Northwest Aerospace News December | January Issue No. 12 | Page 28

A
nd if they don’t want to work at
Boeing — or if they get caught up in
one of the industry’s periodic layoff
cycles — those A&P certificates allow
workers to move into good-paying
jobs with airlines or as general aviation
mechanics. That’s great long-term job
security, Vincent said. This year, she’s got 53 students in her
Sno-Isle program, drawn from high
schools across Snohomish and Island
counties.
For most high school students, “It’s
their best chance to earn a good living
without getting a four-year degree,”
said Vincent, who was herself a Boe-
ing flightline mechanic before she got
into teaching. “These kids are really
stoked, and ambitious.” “We do safety,” she said. “We do math.
We do physics.”
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NORTHWEST AEROSPACE NEWS
They’re getting the basic training they
need to move into Boeing factory jobs,
Vincent said.
As the school year progresses, they’ll
spend less time in the classroom and
more in the “lab” — a series of work-
stations that duplicate what graduates
will find if they hire on at Boeing’s
Everett factory, which the students can
see from the Sno-Isle parking lot.
At those workstations, they’ll learn
blueprint reading and spend up to 90
minutes a day doing the things that
aerospace mechanics do, she said:
“drilling, riveting, filling in our mis-
takes.”
Sno-Isle graduates who’ve gone on to
jobs at Boeing are doing well, Vincent
said. “They’re exceeding expecta-
tions.”