North Mason program gets $40K maritime grant

North Mason School District's CORE+ Maritime program recently received a $40,000 grant that will help pay for the program's supplies and equipment as it expands from woodworking into metalworking and body shop operations, using lumber, epoxy composites and molded fiberglass.

The grant was provided through the Legislature's allocation for the CORE+ Maritime programs.

Gavin Forseth teaches woodworking and CORE+ Maritime, and is the district's Career and Technical Education Department leader. Lexi Hadfield is the director of both Career and Technical Education and Alternative Learning Experience for the district, and is the principal of its alternative school program.

Forseth has been teaching CORE+ Maritime for the past year, introducing it to the district and applying last fall for the grant that arrived earlier this year.

"Kitsap does fiberglass, but we're the only CORE+ program that does molded fiberglass," Forseth told the Herald. "Our CORE+ Maritime program perfectly fits the needs of our local industries."

CORE+ was designed to provide Washington students with hands-on learning and skills that can lead to careers in the aerospace, construction and maritime industries.

Forseth described North Mason's CORE+ Maritime as "giving each kid their own class" on boat-making, because every student is required to build their own plywood and fiberglass boats. Hadfield praised Forseth for "meeting each student where they are" in terms of their skills and abilities, which she believes can help the students achieve a proficiency within the maritime field that goes "beyond mastery," so long as "they're willing to put in the effort."

Hadfield and Forseth agreed that CORE+ certification is a standard requirement for entry-level employment in the statewide maritime industry, from shipyards to Taylor Shellfish.

Conversations with Forseth's students show many of them discovered they learn better in CORE+ classes than more traditionally structured classrooms, which has led to increases in classroom attendance and engagement, Hadfield told the Journal.

Forseth has been happy to foster further student progress by embracing collaborative methods, especially for a career that remains relevant from Washington to Alaska.

Forseth said programs such as CORE+ Maritime not only improve students' proficiency in CTE subjects, regardless of the industry, but also bolster their abilities to solve problems and work with others, regardless of the career or continued education paths they pursue.

Forseth, who grew up around Allyn, said he's pleased to see the state supporting the restoration of vocational education courses such as woodworking, even prior to their expansion into more ambitious programs such as CORE+ Maritime.

Those interested in seeing North Mason School District students get put through their paces by the CORE+ Maritime program can check out visuals of their progress at http://www.instagram.com/nmhs_cpmaritimeboatbuilders.

Author Bio

Kirk Boxleitner, Reporter

Shelton-Mason County Journal & Belfair Herald
kboxleitner@masoncounty.com