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Career and Technical Education Update
February 2021
Preparing students for successful careers through aligned instruction, focusing on leadership and technical skills, in partnership with and for the benefit of our community
CTE Advisory Council
Members of the advisory council are charged with providing suggestions, supporting partnerships, making recommendations, and providing input in ways which will improve the district's Career and Technical Education program. On February 9, the council met for the second of three annual meetings. Use the button below to view the meeting agenda:
Council members heard an update from CTE Director Rick Goble. Highlights include a new Mac Computer Lab, CNC Router, and $10,000 Robotics grant. Council members approved a new course, completing a Health Sciences pathway. View the slides below:
CTE and college
Thoughts from School Board Director J Vander Stoep
I used to think that vocational education, now called CTE, was a separate pathway for Chehalis students who were not going to college. Growing up I heard adults, including sometimes teachers and counselors, say that certain students were not "college material."

Over the past few years I've listened to experts in CTE, read studies and reviewed data about Chehalis grad's success or in credential programs in CTE pathways. Listening especially to the CTE people at Centralia College has changed my thinking on what a CTE pathway really means and its connection to the Student Achievement Initiative and students being "college ready."

The goal of the Chehalis Student Achievement Initiative (SAI) is to advance from the national average of 30% to 60% of our graduates moving on to earn a credential past high school starting by the class of 2022. That credential can be a CTE credential or an AA, apprenticeship or military service or a four-year college degree. They all count toward the SAI goal.

Jake Fay, Dean of Instruction at Centralia College oversees the Industrial Trades and Health Care CTE programs. He is convinced there are very few careers a student with only a high school diploma can enter now that will lead to a lifetime of family wage earning. "In today's international economy demanding technology skills, almost every family wage career pathway requires a credential past high school.

For people my age, when somebody says, "college" . . . .
New CTE equipment coming soon!
Walking through Mr. Smith’s machine shop you might think there are plenty of machines for students to use. There are several work stations, including lathes, drill presses, and grinders. The classroom is full, and it seems one would be pressed to find space, or need, for one more machine.

But to provide students with the kind of experience they need to fully understand a career pathway in manufacturing, Smith is eager to provide new machinery – the kind a graduate might learn to operate during advanced training after high school – or even on the job.

That’s one reason for a new CNC Router, and it’s coming to W.F. West soon.

CNC stands for “Computer Numerical Control,” which tells you right away there is more to this machine than just a power switch. Routers are like milling machines – they subtract layers of a product being worked on. However, this machine doesn’t work until someone tells it what to do – that’s where the computer programming comes into play. For example, in courses like Sign Making, Entrepreneurship, and Graphic Design students will be designing images in Adobe Illustrator (Ai), then transfer these files to the router software (called Fusion 360) which is for three-dimensional computer aided design (CAD), modeling, manufacturing, industrial design, electronics, and mechanical engineering.

W. F. West students will improve their skill set in Sign Making, Metal Fabrication, Robotics, Construction, and entrepreneurship. Needless to say, several CTE teachers are looking forward to this new piece of equipment.

W. F. West’ CTE Department takes great pride in the professional opportunities and real-world skills and equipment students are exposed to. This is the high standard that teachers have held. By adding another commercial piece of equipment like this, the district will be offering an exciting tool with which students will gain valuable industry experience.

A CNC machine can be used in many ways to cut or carve images in wood, foam, vinyl, acrylic, plastics, and aluminum to create all kinds of graphic objects for two-dimensional and three-dimensional projects.

To see an example of this machine in action, use the button below: