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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, AUGUST 2, 2018
editor@dailyastorian.com
KARI BORGEN
Publisher
Founded in 1873
JIM VAN NOSTRAND
Editor
JEREMY FELDMAN
Circulation Manager
DEBRA BLOOM
Business Manager
JOHN D. BRUIJN
Production Manager
CARL EARL
Systems Manager
OUR VIEWS
Clatsop Works offers
real-world experience
N
ot all graduating high
school seniors advance
to a four-year academic
college degree program.
That should be — to borrow
a quote from a long-ago author
— a truth that is universally
acknowledged.
Oddly, despite the horrendous
cost of college educations, we are
not all at that point yet.
It is pleasing to note, how-
ever, that programs that encour-
age career and technical education
(CTE) opportunities are increas-
ing. One such, featured last week
in The Daily Astorian, is Clatsop
Works, a new summer intern-
ship program offering North Coast
students an introduction to the
workforce.
Interns from Astoria, Warrenton
and Knappa high schools, along
with Clatsop Community College,
are working full-time jobs around
the county. Among those provid-
ing places include our two Clatsop
County hospitals, a couple of car
dealerships and construction firms,
plus Englund Marine and Hampton
Lumber.
For some time now, Hampton
managers, particularly, have
shown enthusiasm for expanding
career-technical courses at Astoria
High School. It is one of the bet-
ter-paying local employers and
its internships expose students to
an environment where safety and
work habits are just as important as
the lumberyard tasks undertaken.
SCHEDULES
Fred Lindstrom Memorial Park (at the top of the hill on Niag-
ara Avenue near the Peter Pan Market). Free
Aug. 8: “A Wrinkle in Time,” a sci-fi film about a girl searching
for her father.
Aug. 22: “Coco,” an animated tearjerker about a young boy in
rural Mexico who dreams of becoming a musician.
McClure Park (off Eighth Street). Admission $5.
Aug. 18: “Grease” promises a nostalgic singalong opportunity.
Welcome back,
free movies
F
Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian
Leo Matthews, a Clatsop Works intern from Astoria, assembles orders for
Englund Marine & Industrial Supply.
Clatsop Works allows students
to spend a day each week in pro-
fessional development workshops
learning customer service, safety,
communication and other skills.
The program provides a small
injection into the regional econ-
omy, but more importantly teaches
job skills that make potential job
applicants more employable, like
reliability, punctuality, account-
ability and trustworthiness. Call us
old-fashioned if you like, but those
traits are desirable in any level
or type of employee, whether a
graphic designer, a delivery driver,
or a sales assistant in a cannabis
store.
There are just 16 students in
the internship program this sum-
mer, but Kevin Leahy, director of
Clatsop Economic Development
Resources, wants to expand next
year to 24. We hope that happens to
broaden the benefits of the concept.
Clatsop Works is so highly
regarded by the Northwest
Regional Education Service
District that its leaders, seek-
ing to expand career-technical
learning opportunities, are look-
ing to replicate Clatsop Works’
model in neighboring Columbia
and Tillamook counties in the
next couple of years. That reflects
credit on Leahy and his colleague,
Anna Stamper, who oversees the
program.
The good folks who have built
the stellar seamanship program at
Tongue Point have known since
Day 1 that formats which offer
hands-on skills training while
teaching students to be a solid
employee are what’s needed.
Clatsop Works is another
commendable step in the right
direction.
ree movie showings are back at Fred Lindstrom
Memorial Park. And the Astoria Parks and
Recreation Department has some generous spon-
sors to thank.
The action is a timely reminder that these days, little
good happens without creative public-private partnerships.
The Parks Department operates two movies-in-the-park
programs, one free and another, operated by the Astoria
Parks Recreation and Community Foundation, where
admission is charged.
A couple of years ago, parks managers were forced to
cut all the free family and community events because of
budget shortfalls as the department sought to match the
true costs of operations with revenue.
This included the free movie program at Lindstrom
Park. But sponsors Recology Western Oregon, Arbor
Care, Clatsop Power Equipment, Gimre’s shoe store,
Aquafina and the Mini Mart have stepped up to restore the
program.
In welcoming this generosity from these businesses, we
would note that a similar, paid-admission program flour-
ishes, with the cost kept low because of sponsors. People
attending “Parks After Dark” at McClure Park off Eighth
Street pay only $5, thanks to the support of the Astoria
Co-op Grocery, Astoria Downtown Historic District
Association and the Liberty Theatre. The events feature
beer from Fort George Brewery and pizza from Baked
Alaska.
The department’s family and community events have
always been a signal of a city’s mental health. They are an
enjoyable way to turn off the TV, put away your phone,
get outdoors with your neighbors, and just kick back for
some entertaining summer fun.
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PUBLISHER’S NOTEBOOK
Hardworking kids deserve
support at the county fair
E
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Tyson McGorty, assisted by Danner Walters, leads a pig back to the pens during the
Clatsop County Fair.
very year I have a list of things that are
it. It’s young people learning basic skills like
quintessential summer experiences that
cooking, outdoorsmanship, gardening, sewing,
I check off to be sure I’m making good
or perfecting techniques in photography, pre-
sentations, art and science.
use of every minute of these long-lighted days.
I’m an unapologetic advocate for 4-H and
One of those items, every year, is “go to a
FFA programs. I appreciate the leaders and fam-
fair.”
ilies who teach responsibility and hard work.
My appreciation for the fair goes back to my
Watch 4-H and FFA kids at the fair.
early days in 4-H, when I worked all
They’ve learned what it’s like to feed,
year to get to the one glorious week to
care for and clean up after another living
present my work, and best of all, hang
thing. They work together on barn
out with my friends every day from
duty, washing animals and practicing
dawn to dusk. I completed market lamb,
for show. Then they take their animals
dairy, sewing, cooking and presentation
through the auction at the end of the fair.
projects.
KARI
That, too, is part of learning the business
My children tested my coping skills
BORGEN
of agriculture.
with market swine, market lamb, horse,
This weekend I’ll check the box
sewing and cooking projects.
on my summer checklist item, “go to a fair,”
My best friend then remains a best friend
as I head to the Clatsop County Fair. I’ll eat
now. Our kids were in the same 4-H club.
fair food, to be sure. But mostly I’ll be there
We were 4-H leaders together, and fair
to watch a group of our county’s finest young
superintendents.
people present their projects for sale to the
You see, my appreciation for county fairs
grandparents and businesses who will support
isn’t really about the fair. (Although I have to
their efforts by buying their market animals.
admit that fair food is part of the attraction.)
I hope that I’ll see you there, too.
It’s about the kids who work all year long on
Kari Borgen is publisher of The Daily
their projects to learn how to raise a superior
market animal, and acquire the patience to show
Astorian.