Students At Skills Center Show What They’ve Learned

The foccacia bread, still hot, was displayed in a bakery cabinet next to the brownies and pastries.

“We do all of these by hand,” said Sue Barrett, 17, a Rogers High School student learning commercial baking at the Spokane Skills Center. “Our old fashioned doughnuts are really good.”

Eating freshly baked goods was only one of the activities at the skills center open house Thursday in northeast Spokane.

Some people were getting their hair shampooed or trimmed or having their teeth cleaned. Others watched as students showed off computer skills.

Outside the building at 4141 N. Regal, hamburgers were frying while coffee and cookies awaited those who entered.

Down the hall at cosmetology, students offered up shampoos and cuts as part of the 1,700 hours of classroom training required for certification.

”(TV anchor) Karen Kelly - we did her once,” said Vicki Calder, an instructor who sends 20 students a year into salons and barbershops all over the region.

In the desktop publishing lab, Jake Bixby, a student at Lakeside High School in Nine Mile Falls, demonstrated a software program that integrates graphics, text and sounds for a public presentation. The screen was split into five different windows, and Bixby eased his way through the commands.

He is one of 38 students taking classes in the Skills Center’s computer lab before or after his regular high school day.

Teacher Terri Haworth said there’s no shortage of jobs waiting for those who gain certification in computer publishing. She has graduates now working in graphics and publishing companies around the city.

“My message to these guys is you better be able to do it quicker, faster, smarter and better, or they’re going to hire someone else,” said Haworth.

In the travel and hospitality class, teacher Karolyn Clark talked with four high school girls about skills they would need no matter what job they choose: teamwork, communications, being able to talk on the telephone, and getting along with people.

Though few travel agencies hire directly from the program, she’s had success placing graduates at area hotels.

Transferable skills are the same thing Dwayne Fisher tries to get across in the radio/television lab.

“My main objective is to teach them how to read better, write better and talk better. If they go into radio/ TV, that’s fine,” said Fisher.

Back at the entrance, the foccacia bread is moving.

Vern Paulson, 17, a junior at North Central High School strutted out from the kitchen wearing a chef’s hat and apron. Though he had never heard of foccacia, a doughy bread with garlic and onion, until he enrolled in the program, he’s proud it’s so popular.

“Every one (of the loaves) you see there I made,” he said.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo