4 The Oregon Surveyor | Vol. 47, No. 3 From the PLSO Office Aimee McAuliffe, PLSO Exec. Secretary If you read this column and attend the conference, you’ve heard me discuss community partnership ad nauseam. I wouldn’t say I’ve always been this way. However, when you have a high school– age child you become more aware of things that either don’t get promoted enough or that are glaring holes in connecting education and the very real needs of the workforce. When I was a senior in high school in the ’90s, I remember “modeling” schools, the Army, and state colleges hosting booths around the cafeteria, and that’s about it. First, let’s all take a moment to roll our eyes at the modeling schools of that era. Such a bankable career to be sold at high school career fairs, right? If you were a girl or had a daughter or sister during this time, you may know it was just a way to get money out of kids (mostly girls) who wanted to learn how to be a model. It didn’t lead anyone to any actual job possibilities. So essentially, I’d call it the finishing school of the day. (If you must know, my older sister did this, not me. I know you were wondering.) Thankfully we’re well beyond that time (despite the fashion being popular again) and have really interesting opportunities to get in front of teachers and students. In today’s professional landscape, the symbiotic relationship between local school districts and organizations like PLSO is more crucial than ever. For better or for worse, kids have to decide a path that will affect their entire life at 17 and 18 years old. Whether they make an informed decision could depend entirely on the resources of the school. Therein lies the problem. Many kids are choosing their path based on marketing, which begs the question—if a land surveyor’s total station chirps in the forest and there is no one around to hear it, did it actually take a measurement? I know you literal folks actually answered this question, either in your head or out loud. But no matter what your pragmatic minds told you, the answer is no. We are just niche enough that we are an afterthought because land surveyors don’t like talking about themselves, and up until now, engineers haven’t wanted to admit they need you (okay, that bit was just seeing if you were paying attention). However, if we don’t tell anyone we’re here and we have less people in the profession, someone with enough sway in Salem or Washington will find a way to get rid of licensure because they’re tired of waiting for their projects to be built. As you are more than aware, licensure protects the public by upholding standards of competency and ensures accountability. Not having it floods the market with people willing to take short cuts for bottom dollar prices, leading to quality concerns and risk of fraud. I don’t like sounding like Chicken Little, but in short, there is a lot at stake for us and the public. So, what can we all do? Get your head out of the woods and start building relationships with your local school system. Recently, PLSO’s Pioneer Chapter represented us all at the ACTE Conference in Portland, of which we were a gold sponsor. Jered McGrath (S&F Land Services), Jesse White (1-Alliance), Jim Luke (U.S. Mineral Surveyor), and Margaret Thornton (Westlake Consultants) and I all spent a little time with the CTE teachers in Oregon in March. The thing that I kept The Importance of PLSO Partnering with Local High Schools
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