Shop class is back in style

As a former student of Barstow High, I am very delighted te vocational program at Barstow High is back. While I attended Barstow during my junior and high school years, I had the opportunity to take shop classes such as wood, metal, drafting and small engines. The classes taught the fundamentals, how to use a hammer, change oil, make a lamp, just to name a few. Many of my classmates during those years focused on these vocational programs and learned trades to get jobs at Santa Fe or the Marine Bases.

Barstow schools receive $232,000 grant to expand career programs March 31, 2008 - 3:50PM By Jason Smith, staff writer BARSTOW - Barstow High School senior Greg Roberson, 17, stood up in class on Monday, put on his helmet and let the sparks fly. He used an arc-welder at the school's shop to practice fusing bits of metal together, learning welding skills that he and his teachers hope will get him a good-paying job someday. With a $232,000 grant from the county, Barstow High School will upgrade the electrical system in the school's metal shop, allowing the school to offer expanded welding and other vocational classes in the future, said BHS Principal Claire Ellis. She said that a better electrical system will allow the classes to work with more modern welding equipment that are used in the workforce today.The renovations will also replace the doors in the school's vocational education building, built in 1954, and add air conditioning to computer labs used for career training. The work is expected to be completed in June. Barstow schools' superintendent Jerry Bergmans said that the district worked with the county to procure the extra funds in order to update the high school's career training options. "The old vocational programs that we've had have gone downhill because of more emphasis on traditional ‘academic' classes," Bergmans said. "What were finding is more of our students who don't go on to a four-year college or university are kind of disenfranchised because they aren't being trained with programs like these." Ken Eaves, director of vocational programs at Barstow Community College, said that schools across the country are experiencing a resurgence in the popularity of trades classes, because an aging workforce will demand more skilled workers. He said upgraded facilities at BHS will also be beneficial for the approximately 75 BCC students who use the school's welding facilities. "We don't have any space to do that here (at BCC)," Eaves said. "It gives us the capacity to advance the skills for the employers in the area." He said that BNSF, Fort Irwin and the Marine Corps Logistics Base, Barstow are all seeking employees who can handle technical tasks, and much of that work can't be outsourced to other counties. "If you're going to wire a building, how do you send that offshore? It has to be done locally," he said. Mike Miller, owner of Mike's Ironworks, which offers welding services, said that while he's not currently looking for newly-trained welders, a lot of local employers are. "There's just not enough welders in Barstow," he said. "I cannot express to you how much everyone is looking for welders these days." Although he said many students find welding to be hard work under hot and difficult conditions, the $15-to-$20-per-hour paying jobs are a good fit for some students. "Every student that goes to high school is not bound for college, these kids need to get some kind of trade." Miller, who graduated Kennedy High School in 1974, said he'd like to see the schools offer expanded carpentry, plumbing and other skill trades program. Additionally, he said he'd like to see the schools do more to get students interested in trades at the younger grades before they reach high school.