Today we were hosted by Eastern Suffolk BOCES at their Edward J. Miliken Training Center in Oakdale. The program emphasized the importance of career training. There are skills that are being taught at these various training centers that prepare for fields of work that do not always lead to college.

The purpose of this meeting was to showcase the skills that are available to industry and the benefits to the community in general in terms of developing a workforce. The most important objective is to satisfy the needs of an important segment of our population.

The perception that these workers are less important than the populations that enter college was addressed. These skills that this society needs are also very often good paying jobs. These occupations in auto mechanics, carpentry, electrical installation, and electronics gave earlier generations pride in the work that they did. They are jobs that allowed a family to educate their children, take vacations and live in adequate housing.

In addition to building skills that create a viable income stream, these occupations sometimes allow a student to pursue college degrees in engineering and science that was first introduced to them as talented craftspeople.

There should be recognition that to be a good mechanic you need to have an appreciation for the engineering that created the machine you are now fixing. In order to build a house you need to understand mathematics. The architect that designed the house will stymie the craftsman that is attempting to bring that project to reality, if there is a mistake. Competent carpenters are able to understand the strength of materials and structural limitations of a plan. That craftsman is often the difference between a safely competed project and a disaster.

Food preparation is among the skills that are taught at BOCES. An elaborate breakfast was prepared by the students at the Miliken facility. The food that was prepared was all made from scratch and the results were excellent.