19 Jun Forklift Found

A Seattle school teacher sent out the call last month for a forklift and he found one thanks to Washington Liftruck.

Five companies responded to the request by teacher Chris Names. Washington Liftruck vice president Jeff Darling was able to make the necessary arrangements by the end of the school year, with the South Park firm providing training to the teacher and a forklift used by the students.

The experience enabled the students to earn a forklift training certificate from Mitsubishi. That credential was added to a long list of academic and vocational Core Plus credits earned by the students in shop safety, work habits, applied math, material science, tools and equipment use.

The Core Plus program is available to students from all high schools in the Seattle School District, with instruction taking place in the refurbished machine shop at Rainier Beach High School. Students take three hours of class time per day for two full semesters, adding up to more than 500 hours of training during the school year.

Teacher Chris Names in driver’s seat, with Jeff Darling and Jerry Klovas from Washington Liftruck.

One student highlighted in the video, Kay Duro, recently secured an internship at Breedt Production Tooling, and is preparing for engineering studies at the University of Washington. Other graduates have gone on to jobs immediately after high school graduation. Core Plus is designed to support students pursing jobs or more education after high school.

The Seattle program is one of 30 now available around the state based on industry-validated Core Plus learning objectives. Other Core Plus programs are available at the Puget Sound Skill Center in Burien, Auburn High School, Renton High School, and the Pierce County Skill Center based in Bethel.

The program available at Rainier Beach covers Aerospace Science and Technology with a focus on airframe mechanic skills. Seattle will add another Core Plus program next year in Marine Science and Technology. The marine program will eventually be based at Ballard High School.

If you, your company or organization wants to help students and teachers engaged in Core Plus contact Dave Gering at the Manufacturing Industrial Council, 206-762-2470, or send an email to dgering@box2063.temp.domains