CLASS
IS IN
SESSION
Under the tutelage of apprenticeship instructors Bernie and Rick
Hindman, students from Tualatin and Tigard high schools attend in-
dustrial technology classes at the Matt J. Walters Training Center,
home of Plumbers and Fitters Local 290.
The students — a mix of mostly juniors and seniors — spend an
hour every other day learning to weld, braze, solder, do mechanical
drawings, and experience how math is applied to the trade. Just to ap-
ply to the apprenticeship program requires one year of high school
algebra and a minimum 2.0 GPA. To get accepted, however, will
take much more than that. The class is limited to 26 students and is
worth 0.5 credits toward graduation.
“This course is designed to provide opportunities for students to
pursue journeymen and apprenticeship programs related to indus-
trial trades,” reads the curriculum guide from Tigard High School.
The Hindmans are twin brothers who both graduated from Port-
land’s Benson Polytechnic High School and are both Local 290 re-
tirees. They said they try to incorporate the experiences they had at
Benson into their instruction at the training center. The Hindmans
keep track of attendance and score tests at the end of each term. They
also present special awards for the top project and most improved
student.
“We touch on the basics. It’s not as extensive as a first-term ap-
prentice,” said Bernie Hindman.
“Most of these kids know very little about apprenticeship train-
ing, or the union,” added Rick Hindman. “But they’re quick learners.
It amazes me how fast they are able to pick up on things.”
The students are outfitted with safety boots, jackets, gloves, and
glasses. They get to keep the boots. The class is funded entirely by
the apprenticeship training trust — to the tune of about $50,000. In the past, the contractors association
has chipped in supplies, and one year the training center received a $10,000 federal grant.
The training center is always looking for new grants to help offset the cost, said Assistant Coordinator
Justin May. “Since the ’90s, school districts have pulled away from vocational training. It’s important
to us to keep this going,” he said.
A Tualatin graduate who took the industrial education class three times starting in his sophomore
year recently was accepted into Local 290’s apprenticeship program.
“I didn’t have any direction before,” Casey Rowbottom, 19, told the Labor Press. “I wasn’t really in-
terested in anything. Now I have direction,”
UA Local 290 apprenticeship
instructors Rick and Bernie Hindman start a
high school industrial technology class at the union’s
training center. The course is worth credits toward
graduation at Tualatin and Tigard high schools.
Plumbers & Fitters Local 290 Training Center is home
to Tigard-Tualatin School District Industrial Arts Class
Rowbottom said he saw the class offering on the schedule, read
the description, and decided to sign up.
“He showed a real knack for welding,” Rick Hindman said.
After graduating from Tualatin High, Rowbottom took an 18-
week accelerated welding program the training center offers.
As a first-term apprentice, Rowbottom now works full time at a
nearby fabrication shop where he is paid $15.88 an hour, plus health
insurance and retirement benefits. He will receive regular raises as
he progresses through the training program.
Prior to the start of a class on May 8, the Labor Press asked stu-
dents why they signed up for the course. Answers varied from “my
counselor recommended it,” to “it’s fun” to “I want to learn a new
skill.” One student said people he knows in his community “have to
pay to learn this stuff. It’s a real privilege for me to be able to be
here. It gives us a great foundation for our future.”
The Hindmans said initially students heard about the class from
other students. “Now, a lot of kids hear about it from their school ca-
reer counselors, who get good feedback from the kids,” they said.
PHOTO LEFT: High
school students enrolled in
the industrial technology
course at the Matt J.
Walters Training Center in
Tualatin pose for a picture
after a welding class.
PHOTO TOP RIGHT:
Casey Rowbottom is a first
term Local 290 apprentice
who took the course as a
student at Tualatin High
School.
P H OTO R I G H T:
Apprenticeship instructor
Rick Hindman supervises
a student with a flat plate
weld.
PAGE 8
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
JUNE 6, 2014