A new training center in Eastside Tacoma offers classes in trade skills like construction and plumbing, part of Clover Park Technical College’s efforts to eliminate an “education desert” in the area.
Clover Park Technical College, which has locations in Lakewood and Puyallup, has been offering classes out of an old cabinet factory in Eastside Tacoma near Stewart Heights Park. It is part of the technical college’s efforts to provide access to technical education and trade skills Eastside residents can get to efficiently using public transportation, without needing to rely on a car.
“We had identified the 98404 as a ZIP code in the city that didn’t necessarily have the level of educational investment that it needed for residents to move up the socioeconomic ladder,” said Lester Burkes, dean of automotive and trades at Clover Park Technical College…