal City, Warden and Grand Coulee as well as Moses Lake. District patrons from those communities can ask for a tour, skills center director Christine Armstrong said.

Since it's still under construction, tours are offered only for adults, she said. Prospective students will be able to tour the facility in May, she said.

The skills center will offer summer classes that show kids the training available, Armstrong said. It opens for the school year in August.

Classes offered include advanced manufacturing, culinary arts, global health and life science careers, construction pre-apprentice program, pre-engineering, professional medical careers, computer science and entrepreneur class (developing a business). The existing cosmetology and automotive technology programs will continue at their current locations, Armstrong said.

Enrollment is proportional for each school, she said, and is limited to juniors and seniors. Application is on a first-come, first-served basis, program secretary Melody Jensen said. Once the classes are full kids go on a waiting list. Armstrong said that from the experience of other facilities around the state, it could take two to three years to fill all programs.

Classes are open to students up to age 21 who are working on a high school diploma or GED, she said. There are three sessions per day, each 2-1/2 hours. Students attend one of the three, and spend the rest of the day in regular classes. There's a maximum of 200 students per session, about 22 students per class, Jensen said.

They will be in charge of daily maintenance, like dumping trash, Armstrong said. It's real-world training; people who own their own businesses usually end up doing their own chores, at least for a few years, she said.

All classes are designed to give kids training they can put to use after they graduate, Armstrong said. "Every student who leaves here will have a college transcript," she said, and some industry certification where it's applicable.

Students will be working in a state-of-the-art building, with tools that include three-dimensional printers and computerized precision tools. That includes a cutting tool that uses water; the skills center will be the second high school in the state with that, Armstrong said. The welding program will have welding stations for 18 students, she said.

The much bigger kitchen, with all-new equipment, allows for an expanded program, Armstrong said. Administrators plan to hire a second instructor (who will specialize in baking) as student population allows, she said.

Global health/life science students will have a mock emergency room where they can practice while using a dummy, and a room where they can learn to assist patients with daily hygiene chores, a requirement of certified nursing assistant training, Armstrong said. The program will offer CNA certification.

Anyone interested in taking a tour can contact Armstrong at Moses Lake High School, 509-766-2666. The public will get their first look at the completed project at an open house May 8, with the building's grand opening set for July 1, Armstrong said.