Over the past few years, I have toured schools, skills centers, community colleges, and many Career and Technical Education (CTE) classrooms around the state and in the 20th Legislative District. Washington state is finally realizing; what many of us already knew; that children don’t all learn the same, don’t all think the same, and don’t all have the same career goals.

Some students are career ready and other students are college bound. Education must be flexible and help cultivate a student’s passion so they can turn that passion into a productive career. That requires Olympia to start thinking outside of the box.

As an employer, as well as a parent of students, I want our education system to be flexible, adaptable, and teach students how to think and help them develop the skills most important for our next generation of employees, employers, and leaders.

READ MORE in the Centralia-Chehalis Chamber of Commerce Business Connections