TULALIP — When the Seattle Goodwill started its Youth Aerospace Program five years ago, it was aiming to take advantage of the high density of aerospace manufacturing expertise in Snohomish County.
But as Andy Herbst, director of its job training and education center, explained to the 16 students of the local aerospace program’s most recent graduates June 24, the course was also based on a belief in their potential.
“We wanted to give you a chance to create economic opportunities for yourselves,” Herbst said at the Tulalip Administration Building, where the ceremony took place. “Compare yourselves when you started the program to where you are now. Have you tapped into that potential?”
Herbst acknowledged that the students are at “a weird age, when we still talk to you like you’re children, but expect you to act like adults,” but he commended them for choosing a course for their future, and following through with it.
Herbst’s praise was echoed by Tania Siler, manager of the Marysville Goodwill’s job training and education center, and Monique Edwards, supervisor of the aerospace program.
This article was originally published by KIRK BOXLEITNER of the Marysville Globe
