Event connects teachers, industry
Peering inside the bowels of a small FedEx cargo plane Thursday, Rogers High School teacher Rich Chapin got a feel for what it’s like to be an aircraft mechanic.
The engine of the Cessna C208B was resting on the floor, exposing wires of every color.
A few other area high school teachers and career counselors joined Chapin, listening and gawking as a mechanic from Empire Airlines – the company that maintains and operates local FedEx delivery aircraft – explained the tangle of airplane components.
The group was touring Empire’s facility at Spokane International Airport, as part of a Teach the Teachers workshop organized by Greater Spokane Inc., Spokane’s chamber of commerce. The workshops are part of the group’s campaign to connect students to careers in fields where demand is growing and the work force is shrinking.
“We need to know what the industry wants,” said Chapin, who teaches woodshop and some pre-apprentice construction courses at Rogers.
The workshops bring teachers to local industries for tours and hands-on lessons, so they can take the knowledge back to their classrooms. There have been similar clinics for the health care and manufacturing industries, and Greater Spokane Inc. is working on programs in construction and professional fields such as accounting.
“Often our students aren’t sure what they want to do,” said Mike McLauchlin, a teacher at Ferris High School. “This is good because we can take what we learn here back and isolate the students who may be interested.”
McLauchlin chatted with one of Empire’s mechanics Thursday, asking about wages and education requirements. Later in the day the teachers would learn about higher education opportunities for local aerospace careers through the University of North Dakota/Spokane Falls Community College aviation program, also located at the airport.
Teachers even had a chance to participate in a flight simulation.
Perhaps the most useful part of the workshops is connecting teachers to people in career fields, organizers said.
Russ Adair, an aircraft maintenance supervisor at Empire Airlines, said it’s been a challenge to fill local aircraft mechanic jobs, and programs like this help with recruiting. The jobs pay about $12 to $15 an hour to start, Adair said.
“If they see firsthand what the industry needs, the teachers can spark interest in the students,” Adair said.
Amy Johnson, vice president of the work force development project at Greater Spokane Inc., said the organization met with 75 teachers and counselors last year, and many said they weren’t aware of local opportunities available for training and careers. “It’s really a matter of opening a whole new spectrum to the kids,” Johnson said. “By hitting the teachers … they can help the kids make decisions.”