Construction Technology - Tama Faamausili from Odyssey and Poe Time from TEC

In a spacious shop, a crew of teenagers is pounding away on a wall that will become part of a pre-fabricated home. In the shop next door, students are bent over the engines of cars, diagnosing problems and making repairs. In another room, students are prepping a vehicle for a fresh paint job.

Across the courtyard is a classroom where students are sketching designs for high-fashion sportswear. In other classrooms, students are producing digital animation projects, programming video games, and designing websites.

Dental - Anna Thorson (Tahoma High School) taking xrays – Tahoma

Steps away is a clinic where students are assisting dentists and dental hygienists who are providing basic cleaning and dental care for low-income families.

The smell of delicious food lures you into a huge professional kitchen where students dressed in white chef’s uniforms are sauteing, chopping, and stirring. Others are putting flourishes on delicate pastries, which are being served in the Class Act Restaurant adjoining the kitchen.

Outside, a group of young men and women are practicing a drill with a fire hose.

Firefighting program practicing fire hose management skills.

All of this – and more—is happening on one campus!

This is Highline’s Puget Sound Skills Center (PSSC), one of 13 skills centers in Washington State. PSSC draws students from Federal Way, Tahoma, and Tukwila school districts, as well as Highline. It offers college preparatory and career education in 18 fields from instructors who all have real-world experience in the fields they are teaching. The equipment available in each program is state-of-the-art, and each program has an advisory board made up of industry leaders to ensure programs stay on the cutting edge. PSSC has a diverse array of programs, from criminal justice to engineering design to environmental and marine science to business management.

For a full list of programs, click here...>

Para una lista llena de programas, haga clic aquí...>

The two-and-a-half-hour daily program accepts high school juniors and seniors. Students spend half their school day at their neighborhood school, doing core curriculum, and spend the other half at PSSC immersed in a field of their choosing.

Dean of Students Dave Estes, Director Sue Shields, Assistant Principal Todd Moorhead

"Students choose PSSC because they are treated more like adults, they are able to work independently on projects or products they are passionate about, and it’s 'hands-on' learning," says Director Sue Shields. "We help our students achieve their personal goals and prepare them for a focused career and further training or education." Dr. Shields points out that PSSC students can earn college credit and a number of business and industry certifications while still in high school.

"The skills taught at PSSC have benefit for all students," says teacher Michael McSweeney. "Those bound for universities and traditional college education, as well as those bound for technical or trade schools and careers."

Areli Galaviz graduated last year after two years in PSSC's Translation and Interpretation program. After a few months of soul searching, she decided her true passion was in law enforcement. She plans to attend California State University in San Bernardino and pursue a bachelor's degree in criminal justice. "You had more influence on my than you can imagine!" she tells her former instructor, Betsy Ainsworth-Grimm. "I may not be an interpreter/translator, but you taught me some great things. The skills I learned at PSSC were some of the best."

Culinary Arts-Alex Ojeda from AAA

Senior Alex Hayden agrees. He knows the video game and computer programming skills he's learned will help him land the career he wants. But "along with those skills, I have also gotten better at working well with others, and that will make it easier to get along with others in the workforce." That's no small thing, given that business experts say the ability to collaborate with others is a key twenty-first-century workplace skill.

PSSC parent Karen Henderson credits the PSSC Culinary Arts program for her son's employment. "Four days after Robert graduated, he started his first job. He had a 30-minute interview with the manager and they hired him on the spot. He is now working full time," says Henderson. "When the manager saw Robert's résumé, he was very impressed."

DMP learning web design - Sergio (Junior) Avitia - HS3 and teacher Edward Etherington

PSSC programs often capture the imagination of students who are less than motivated in a traditional classroom environment. "Many students find their passion at PSSC," says digital media instructor Edward Etherington. "I love the hands-on and the 'I-get-it' that students learn from the project-based curriculum."

"I was bored and my classes were too easy," says Phillip Atkinson, whose passion is computer technology. He had taken all the computer classes offered at his home school. "By the time I got to the harder, more challenging classes, I didn't understand anything," he says.

In his junior year, Phillip enrolled in PSSC. He liked the warm and supportive atmosphere where questions are answered readily and classmates help each other with their work. "This kept me in school because I got interested and challenged," Phillip says. "I really was going to drop out if it wasn't for this place, and now I am going to go to college full time."

- Student “anchors” Brandi Sheridan (Thomas Jefferson High School) and Alex Matthews (homeschool student) in front of green screen.

PSSC also provides a program for a small number of students who need to make up academic credits in order to graduate. Students complete their academic classes as well as career and technical education on the PSSC campus. Students can choose to get their diploma from the neighborhood school where they started high school, or from newly-created Puget Sound High School—PSSC's academic component. The program provides a tight-knit small school atmosphere.

Lisa Klein says her daughter came to PSSC "angry, frustrated, and demoralized by the traditional high school approach to education." Klein says the relationships, rapport, and respect Danielle developed with PSSC staff made the difference. She found the school work interesting and learned how to market herself. "She left with a vision about where she wants to go and knows how to get there. Not only that, but she has the confidence that she will succeed and the tools to make it happen," says Klein. "It is astounding when I think of where she was emotionally [when she came to PSSC] and how she has blossomed into who she is today."

"My proudest moments are when I see a boy become a man or a girl become a woman right here on this campus," says McSweeney, who teaches the credit retrieval program, known as VITAL. "I have seen unmotivated teenagers walk through our doors in September who walk out in June with a plan, a vision, and a level of self-actualization they did not have before."

Though the VITAL program is a lifeline for some students, the vast majority of PSSC students take classes in their neighborhood high schools half of the day.

Sea Mar Dental Clinic on site

Amanda Gibbon, a senior from Mount Rainier High School enrolled in PSSC's Digital Media Production program, has already turned her PSSC training into a part-time job. She works in the school district communication office posting updates to the district's website. "PSSC has helped me tremendously to prepare for college because this school treats you like you are in college or the job field," says Amanda.

Amanda's instructor put her in charge of producing a video message about PSSC to send to legislators in Olympia. "She organized, interviewed students, videotaped, edited, and produced copies of the video as her senior project," brags her mother, Mari Kannon.

A 2005 graduate of the Digital Media Production program, Maria Wardian, is just the kind of success story PSSC staff loves to tell. Maria attended Seattle Central Community College—renowned for its excellent video production program—then went on to earn a bachelor's degree in film and digital media at The Evergreen State College. She is now a producer at Screaming Flea Productions in Seattle, where she works on nationally syndicated programs for networks such as A &E and the History Channel.

PSSC Office Manager Ardieta Gunstone

PSSC prepares students for such successes by linking them to the workplace through leadership opportunities and internships. It gives them adult responsibilities - access to expensive equipment and sophisticated information technology, for example. And perhaps most importantly, PSSC give students a place to build their skills, and consequently their self-confidence.

"I strongly believe in the mission of career and technical education to provide great pathways to personal success," says Dr. Shields. "I believe this kind of education makes our world a better one."