Polk County News
CTE aims to bring career focus to youth
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WEATHER
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Nov. 24 ............. 56
Nov. 25 ............. 45
Nov. 26 ............. 59
Nov. 27 ............. 50
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Polk County Itemizer-Observer • November 29, 2017 3A
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Coordinator to get high-schoolers away from going to college for sake of college
Editor’s note: This is the
first in series of stories look-
ing at Dallas High School’s
developing “career and tech-
nical education” program,
and how they are changing
education.
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — Ask Dallas
High School career technical
education coordinator Tim
Ray what one of his biggest
pet peeves is and he will say
it’s a student who goes to
college who doesn’t know
why.
He said that often those
students think attending
college is “what I’m are sup-
posed to do.”
“This isn’t the 1970s any-
more where everybody goes
to college just to learn how
to be an adult,” Ray said. “It
cost too much stinking
money to do that.”
He wants to give students
better options.
Ray has guided the initial
approval of six CTE pro-
grams since coming back to
DHS in March.
His work is paid for by
Measure 98, which voters
approved in 2016 to send
money to school districts to
expand CTE classes, college
credit opportunities and
prevent students from drop-
ping out.
The six programs at DHS
are agriculture, business,
culinary, engineering, visual
media arts, and health sci-
ences. For three of the pro-
grams, Chemeketa Commu-
nity College provides in-
struction, which offers stu-
dents both high school and
college credit. DHS also
started an AVID program to
help keep students in
school.
Ray has more goals than
those spelled out in Measure
98. He wants to create a sys-
tem that gives students a re-
alistic idea of what a career
in one of those six fields
would look like.
He said too many stu-
dents are inspired to pursue
a career based on unrealistic
expectations. Ray believes
it’s his job to “bridge the
gap” between what kids see
in movies and on TV and
what happens in the real
world.
“When they leave here,
life becomes very conse-
quential in a hurry, and it
costs a lot of dollars to make
changes, so we are trying to
expose them to as many dif-
ferent things as possible
here, so they can figure out
what they don’t like,” Ray
said. “That’s maybe more
important than what they
do like.”
Ray said he had a student
who was set on enrolling in
the nursing program at
Chemeketa after graduation
come to him six weeks after
beginning a class in the
health science program and
say that she needed to do
something else.
She paid $25 dollars to
take the dual-credit course.
“She was about to enroll
in a nursing program at
Chemeketa and spend thou-
sands of dollars to end up
doing something that she
figured out for $25 and six
weeks that she didn’t want
to do,” Ray said.
Now she’s learning to
weld, something that she
enjoys.
“I consider that a huge
win,” Ray said. “Other peo-
ple might not, but I think
that’s a win.”
In the second semester,
internships will be part of
the equation. Ray said he’ll
pilot a program in which
student apply and interview
for an internship. Businesses
will select their interns —
and can fire them, too.
“I told them that if they
don’t do what they are sup-
posed to do, they can get
fired,” Ray said. “They come
back and see me, and we
find them a different place
to be. We got to start bridg-
ing that gap.”
He wants to move stu-
dents away from thinking
they must go to college.
CTE programs are de-
signed so students can con-
tinue their education after
graduation or have the skills
to get a job right away.
Ray said he’s seen it hap-
pen with former students
who took the same agricul-
tural classes from him when
he was a teacher at DHS.
One is finishing his mas-
ter’s degree and the other
didn’t go to college, but is
advancing in a career that
began shortly after he grad-
uated from DHS.
“Two totally different
tracks, both are going to be
highly successful individu-
als,” Ray said. “Similar skill
sets, but had different goals
of where they wanted to go.
Our program, our school, al-
lowed them both to be suc-
cessful, and that is what I
want for every kid.”
Working with Chemeketa
and business leaders in the
community, Ray’s dream is
to create an educational en-
vironment that keeps home-
grown talent in Polk County.
The state requires that
school districts have an ad-
visory committee to guide
CTE program development.
Ray has used that oppor-
tunity to ask local business-
es what they need from Dal-
las schools to create a
pipeline from graduation to
jobs without having to send
young people out of town.
“There is so much talent
that we lose because we
farm it out,” he said. “We
neglect to tell students the
opportunities that are right
here in their backyard.”
He said the advisory com-
mittee’s new task is creating
and “employability score”
for each graduate.
The score would track
what Ray calls professional
skills — punctuality, work
ethic, problem-solving skills
and critical-thinking abili-
ty — demonstrated while
students are in high school.
Business leaders would
help develop it, so they will
know what it means when
applicants present it on a re-
sume.
For students, he hopes
that applying a score for
those attributes will impress
upon them that technical
skills and knowledge aren’t
the only qualifications for
getting and keeping a job.
“I don’t care what you
want to do, but if you want
to be a professional at it,
you’ve got to show up on
time, you’ve got to work
hard, you’ve got to clean
up,” he said. “If you’re sup-
posed to work until 4, you
work until 4, then you
clean your stuff up and go
home.”
Next week, see what goes
on in CTE classrooms as
teachers prepare students
for careers.
Driver of submerged vehicle identified
Itemizer-Observer staff report
SALEM — The driver of the
vehicle found submerged in
the Willamette River has been
identified as Anne Marie Rose,
89, of Salem.
Investigators believe Rose
was operating her vehicle
when she accidently drove into
the water at the entrance to
the Buena Vista Ferry.
A ferry boat operated locat-
ed the submerged vehicle on
Nov. 21 at 8 p.m. in the Santiam
River near the Buena Vista ferry
ramp.
First responders arrived on
the scene shortly after.
The Sheriff's Office would
like to send its condolences to
Ms. Rose's family and thank the
below agencies for their assis-
tance in the recovery of Ms.
Rose and her vehicle.
LUCKIAMUTE
DOMESTIC WATER
COOPERATIVE
BOARD MEETING
St. Thomas Episcopal Church
Rainfall during Nov. — 6.10 in.
Rain through Nov. 27 — 47.36 in.
ANNUAL CHRISTMAS BAZAAR
&
HOLIDAY RUMMAGE SALE
Friday & Saturday
December 1st & 2nd
9:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Visit our
website
1486 SW Levens, Dallas
www.polkio.com
• swags
• ornaments
• gifts
• homemade goodies
& other items
• gently used clothing
Soup & Pie Luncheon both days!
For more information 503-917-9402
St. Philip Catholic Church
Annual Holiday Bazaar
Find us on
825 SW Mill St., Dallas
Sat. Dec. 2nd 9:00am - 2pm
FREE Admission
•Crafted Holiday Gifts & Decorations
•Homemade: Holiday Cookies,
Breads and Candies •Swags
• Centerpieces • Poinsettias • Wreaths
Soup & Pie Luncheon served All Day
Raffle & Silent Auction Tickets $2.00 each
Prizes include: Coast Trip for 2;
$300 Gift Card; and other cash prizes.
Proceeds benefit educational scholarships,
community & charitable parish activities.
For more info, Janet 503-623-5693
Retirement Reception
Sunday, Dec. 10
4:00 Program
Pastor Jerry & Joy Franz
Reception
to follow
Pastor Allan Wiebe
Evangelical Bible Church invites you
to join us in celebrating the life ministry
of both pastors.
Evangelical Bible Church • 1175 SW Howe St, Dallas, OR
Monday 7:00 p.m.
December 11th
503-838-2075
Location: Business Office
8585 Suver Rd. • Monmouth
Come and see me
for your hearing needs.
Mark Sturtevant
Serving the
community
since 1992.
503-623-0290 • 312 Main Street, Dallas