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Show Changing economy creates need for retraining classes By TOM BUSSELBERG KAYSVILLE - Education just isn't what it used to be. It also isn't for just the "younger set" as it used to be, either. Let's imagine this ideal situation: situa-tion: man and wife marry, husband goes off to work at the job he always al-ways wanted; couple has children; wife stays home with kids; children are raised, couple lives happily ever after. That scenario seemed to fit many, if not most people some years ago. Today, that occurance is far more a rarity than the "norm." Take the case of Charles Pokor-ny Pokor-ny of Lay ton. He was working as a machinest for Union Pacific Railroad. After eight years in Omaha, the giant firm's headquarters, he decided to move to Utah, feeling secure it was a good move with a company that's become synomous with the making of these United States. The roof started caving in after the family's arrival here though. UP's merger with Missouri and Western Pacific railroads sounded natural enough, but it wasn't long before job layoffs started hitting some. Among those was Charles, with the layoffs continuing. "I stayed home for a year," he said, relying on UP severence pay and his wife's job at IRS to survive. "I would sit and feel sorry for myself," he recalls. "You've just got to find out there's another world out there" besides that job you've been forced to give up. You also must give up the notion of having hav-ing to earn as much as you did as a miner, say, Charles continues. After that "what am I going to do?" phase, it's time for action, the now-Davis Area Vocational Center Cen-ter student says. He's what's known in educator's jargon as a "dislocated worker," much the same as hundreds of - Kennecott or Geneva Steel workers, work-ers, says Larry Brice, assistant director of the center. Mr. Pokorny has been enrolled in Joe Seeley's machinest class for about two months, now. The course as outlined takes 12-14 months to complete, but he's trying to move at as fast a pace as he feels comfortable with. "This is the greatest place I could be at right now," he stresses. "I've worked around a lot of tool and dye shops, set up presses, done job maintenance." He modestly admits to "some advantage" over other, younger students because he owns his own set of tools. He also carries that mark of experience ex-perience that only comes in the living. liv-ing. "I would tell them (younger students) to pay attention, not do as I did. I had a real good apprenticeship apprenti-ceship but didn't settle down." It looks like Charles is "settled down" now, though. "It isn't so bad (job loss) if you find you're capable of something (else)." He confidently speaks of mastering master-ing algebra and trigonometry-a feat he never dreamed possible before be-fore attending DAVC. "The math class takes you through! It's set up so the average individual can make something out of it. I don't know if it's taught in a better way or just more simplified. "It used to be there was no marginal mar-ginal level. If a student couldn't keep up, he dropped out. Now you (can) work at your own pace. You can still get it, just take it at your own pace." Charles heard about the DAVC from his son, Michael, who had enrolled en-rolled in machining as a high school senior, took some time off and is now back in the program half days. Dad hopes to get a job in January and continue his training either at night or part-time during the day. "This school is set up pretty well. If you don't mind getting a little dirty. They seem to take you through every phase to job place-ment-that's the bottom line." "About half our students are adults retraining or a displaced homemaker (see related story, same page)," Mr. Brice says. "Why is it important to train adults? That doesn't make much sense until something disastrous happens." Divorce, desertion, sudden death. ..all of those occurances force change. So does the rapid, ongoing advancement adv-ancement of technology where it's not so easy to stick with the same job through a lifetime, he adds. |