CONGRESSIONAL RECORD – APPENDIX

February 16, 1967

Page A 676

Observations on the Job Corps

EXTENSION OF REMARKS OF HON. EDMUND S. MUSKIE OF MAINE

IN THE SENATE CF THE UNITED STATES

Thursday, February 16, 1967

Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, much attention has been focused on the Office of Economic Opportunity's Job Corps program, it pros and cons, its attributes and vices.

Too seldom do we hear from a true "authority" on the subject, one who has had first hand experience with the program. Such an individual is Robert Howe, a student at Gorham, Maine, State College, whose remarks on his teaching experience at the Job Corps Center for Women in Poland Spring, Maine, which were published in the January 17, 1967, edition of the Gorham State Observer, give some valuable insight into this program. His words are both encouraging, in praise of the activity which he observed, and challenging, regarding the need to maintain a high level of achievement for continued success.

I ask unanimous consent that they be printed in the Appendix of the RECORD.

There being no objection, the statement was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows:

JOB CORPS TEACHING PROVIDES UNIQUE EXPERIENCE

(By Robert Howe)

I can remember when, last summer, I heard that the old Poland Spring Inn had been chosen by the Office of Economic Opportunity as the site of a U.S. Job Corps Center for Women. I soon forgot about it, however, until September, when, at a meeting for first semester student teachers, it was announced that a few of us might have the opportunity of doing our second quarter's training there.

Several weeks went by before I considered the idea. But the more I thought about it, the better I liked it. The reason I finally went to Mrs. Costello to tell her I was definitely interested was that it was new and certain to be more challenging than my then existing term in a rural junior high school.

Of the several seniors originally stating a desire to go to Poland Spring, four were chosen. Reg Pickett said to me, "You may not learn much about teaching, Bob, but you'll learn a lot about people." No remark was ever so appropriate.

The Poland Spring Center is not operated by the U.S. government, but by a private business, Economic Systems Corporation, a division of AVCO set up specifically as the administration for the Poland Spring U.S. Job Corps Center for Women. It is one of a very few Centers to operate within its proposed budget for 1966. The government recently signed an 18-month contract with AVCO, making Poland Spring the only center to receive a contract of longer than 12 months.

Anyone taking a walk through Riccar Inn, which shares E.S.C. offices with Jack Parr's WMTW television and FM radio studios, can see about 100 desks, some with feet upon them – symbols of a giant business bureaucracy. There is, at times, friction between business and educational interests here because teachers are at the bottom of the bureaucratic pyramid. That is not so different from the public school systems. The teachers do, however, decide how the subjects will be taught and what materials will be used. Class scheduling is in the hands of the educational staff.

There are over 1,000 Corpswomen at Poland Spring between the ages of 16 and 21 years. There is a scarcity of young, unmarried males, so I was forewarned of all types of potential danger: moral, social and even physical. I soon found all these warnings, from folks here at Gorham, misleading and without basis. Actually, the girls at Poland Springs are like girls anywhere else, and the Center is little different from any all-girl school or college.  The problem is the public's appetite for gossip and misleading information, and lack of desire to learn the truth.

The teachers at Poland Spring are, in my opinion, of above average ability compared with teachers in public schools. I point this out because here again there has been much unrealistic criticism in this area.

The experience personally and "professionally" has for me been fascinating and rewarding. The biggest problem I, as well as the regular teachers, had to overcome was the negative attitude of many of the girls toward teachers and books. But this negativism is only a reflection of the negativism they had encountered in previous school experiences. The key to helping school dropouts lies not so much with the finding of new methods in the learning process, as it does with changing the attitudes of the girls, gaining rapport with them. Unfortunately, for many girls, this is the first time they have found teachers willing to take the time to be friends and also help them even though they are not heading toward a college career.

Being no older than my oldest students, I instructed the girls not to address me “Sir" or "Mr. Howe." This proved somewhat difficult for girls from Southern states because, apparently, teachers in Southern schools are always given this sign of respect. I wonder how often a teacher in the South is shown the attitude of disrespect prevalent in this part of the country.

Public school-oriented visitors might set back by the informality of classes, but they are never out of control. There is no discipline problem in Poland Spring classrooms.

The classes are small, averaging 13 to 15 students. My students spend half their school days in academics classes (science, math, social studies, communicative skills) and half the day in vocational classes. The vocations offered include clerical, retail sales, commercial art, cosmetology, floral design, nurse's aide, teacher aide, veterinary assistant, cooking, sewing, drafting, mechanical-electrical assembly, photography, and printing and reproduction. Special areas include driver education, health and hygiene, and physical education. When the girls have passed a high school equivalency test they may go on to all-day on-the-job training.

Other girls spend all day in academic remedial classes until they have reached a sixth grade reading level which will permit them to spend half the day in their vocations. Some girls arrive as high school graduates and can go right into full-time vocational training.

I have visited most of the vocational class areas. The equipment is generally modern and plentiful, better than found in most high schools teaching vocations. The drafting and the printing and reproduction areas are both impressive, and the girls in both fields are already proficient.

Assuming the opportunity continues for sending Gorham seniors to Poland Spring, and I hope it does, I offer this advice to those who may find themselves in a Job Corps classroom in the future.

Be prepared to abandon all your ideas about how to conduct a disciplined class; what you have been told in college will not work. If the girls like you as a teacher, you are "in"; if they don't and they are not learning anything, they will tell you so, and you had better be as honest as they are.

Let no one look down their noses at the Job Corps girls. On 75 out of 100 topics you might discuss with them, you will be doing most of the listening and learning.

Any teacher who is a success at Poland Spring has attained that balance between being a teacher and a human being that all teachers everywhere should aim for. And if you, as a teacher, "make the grade", the girls will let you know that, too.