DATE: Sunday, October 26, 1997              TAG: 9710260061

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: BY PAM LOWNEY, CORRESPONDENT 

DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY                    LENGTH:   67 lines

CAREER NIGHT WILL FOCUS ON OPENINGS IN CONSTRUCTION

The local Job-Ready effort has more ways to prepare students for the work force than a carpenter has tools.

Carpenters themselves, on the other hand, are harder to find than a nail in a pile of sawdust.

To highlight both situations, the PASCAM JobReady Partnership and the Northeastern North Carolina Home Builders Association will host a career night at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Media Center of Camden County High School.

Craftspeople from the construction trades will provide information on education, training, earnings and opportunities for skilled workers such as carpenters brickmasons and plumbers.

``There are jobs that go vacant, and they are not minimum-wage jobs,'' said Doris J. Creps, coordinator of the school-to-work alliance between Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Public Schools, Camden County Public Schools and The College of the Albemarle. ``There are good jobs out there.''

Mark Swimme, owner of Swimme & Son building contractors and chairman of the home builders apprenticeship committee, said: ``We need quality people trained in carpentry. Out of three building contractors that I know personally, we could probably hire four or five carpenters right now if they were qualified.''

Swimme said while the area has 30 to 40 contractors, the carpentry apprentice program has just 10 students - and openings for up to 20 more. He said participants become journeyman carpenters in four years with on-the-job training and classes at The College of the Albemarle. He estimated that youths who take qualifying classes in high school can finish the program up to a year sooner.

Creps said that, in addition to carpenters, ``We have a deficit in brickmasons. Drywall installers - you can't get one if your house falls in. The classifieds have ads every day for plumbers, electricians, and heating and air conditioning installers.''

PASCAM JobReady's involvement in Tuesday's event is part of its efforts to focus students' learning on being productive in the work force and their communities. The state-funded partnership promotes career awareness in elementary school, career exploration in middle school and career preparation in high school. It also stresses the need for ``lifelong learning'' and the ability to adapt one's goals and skills to changing technology.

``The jobs (young people) get today are not going to be jobs they keep,'' Creps said. ``They have to continue learning because their skills will become obsolete.''

She said JobReady helps students make stronger connections between what they learn and how to use it. For example, Northeastern High School offers a two-year health academy in which students fulfill typical graduation requirements while also pursuing electives, internships and senior projects related to health careers. They finish the program as certified medical assistants.

Job shadowing is another example. Students - and teachers - follow a professional, a businessperson or a skilled tradesperson through his or her work day. They discover practical applications for classroom subjects.

Creps said apprenticeships, career academies, job shadowing and other opportunities under the JobReady umbrella are for both college-bound and vocation-bound students. In fact, tomorrow's jobs make fewer such distinctions.

``Not everybody has to go to college. But we do want kids to realize that they don't get out of high school and stop learning. They'll always have to be open to new things.'' ILLUSTRATION: Graphic

CAREER NIGHT

[For complete graphic, please see microfilm]

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