By Peggy Savage
Sparks were flying last week at Cascade Senior High School during a Career and Technical Education (CTE) Junior Camp hosted by the school.
Incoming 6th, 7th and 8th-grade students in the district were invited to enroll in the summer camp, where Cascade teachers provided students with an opportunity to learn, create and have fun doing it. About 45 kids enrolled, rotating in blocks of categories for hands-on training in welding, agriculture, health occupations, robotics, masonry, woods, computers, running a CNC Plasma Cutter and more.
Middle school student Corbin Smith said learning how to weld was something he’ll never forget.
“I was shaking,” Corbin said. “I was scared I would burn myself. It was crazy. I thought I’d hurt someone, but I didn’t.”
Cascade social studies teacher Lisa Iverson applied for a CTE grant through the Oregon Department of Education and received $45,000 to run the free, week-long summer camp for two years.
“This is so important for our community,” Iverson said. “Not all kids will go to college, but that does not mean they should not have access to high-wage, high-demand jobs. Finally, the state has caught up to that notion that we need the trades. That is where many shortages are, and many kids from Cascade are going into the trades.”
The school’s manufacturing center teacher is Lisa’s husband, John Iverson, one of the teachers for the CTE camp.
“We can thank voters for passing Measure 98,” Lisa Iverson said. “Cascade is using those funds to put equipment in the hands of kids, last year and next. Finally John [Iverson] is getting what kids need. He’s been strapped by the prohibitive cost of equipment needed, but now with Measure 98 funds, they finally have allowed our school to put equipment into the hands of students who are getting valuable training. We have a virtual welder, a new CNC Plasma Cutter and more. Now our kids are actually making projects and learning skills they will find in the workplace. I want the community to know how valuable this is. Our five days of hands-on, brains-on learning has concluded for this summer. But we need support to continue these programs.”
On June 21, students at camp finished the first round of ‘blocks’ in masonry, woods and computer science. A health block had the kids loading a “body” into an ambulance and learning from EMTs, nurses and paramedics. During the health block, the kids also “drove” an adult tricycle through a course wearing
special goggles to learn how it feels
to drive impaired.
Iverson said there are a lot of different models for the camp, but Cascade teachers decided to acquaint kids with as many trades as possible.
“There’s a huge demand for these kinds of jobs,” she said. “Our goal is to help kids get there, if that’s their career goal. But also, we want to send a message that you don’t have to go to college, and the state finally is paying attention to that fact, a fact we have recognized here at Cascade for a long time. That’s what’s so neat about Cascade – we can do things that make sense for kids.”
Equity in the trades – getting girls into jobs like welding – is also a focus. 12-year-old Noelle Bradley and Amy Wallin were just two of the girls who benefited from that during the camp. The girls learned alongside the guys as teachers introduced them to welding, woods and masonry.
Community partners helped make the camp a success. Apryl Fouts of Willamette Valley Underground offered use of an excavator and a horizontal drill that kids operated. Stayton Builders Mart donated materials for the masonry block.
Cascade teachers participating included Dan Britton, computer science; Tom Ptacek, woods and masonry; John Iverson, welding and masonry; Becky Pineda, agriculture; Stephanie Cox, Health Occupations; and math teacher Eric Anderson assisted. High school students, including FFA members and the CHS Hotwire Robotics team, helped
teach in the metals, agriculture
and robotics blocks.
Computer Science teacher Britton’s “Maker Space” block led students through projects building things through engineering.
“They got to experiment,” Britton said.
They made a battery out of pennies that created enough electricity to power an LED light, built a “Robo-Arm” demonstrating how to use simple items to make something useful; and a “Robotic Hand” made out of straws to mimic the hand’s movement. The kids also learned about encryption. Britton showed how Thomas Jefferson created the cipher wheel to send secret messages, and the kids created messages for others
to decode.
In the AG Block, Becky Pineda taught about Oregon commodities, planting patio pots to take home, and FFA kids brought their animals in the school barn – pigs, sheep, rabbits and chickens. The kids made ice cream to eat in class, and learned about milk defects, grading eggs, identifying cheeses and AG judging.
Hotwire Robotics team members, including CHS junior Sydney Rothweiler, taught how to build robots.
“It’s fun teaching kids to do it, but don’t know if I’d want to go into the teaching profession” Rothweiler said. “Kids don’t always listen.”
