Remember the law of unintended consequences applies here. Last week, I wrote a column: Good intentions created a 'skills gap' about the need to emphasize vocational training as well college preparation in our schools. I got lots of "attaboys" from our members and interestingly many believe we need to bring back shop classes. For example, in 7th grade in Butte, boys took woodshop and girls attended home economics. In 8th grade, boys attended metal shop and girls attended the second year of home economics. I won't tell you how many tries it took me to build a single wooden shelf or to make my mom a watering can for her garden, but I learned some basic of life.
Ron Stanley, owner of Empire Bolt and Screw in Spokane, wrote: "I understand that the classes I had in junior high and high school of Metalshop and Woodshop have been eliminated. ... things I learned through those classes have stuck with me (and been more useful) than many of the traditional classes."
Rick Anderson, corporate administrator for Sakuma Brothers Farms, Burlington responded: "I am a former high school Vocational Agriculture instructor and also taught farm management at a VocTech. Washington has a very strong university system, but it has been at the cost of Voc Ed. It needs to be in addition to."
Tom Dent, Moses Lake wrote: "The blue collar working class of Americans is the foundation of our freedoms and our economy. Just look at Ag and how they depend on farm labor. Without that labor, our farms would collapse."
Ed Madden, apprenticeship consultant to Washington's Dept. of Labor and Industries in Longview added: "Your message from a business and employer perspective is so very important for educators and parents to hear. It carries more crediblity......"
Carter Wood, Sr. Communications Advisor at the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) added: "Nice column. I blogged on it at the NAM blog. By the way, my grandfather was a Butte miner and my mom grew up there."
Finally, an important point of the column is that students - whether they are headed for college, vocational school, the military or directly into the workforce - need to understand the basics in math, science, reading, writing, listening and comprehension---all subjects for which the WASL was intended to measure proficiency. Students need to know their stuff, take responsibility for mastering the materials, and recognize that without the lessons many of us learned in shop or home economics, they will struggle in life.
Keep those e-mail messages rolling in. Thank you.
Don Brunell, AWB President
