Enrollment at the Spokane Area Professional-Technical Skills Center, an extended-learning program supported by nine local school districts, grew sharply this year, and the center is considering adding yet more programs.


The center, located at 4141 N. Regal, has been training members of tomorrows work force since 1982, says Director Don Howell. It has 18 instructors and an annual budget of $2.5 million, and offers 16 training programs in fields ranging from health care to manufacturing to cosmetology, he says. Juniors and seniors take basic courses at their high schools and attend the center in the morning or the afternoon for three-period elective courses.


The center has nearly 750 students, up from about 650 last year. Howell attributes that growth to several factors, including new programs it has added in the past several years after receiving comments from local business and community leaders about trends in the work force here.


They get to keep being a Lewis & Clark Tiger and go to football games and stay in touch with their classmates, and also get a head start on the job market, Howell says. The reality in our economy is that many of them are going to need that training to get some kind of income after they graduate.


About 70 percent of jobs today require skills gained from two years of training beyond high school, he says. More than half of the centers students land jobs immediately after graduating from high school, and many of them stay in Spokane, says a study that the center recently conducted of students who had graduated from 2001 to 2005. Less than 2 percent of the graduates who were contacted for that study werent working or enrolled in higher education or additional training programs, he says.


Our focus is on helping our students get pointed in the right direction to receive more training later on and enter the economy with good, entry-level skills, Howell says. Theres a definite need in the community to begin working with kids to form that knowledge and develop skills.


A decade ago, the center had a nursing assistant program and dental assistant program, from which students went on to become nurses and dentists, he says. It has watched the health-care field grow since then, he says, to the point that representatives from Sacred Heart Medical Centers laboratory told the center they were worried they soon wouldnt have anybody to hire, he says.


We heard loud and clear that in Spokane, where one of the largest industries is health care, medical lab technicians are desperately needed, Howell says.


The center worked with Sacred Heart and Pathology Associates Medical Laboratories Inc., of Spokane, to develop a medical lab technician program a few years ago. The center is considering adding courses primarily in the area of health care, including a physical therapy assistant program, he says.


Howell says the centers hot potato course right now is its veterinary technician program. That program started two years ago, and two of the instructors are registered veterinary technicians. It has 45 students this year.


Another trend in Spokanes work force is the need for skilled workers in the manufacturing industry, he says. Howell sits on the Spokane Area Workforce Development Council, which conducted a study recently on manufacturing here.


Traditional industrial programs are fading away, and were struggling to get enough qualified machinists to get people back into that industry, he says. Were investigating what training well need in the future to prepare students to get additional training in that field after high school.


The centers construction program became an approved pre-apprenticeship program last year through an agreement with the Spokane-based Inland Northwest Apprenticeship Coordinators Council. That pre-apprenticeship status contributed to increased enrollment this year. The program is at full capacity with 49 students this year. The center also offers pre-apprenticeship welding training, and is looking at adding pre-apprenticeship certification to its plumbing and electrical programs.


A cosmetology program that the center has reinstated after a five-year absence currently has 68 students, Howell says. Cosmetology is a licensed occupation that requires 1,600 hours of training as part of its curriculum. Washington state policy changes a few years ago prohibited students at the center from continuing the program beyond their normal graduation year, which had been necessary for them to complete their training requirements. The center now contracts with a private cosmetology school here, called Total Cosmetology Training Center, to offer that course of study to its students.


Howell says the center has shifted toward offering more professional programs, such as a pre-law enforcement course it offers in coordination with the City of Spokane.


As technology keeps advancing, the center needs to create new programs to keep students engaged and able to get jobs in the high-tech sector, he says.


Years ago, schools couldnt afford expensive computer labs, so we provided that training, he says. But now prices have come down, and computers are everywhere, so we had to evolve it or shut it down.


For example, the center changed its commercial printing class into a course in multimedia graphics, in which students learn how to design three-dimensional graphics and computer animation, he says. A computer programming class provides advanced programming training, during which students work on a video game project.


Automotive courses are the most popular programs at the center, Howell says. The center is ASE (Automotive Service Excellence) certified, so students who plan to go to community college can take the ASE test while in high school, and if they pass they wont have to repeat the test later and can jump into more advanced training, he says.


Automotive students either do paid internships at dealerships where they work as mechanics or have mentors at dealerships, with the expectation that they will work there after graduation.


It depends on how long the career ladder is, but these programs definitely are a stepping stone in careers, and students could make a living in the automotive industry after they graduate, Howell says. No one in todays economy survives without additional training.


Nearly all students at the center are assigned learning projects at employment sites to give them contacts with the business community and provide practical training in their fields of interest, he says. For instance, students in the nursing assistant program have to get 100 hours of clinical experience to complete their course work.


A general advisory board, which consists of business and community leaders, advises a majority of the local school districts on what it believes should be the general career-education goals for the community. The center also has content-specific committees for each of its programs that consist of people who are working in those fields.


Our objectives are to help kids learn how to put their education to work and to make sure they leave here with entry-level skills, Howell says.


He says the center encourages students who probably wont attend a four-year university to still get training and acquire skills theyll need in a competitive job market.


Everybody doesnt need to go to college to make a good living, he says. Thank God we have people who want to be mechanics and electricians, and everyoneno matter what their career isneeds high levels of skills.