Prologue

I never dreamed I would be on the stage at Nashville, Tennessee named the 1996 National AAFCS Teacher of the Year. From Washington state, I was a small town girl from Yakima, who moved to the big city – Seattle. A quick idea in 1993 and its eventual success catapulted me into the spotlight along with our program, department, and career pathway. The project developed from a newspaper article I had read earlier that day, one that forecast the possibility of a new cruise ship industry for our community.  Eventually this cruising industry and tourism would increasingly connect our programs to the hospitality field. This is the story of an original idea and gains made from 1993 - 2003.

It happened in 1993, in the midst of closing for the school year, graduation, and fundraising to get twelve students to the National FCCLA Conference in Anaheim, CA. It was just before the School-to-Work movement, and before the national name changes to Family and Consumer Sciences and FCCLA.  It would be five years before the Family and Consumer Sciences Education National Standards would be implemented.  It preceded my receiving major state and national awards and was before I accepted and ran for State and National offices in a professional association.  It was happening before I knew I was capable of being a state and national presenter.  It created a foundation and interest in tourism but occurred well before a statewide collaboration resulted in opportunities for high school students to enter the hospitality and lodging industry through ProStart, Lodging Management and the Academy of Travel and Tourism. It happened when no one knew much about post-secondary scholarships, competitions, internships, and the benefit of partners in industry. It was an idea born with an article about federal government changes in the cruising industry. Permission for cruise ships to dock and load passengers on the waterfront of Seattle’s Elliot Bay would still be eight years away.  Piers had to be built, laws changed, and adequate publicity and delivery of services would need to be managed before the touring public launched its own chapter of the state’s largest industry and cruises were opened to Alaska, Mexico, Canada, and the Pacific Coast.  It also happened before the opportunity came for me to become the Health and Human Services Pathway leader and a School-to-Work specialist for Seattle Public Schools.  It happened before I left the school, classroom, colleagues, and students I had come to love over the previous twenty-five years.

It was the award-winning project of the 1996 National AAFCS Teacher of the Year, the result of a quickly determined, eye-catching idea diagramed on the back of a napkin and mulled over during lunch with my colleague the day after school ended in 1993. After three years, the Ingraham High School ‘Bridge’ project yielded data and positive results in school climate and learning gains, benefiting the entire school. It established a Career Pathway, increasing interest and attracting many visitors. In 1996, the Washington Association of Family and Consumer Sciences (WAFCS) submitted this project for National TOY recognition as the state’s winning project with a Career Awareness/ Job Skill Training program focus. 

 On the Bridge

Welcome aboard the S.S. Ingraham! 

Goal:  to transform a Family & Consumer Sciences program at Ingraham High School in the state of Washington to align with School-to-work programs, Career Pathways, and school reform.

The project:  to hold the attention and captivate approximately 230 incoming ninth graders, utilize a cruise ship simulation of the ‘S.S. Ingraham’, and create activities themed around cruise ship life and work in a well-designed unit on a 7 – 8 day rotation. This cruising simulation would be offered in twelve rotating cycles (along with 12 other departments), with limited or no extra funding, to assist students in career planning and market the Home and Family Life Department (now Family and Consumer Sciences) and Health and Human Services Pathway to all ninth graders, starting with the class of 1994.

The need:  to increase the number of students making Ingraham High School their first school of choice; reduce student attrition and stabilize the entire school enrollment; focus on a ninth grader’s need for inclusiveness, development, and success; increase student and staff opportunity for unity and teamwork; raise student grade point averages, develop and promote Career Pathway opportunities; and have fun.

Background:  In the early 1990’s, Ingraham HS, the outermost school in the Seattle School District, was isolated from more centrally located schools in the district’s core.  Distance and a lengthy bus ride contributed to Ingraham’s problem of drawing students. Programs were adequate but not exciting or extraordinary.  In 1993, at a particularly low point in morale, staff felt the $15 million dollar school property, with a modern swimming pool and 14 acres of available land, might easily be closed and re-designed as the School District’s administrative center. A saying commonly heard, was ‘ Will the last person leaving Ingraham please turn off the lights?’ Adding to existing challenges, the Washington State Legislature established learning goals with assessments in mind. In 1993 House Bill 1209 empowered the Commission for Student Learning to introduce these four learning goals to be distributed across content areas, and eventually tested in grade 3, 8, and 10:

• Goal 1: Reading, Writing, Communication, and Math

• Goal 2: Science, Art, Social Studies, and Health and Fitness

• Goal 3: Process and Critical Thinking Skills

• Goal 4: The Relevance of Work.

My project:  I have included only the curriculum portion for the ‘Career Pathways / BRIDGE’ project. The total project included:

1)     a scope and sequence of career preparation and unduplicated themes for eleven courses, including comprehensive,  specialized, and tech prep.

2)     the 8 day introductory unit for every ninth grader, based upon a cruise ship theme.

3)     a Career Pathways/Workforce model drafted for Health & Human Services

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