News
San Diego community leaders lobby state leaders to support early childhood education
Posted on May 21, 2013
Category: Early Childhood Education / Day Care Centers
Leaders from a Southern California county spent a good part of Monday lobbying legislators to devote more resources to early childhood education, according to a published report.Community leaders from San Diego County were in Sacramento to advocate for additional resources directed to programming for early childhood education and preschool, The San Diego Union-Tribune reports.The leaders said they are confident that the investment will pay dividends up the road."It's building the future leaders of tomorrow," president Rudolph Johnson with Neighborhood House Association of San Diego told the news source.The Neighborhood House Association conducts early childhood education programs for low-income parents, according to the organization's website. It helps develop children, families and future leaders.Assemblywoman Shirley Weber is hoping that Governor Jerry Brown is cognizant of the effort for preschool and childcare funding, and that he supports it. The senate is now deciding on the (funding) measure after the assembly unanimously passed it on Monday.The governor and legislators answered the economic downturn by drawing spending for various social programs such as cuts to early childhood education by at least $1 billion and 110,000 child care openings during the past five years.The 2013-2014 budget proposal offered by Brown offers increasing spending by $12 million, but the assemblywoman said that more funding is very necessary.The benefits to strong early childhood education include reduced likelihood of dropping out of school prior to completing studies and being awarded a degree. Children who are in good early childhood education programs also have less likelihood of ending up behind bars."Either we're going to invest in law enforcement to the teeth or are we going to start diverting some of that money into things that are preventive in nature," president Ray King with the Urban League of San Diego County told the media outlet.President Lei-Chala Wilson with the San Diego branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People said jails are chock-full of people who did not go to preschool."I do see a direct correlation between education and incarceration," said Wilson, who also is a county public defender.The past 36 months have seen programming at the Neighborhood House endure roughly $1 million in cuts, prompting the organization to deal with various reductions."Those are all bad choices. Choices we hate to make, but are forced to make," the organization president told the media outlet, noting the children need the help and an advocate. "If they don't have that opportunity early, they are that much more farther behind."
Montana welding students help with public arts project
Posted on May 21, 2013
Category: Workforce Development
High school welding students in the Montana capital are leaving their mark on a park in the city, according to a published report.Helena officials have commissioned the industrial students at Helena High to craft a metal base for signs at Centennial Park, The Independent Record reports. This past Monday, Emilio Romero was crafting a metal base while Josh Williams was welding a leg for the base of the sign as peers kept busy with additional components of the project.Director Amy Teegarden with the Helena Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces department told the news source that the project kicked off when Helena Public Arts Committee members asked her about the possibility of placing artwork in Centennial Park. Negotiations ensued and they reached a pact that outlines the public arts project be low maintenance and provide various purposes, the director said.The signs that the welding students create will not be painted but they will be permitted to corrode and rust. The signs will point to particular regions of the park, some of which have not yet been constructed. Dog signs will assist with understanding of where the dog park is going to be situated and a sign that welders create in the shape of a rock climber will notate where the climbing boulder will go.Welding instructor Cynthia Galbavy said the students are tasked with putting together eight signs.Local artists first manifested designs for the signs. They then proceeded to share them with the students, whose responsibilities were to redraw them with the assistance of a computer program. That program is linked with a plasma cam machine, which aids with cutting designs from metal sheets.Cutting the smaller dog signs was simple, the welding instructor said. But doing so with the bigger signs was more difficult due to the need to move the sheets of metal."I really like the student involvement because it helps highlight the talent in the community," the director told the news source.The work included the efforts of 40 students who began working on the project last week. A deadline is looming as they need to finalize the work before school is out for the summer.Welders are poised to see career opportunities develop at a 15 percent pace during the 10-year period leading to 2020, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
California high school welding team captures state championship
Posted on May 20, 2013
Category: Workforce Development
A high school welding team from Southern California captured a state championship in the industrial trade for the first time in five years, according to a published report.Competing against 18 teams and 68 contestants, the Future Farmers of America Agriculture Welding Team with the Ernest Righetti High School in Santa Monica seized the crown at Cuesta Community College California, The Santa Maria Times reports.The team's advisor said the magnitude of the accomplishment by no means should be underestimated."This is a big deal," adviser Jim English with FFA told the news source. "What a wonderful journey. They can look back at their accomplishments forever."Consisting of five members - Tanner Tuttle, Devin Miller, Justin Rich and Patrick Stemlock – the team also has a member who snagged the First High Individual and the second highest prize. Those individuals, respectively, were Tuttle and Miller.The competition was difficult and represented the opportunity for the team to look forward and prepare for the future, Tuttle told the media outlet."Building career skills was not easy, but very rewarding," Tuttle said.Among the tasks charged to the team during the competition was reading blueprints and assembling many different positions. They also were able to exhibit various processes of welding while presenting their portfolios of work. They showed the certified work within the realm of the American Welding Society.For the past two months, the Santa Monica high school team has been demonstrating its skill throughout the state. The squad captured first place during a recent welding completion at Hancock College.For their efforts, they were awarded personalized welding jackets.According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, career prospects for welders are poised to develop at a 15 percent pace during the 10-year period leading to 2020. In 2010, the median pay of welders was more than $35,000 per year.
