West Valley at AWB Manufacturing Week

 The fall, Innovative Programs has been using COVID to re-evaluate what is best for kids.  One of our projects is how we inspire and excite kids about their futures.  

In October, we were able to participate in the Association of Washington Business, AWB, also known as the Washington State Chamber of Commerce's Manufacturing Week.  W spoke about our Junior High programs and how at a younger age, we can excite students about all of the options their future has in store for them.

Additionally, we spoke about our excellent partnership with AJAC Aerospace and Boeing Core Plus and how these partnerships are the cornerstone to changing student lives.

Watch here: 

West Valley Interview with AWB

2020 Manufacturing Week LIVE - Oct. 2 from Association of WA Business on Vimeo.

From Boeing Internship to AJAC Apprenticeship

From Boeing Internship to AJAC Apprenticeship -

Korlee Butler-Mittlieder.  

This summer, Korlee took her Core Plus Aerospace skills to the Boeing Everett Campus where she worked and lived in a five week Summer internship.  During her internship she worked in drilling, riveting, and installing high-lock and lock bolts. Korlee said the best experience was working on the 747 Structure and the 777X Wing Laydown where she was working on complete structures of the plane.

"I got to install the pressure dome of the of the plane by connecting the forty-eight (the back cap of the plane) and forty-six (the back-half of the plane excluding the cap).  The pressure dome is incredibly important to trust me with, if the dome breaks the plan goes down."

Korlee was able to learn how to seal.  This was great because Korlee is also an AP Art student.   She appreciated how sealing required many of the same skills she uses as an art student from fine motor skills to mapping out a sealant gun path.

Korlee's competencies while at Boeing included

• Rivet Installation
• Drill and Debur
• Routing and Clamping
• Splice Hook-up
• Burndy block and plug hookup 
• Clean for seal
• Seal fasteners 

When Korlee returned to Yakima, she began her AJAC (Aerospace Joint Apprenticeship Committee) apprenticeship at Magic Metals.  She was able to transfer 200 hours from her Boeing internship putting her further down the road to completing her Journeyman.  

Magic Metals has Korlee working in Engineering where she is apprenticing under the head engineer.  She is learning how to use 3D modeling software, taking parts and model them, virtually assembling multiple parts together, and producing engineering plans used on the shop floor from her designs. Korlee's art skills have made her highly effecting producing drawings needed for people on the shop floor to clearly and consistently build parts. 

Korlee with her engineering drawings she uses in Magic Metals.

This week Korlee will be on the welding floor where she will learn about welding in assembly. She will be taking the skills she learned in engineering, designing and modeling parts, to following the instructions on the welding floor.  

The best part about Magic Metals is the culture.  Everyone tells each other hello and goodbye everyday.  Everyone is a team working towards the same goal.  

"The apprenticeship is worth it."  Korlee recommends, "Be on time and be motivated.  This is a job where you work with other people."

Lessons from Abroad: What can we learn from Germany and Switzerland to create opportunities for students in West Valley

Lessons from Abroad:  The German Dual-Vocational Education System.

In September of 2016, exactly two years ago, I boarded a flight destined to Berlin, Germany for what was going to be one of the most transformative educational experiences of my educational career.  In this tour we spent five days in Berlin and one week in Thuringia to see both urban approaches to the German dual vocational education system or as we call it, Youth Apprenticeship.  

Our trip was planned and organized by the Central Agency for German Schools Abroad (ZfA).   The goal of our trip was to combine a closer connection to the American and German education through student experiences, language, and culture.  The goal was undoubtedly achieved.

Berlin

While in Berlin we toured two different schools, the Max-von-Laue-Oberschule, an integrated secondary school, and Peter-Lenne Schule, a dual-vocational school for agriculture.  During the Max-Von-Laue school visit we saw how eighth and ninth grade students are engaged in a series of career interest surveys, job shadows, and job exploration activities which are paired with their academic studies.  School counselors are attuned to vocational plans of all their students.  Most unique was the wine make program which is in high demand among all ninth grade students. 

Grapes being grown for the wine making program.

The corner of the building of Max-von-Laue Oberschule

At Peter-Lenne Schule we saw an urban approach to agricultural education.  Students only attend school one week a month while participating in apprenticeships the other three.  Students are employed around Berlin working as landscapers, zoo keepers for the Berlin Zoo, and turf management for golf courses.  Course time was devoted to German language, math, social studies, as well as teaching specific skills students will need in the upcoming weeks at their apprenticeships.  The skills learned were essential to their success during their apprenticeships.

Greenhouse plans at Perer-Lenne Schule.

Animals kept at Peter-Lenne Schule.

Thuringia

Following our time in Berlin, we took a train to the German state of Thuringia.  Our time in Thuringia was the most bountiful where we saw Thuringia Energy AG, a public utility training center for youth apprentices, and Walter-Gropius Schule, a dual-vocational school for technical trades, 

Thuringia Energy AG is a training center for public utility apprentices.  Students have advanced training opportunities in where they can find leaks in gas lines, break apart types of ground paving to access electrical wires beneath, and climb electrical poles to fix power lines.  These are training opportunities not available to students in the United States until they have completed high school.  Instead of protecting German students from entering the adult world, there are transitions where students can use their public education to practice before entering the job site. 

Utility pole training center for students to practice.

German public utility apprentices re-wiring a circuit board.

Training center for utility gas lines.  Students can make connections and diagnose gas leaks.

Various forms of ground students break apart to access subterranean utilities.

Walter-Gropius Schule functioned much like Peter-Lenne Schule from Berlin.  Students attend classes one week a month and go to their paid apprenticeships three weeks a month.  Vocational classes at Walter-Gropius are built for an entirely different function then vocational programs in American schools.  Because students will get real world experiences while on the job, classrooms are built to be advanced learning labs.  A plumbing program lab is built with transparent pipes with all of the different configurations students can expect to see in the field.  A painting program is built for students to layout color pallets, and a carpenter program has students building small houses. 

High school plumbing program where student diagnose a variety of plumbing issues through transparent pipes.

School professional painting program where students test a variety of color combinations.

High school carpentry program where students build houses to scale.

Takeaways:

1. Begin career exploration as early as the seventh and eighth grade.
2. Connect lessons in school to skills students need in the working world.
3. Create partnerships between business and education to provide resources for students.
4. Place students in the workforce so they can make immediate connections to the relevance of the skills learned in school. 

To learn more about the West Valley Youth Apprenticeship program, email me at nesmithc@wvsd208.org or follow me on Twitter:  @NesmithEDU