Northwest Aerospace News December | January Issue No. 12 | Page 27

“The best engineers are the people who know how to use
the tools,” Garrettson said. “The practical experience (in
the Core Plus shops and classrooms) helps inform your
education.”
And students at the Sno-Isle TECH Skills Center in Ever-
ett — which is basically across the street from Boeing’s
Everett site — have the option of enrolling in a modified
Running Start program. Students can graduate with that and
apply 40 credits to an Everett Community College program
to earn their Federal Aviation Administration airframe and
powerplant certifications.
Graduates who get their A&P certificates can become Grade
9 flightline mechanics at Boeing. After six years, flightline
mechanics earn roughly 45 dollars an hour at Boeing, with
good benefits, said Kareen Vincent, who teaches Core Plus
classes at Sno-Isle. With overtime, most take home more
than 100,000 thousand dollars a year.
Core Plus graduates can be earning that kind of money
when they’re still in their 20s, she said.
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