DATE: Sunday, September 14, 1997            TAG: 9709120250

SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS     PAGE: 07   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: COVER STORY 

SOURCE: BY REBECCA MYERS CUTCHINS, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   50 lines

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION A SCHOOL BOARD PRIORITY

OVER THE YEARS, financial problems, outdated equipment and dwindling course enrollments contributed to the demise of most vocational education programs in Portsmouth.

But the tide seems to be shifting.

``The School Board has made it a priority again,'' said Tom Smithwick, the district's coordinator of vocational education. ``It was one of their top four priorities for this past year, and I'm hoping their focus will remain in that direction.''

One way the district is working to strengthen its vo-tech offerings is by establishing dual-enrollment programs with Tidewater Community College.

One such course began recently week at the GM Dealer Training Center on Turnpike Road in Portsmouth. About 15 students have enrolled in the auto mechanics class, taught by a TCC instructor.

Once they've completed the course, Smithwick said, the students will have the necessary certification to apply for jobs at dealerships. They'll also receive both high school and college credit for the course.

``Our focus is to make vocational education meaningful,'' Smithwick said. ``Once a student graduates with a diploma from Portsmouth, we want them to be able to move on somewhere else.''

Also new this year are courses in manufacturing and construction, both available at Woodrow Wilson High School.

``The purpose there is to give students some basic introduction into the construction industries so that they can go out and get a job as a work-release student with some skills,'' Smithwick said.

The district also offers a licensed practical nursing program, held at Hunt-Mapp Middle School, with on-the-job experience received at Maryview Medical Center; a horticulture program at S.H. Clarke Elementary School, but open to secondary students; and an electronics lab at I.C. Norcom High School.

All three high schools offer technical education classes (formerly called industrial arts), as well as family studies classes (once known as home economics) and business labs.

Smithwick, who has spent nearly three decades as a technical education teacher in Portsmouth, moved into his present position as coordinator of vocational education last year.

He is charged with evaluating the programs that are currently in place, assessing students' needs and accommodating them with programs that will address those needs.

``We're trying to move in the direction where our students will feel comfortable when they leave high school,'' Smithwick said. ``We're trying to make a high school diploma mean something again.''

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