Venice Skills Center Restores Summer School
By Marjorie
Hinds
Skills centers are the only
remaining vestige of what was once a comprehensive, affordable, post-secondary
education system in California.
At Venice Skills Center (VSC), tuition fees
range from $30 to $78 a semester. Programs include upholstery, clothing design,
graphic design, Web design, network operator, certified network administrator,
computer operator, dental assistant and dispensing optician.
Basic reading, ESL, GED, child care
and sign language classes are also
available.
“I was really worried
the computer lab would be closed over the summer,” says Jeremy Spears,
just one of the students who spoke about the crucial role VCS has played in
shaping his career.
Spears, who has a
congenital hearing loss, attends VSC because of the excellent services available
for students with disabilities. This summer he will use the computer lab to
prepare for the Cisco networking certification
examination.
Entry level salary for a
Cisco-certified computer administrator hovers around $45,000 annually. If you
can support yourself during the four semesters of training, as Spears did by
detailing cars, and if you can ante up $312 which is the total cost of the
program, then you can succeed, as Spears did. He landed the job of his dreams
immediately upon completing the program.
Cisco student John Tabor chose VSC
because the program emphasizes hands-on training. “VSC is the only place
to go,” he says. “Other schools offer paper certification, they
teach to the test. This is the only place offering applied
training.”
Despite the overall
good news, students who attend evening classes, including Tabor, are not sharing
in the celebration. Cisco networking is one of the classes which has been cut
from night schedule this
summer.
Upholstery and clothing design
students are being dealt the toughest blow. These programs will not be offered
this summer and may be permanently discontinued. Enthusiastic upholstery
students are not taking this lying down, however. Petitions are circulating and
students are attending LAUSD Board meetings demanding the popular course be
continued.
Upholstery student Anna Rae
points out the ecological benefit of the trade. “American consumers throw
so much away,” she says, “if it isn’t perfect they throw it
out. Reupholstering is
recycling.”
Gabriela and
Rigoberto Franco spend evenings at VSC redoing furniture for their home and
making plans to open a small business based on skills they learn in class.
Gabriela also attends day classes—working towards her GED. The
couple’s business plans hinge upon continuation of the course.
The good news is that LAUSD responds
to pressure. The resumption of summer classes demonstrates this fact. The
long-term survival of Venice Skills Center cannot be taken for granted, however,
and the message is clear: Stay aware and stay involved.
Posted: Wed - June 1, 2005 at 02:00 PM