Tribe offers
trade course to
start students
on career paths
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By Kristin Storey
The Desert Sun
THERMAL - Gabriel Ward has
long depended on
odd jobs to
support his family, but today
he is scheduled to start a full-
time job with a
future.
"We all have a good chance to
get jobs," said Ward, who was
among eight members of
the
Torres-Martinez Band of
Desert Cahuilla Indians to
graduate Tuesday from the
tribe's
first introduction to
building trades course.
About 30 family members
and friends attended
a special
graduation ceremony and
luncheon. Also in attendance
were potential employers.
Ward, who is a member of
the tribal council, will begin
working in La Quinta as an
apprentice with the Southern
California-Nevada Regional
Council of Carpenters - which
sponsored
the program by
paying $40,000 for an
instructor for two 10-week
classes.
Glen Parker,
a union repre-
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resentative, said there is a
shortage of skilled labor and that
training programs like
this benefit
the tribe and the industry.
"The contractors are excited
because these guys
walk in knowing
how to use tape measures and
change fractions into decimals,"
Parker
said. "They jump in way
ahead of the game so (the journey-
men) don't have to keep showing
them
how to do things."
The basic math skills, tool skills and
some safety preparation is all part
of
the 300-hour class taught at the
reservation. The class is an
introduction to all the
building trades
and at the end, students choose one
for a profession.
"It makes them feel
like Magic
Johnson with everyone bidding
on them," said Alan Hamann, who
taught the class.
"They've all been
offered three or four jobs."
Among the employers vying for the
graduates
was the California
Department of Transportation who
will need people to work on widening
Highway
86 near the reservation.
The tribe originally opposed the
expansion, but now leaders are
looking
foward to the work it will
bring, according to Tribal Chairwoman
Mary Belardo.
Belardo is
thrilled at the initial
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Potential work: Before
graduation ceremonies, Chris
Moreno (left,) discusses a
possible
job as a surveyor with
Daryl Lewis. All of the students
who graduated Tuesday had job
offers.
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success of the program."This
is the best example for the
reservation since I've been
here,"
Belardo said.
"We've had other work-training
programs, but the funding ran
out or it couldn't
be finished,"
she said. "These boys stayed
with it and now have jobs."
Adrienne LaVergne,
whose
husband, Joseph LaVergne,
graduated from the class, is
thrilled with the hope it has
already given her family.
"He's really grown. He's
learned a lot," said Adrienne
LaVergne,
who cried as her
husband accepted the
certificate of accomplishment
at the graduation
ceremony.
"We're all so exited."
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