Opening up Exciting Opportunities for Students
A Core Plus Aerospace program is designed to inspire students, motivate them and equip them with the knowledge, skills and confidence to land well-paying careers and be successful in life after high school. The Core Plus Aerospace program at Lynnwood High School did just this for Damarion Williams.
“After being in Core Plus Aerospace I thought it would be really cool to take that into a real profession,” Damarion said. “I felt confident enough to apply to Boeing. They contacted me for an interview, it went really well and they offered me an Integral Fuel Cell Assembly position. I happily accepted.”
The Core Plus Aerospace program at Lynnwood High School is open to all high school students in the Edmonds School District. The aerospace manufacturing pathway in the District offers students opportunities including:
“There is a lot of knowledge and skills that are transferable from my class, like print reading, drilling, working together and time management,” said Lance Groesbeck, Core Plus Aerospace instructor at Lynnwood High School. “Students have gone on to work at Boeing, work with sheet metal in the HVAC industry, and attend a four-year college. There is a lot of opportunities through the curriculum to see what possibilities they might be able to be a part of.”
Lance added that one of the things he loves about teaching Core Plus Aerospace is helping students connect what they are learning in the classroom to what they will do in the future.
“Core Plus Aerospace really helped me in high school and build a better work ethic,” said William Christianson, a Core Plus Aerospace student at Lynnwood High School. “I’m excited about my future and to see how I can push the skills I’ve learned in this class to the next level and really use them to build my own life.”
Damarion currently is working at Boeing’s Everett facility. He thinks more students should think about taking Core Plus Aerospace and exploring a manufacturing career as early as possible because it will help them in the long run.
“Core Plus Aerospace is a fun class that teaches you a lot of life skills,” Damarion said. “It opens a lot of opportunities for you.”