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Lee Lambert, President of SCC
and Don Nielsen, Private-Sector
Education Expert recently presented
the college and emphasized
its concerns to Forward Shoreline,
a non-profit team that focuses on
recognizing and advocating local
investment opportunities.
Their message was simple: Primary
education and post-secondary
preparation programs need to
be improved in order to promote
students’ success in post-secondary
education institutions like
SCC.
“It’s a crisis,” said Nielsen.
“Failure to educate our children
puts our democracy at risk. It puts
our lifestyle at risk.”
Nielsen also emphasized that
a significant number of students
who apply for admission to SCC
and other secondary institutions
are unable to meet entry-level
academic requirements. In addition,
test scores are far too low
and unsubstantial for students to
be eligible for admission.
Nielsen attributes these setbacks
to the lack of educational
preparation while students were in
grades K-12. This, he claims, is the
first factor that must be addressed
in order to Shoreline to grow and
become more successful.
He advocated for increased requirements
for educators in order
to provide students with more
guidance through their primary
education.
In support of Nielsen’s claims,
Lambert brought forth SCC’s
structured and disciplined academic
programs to Forward
Shoreline.
“The high school dropout rate
in this country is shameful,” said
Lambert. “Here at Shoreline
Community College we have excellent
programs in place to address
this situation in Seattle and
the Greater Seattle area.”
The campus developed the LCN,
CEO and High School Programs
to address the challenge of helping
students prepare for entry into
their post-secondary education.
Each program is tailored to fit
each student’s ability level instead
of age, like K-12 schools, and has
proven to be remarkably effective
with regards to helping students
succeed in the college environment.
In spite of SCC’s success at
preparing students for entry into
post-secondary education, Lambert
notes that there are many
challenges to include funding in
support of these efforts.
“The state is not able to meet our
needs to keep up with ever-changing
industries,” said Lambert.
With this, he emphasized the
need for local investors to form a
partnership with SCC in order to
promote economic development in
the city of Shoreline.
To demonstrate the efficacy of
a college-community partnership,
Lambert used the development of
the Automotive Training Center
at SCC.
Before the facility was built,
students were literally learning
in the SCC parking lot, observing
and fixing outdated cars.
Then in 1991, the Puget Sound
Auto Dealers Association worked
with SCC to build the Automotive
Training Center.
To this day, the institution continuously
provides the program
with relatively new cars to work
with, and has helped students develop
their skills in a more up-todate
and real-life environment.
Lambert also mentioned that
SCC’s Nursing Program has been
working with severely outdated
facilities.
To provide a solution to address
these challenges, Lambert suggested
that a commitment from
both private and public business
sectors are necessary to address
the concerns of providing worldclass
facilities to the college.
He believed that investing in education
is a worthwhile cause that
will benefit them in the future.
“We (Shoreline Community College)
are here to work with you,”
said Lambert, as he addressed
Forward Shoreline, calling for increased
support from the community
toward the college’s academic
programs.
“We are the ones who are in a
position to provide the community
with a well-trained and educated
workforce.”
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