THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 8, 1995 TAG: 9507080393
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Charlise Lyles
LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
Jeffrey Hogge, 13, will be the backbone of the American economy in the 21st century. But the shy, greenish-eyed ninth-grader isn't quite sure about going to college.
Isn't that a shame?
Not really.
Hogge and 104 other Peninsula-area middle school students are enrolled in a summer program aimed at helping average kids bone up on math and science skills so they are prepared for jobs in the highly technological workplace of the 21st century.
It's called the Regional Summer Math and Science Institute. Located at Thomas Nelson Community College, it's part of a year-round project called ATOMS.
As ATOMS defines them, average kids are students who have been left out of the coveted and much-vaunted ``gifted and talented'' track courses.
Yet they are not ``at risk.'' They are hard workers who perform at grade level and have passed at least two Literacy Passport tests. In other words, basic kids.
In his book ``Rethinking America,'' journalist Hedrick Smith calls these students ``America's mid-kids.'' More so than the gifted and talented gang, these youths will do the real work to make this country competitive in the global economy.
They will deliver skilled services, be manufacturers, high-tech workers, clerical and medical staff, entrepreneurs. Yet, programs designed to prepare them for that challenge are practically nonexistent.
``The dream of college sets the main agenda for American high school education,'' Smith writes. ``Yet economists assert that 70 percent of the jobs in the American economy do not require a four-year college degree. . . . Despite these numbers, the non-college-bound student - the average American high school student - is low priority in most American high schools.''
Long ago, industrial giants such as Japan and Germany paired schools and industries to prep mid-kids to the max, according to Smith. That's why Japan's mid-kids grow up to build Honda engines.
Meanwhile, America continues to neglect this crucial majority, churning out diplomaed students without skill or direction. The result: bitter burger-flippers.
The Peninsula program emphasizes hands-on teamwork: Logic, communication and cooperative learning. Measuring the height of a building with a compass. Building models with motorized Legos.
One NASA worker visits to tell students the story of his failed attempt at pro ball, and his success at finding satisfying work in the real world. Strong skills in math and science and a good salary are the moral of his story.
For six years, NASA has been the ATOMS project's sole funding source, about $130,000 this year. Canon Virginia, Inc., CEBAF, Newport News Shipbuilding, Siemens Automotive and Anheuser-Busch, Inc. are industrial partners.
The participating industries have contributed to an endowment, but it's not earning big dividends yet.
We can try all we want to shove U.S. products down the world's throat. But the bottom line is the need for quality American products produced by the capable and progressive work force that America's mid-kids can become.
Besides, if our mid-kids don't become solid-wage earners, who's going to shop the aisles of HQ, Wal-Mart and Kmart to buy all those American-made products anyway?
KEYWORDS: EDUCATION JOB SKILLS by CNB