Patterson High program opening doors to distribution center jobs

As online shopping gains converts, the elegant pages of virtual stores depend ever more on the workaday world of warehouses, packers and truckers. The shift has rolled truck after truck toward loading docks just off Interstate 5 near Patterson.

To give grads a leg up in the local job market, Patterson Joint Unified School District started a supply chain and logistics program at Patterson High in 2014. Thursday it unveiled its logistics facility – a miniature warehouse operation complete with forklifts and a microdistribution mission.

The school acts as a West Coast distribution center for nonprofit First Book, trading the training students get for the labor they provide, plus a cut of the free books for low-income kids they process. Those go to Patterson elementary schools and a book giveaway each summer to the Patterson community.

Books arrive, sometimes neatly packed, other times in catchall boxes. Students record, sort and track the inventory. They pull stock, repackage it in fresh boxes, label it for shipping and send it on its way. Each step in the process uses industry software, robots and techniques as if their tiny storehouse housed endless rows of products – just like the massive centers where jobs await.

The program, paired with its new digs, is a first in California and has drawn interest from schools around the nation considering similar programs, said Patterson Superintendent Phil Alfano. Industry advisers helped the district develop the program, and its teachers come with experience in the field.

For Patterson, a city with a 9.2 percent unemployment rate, a horizon dotted with major distribution centers such as Amazon, W.W. Granger, CVS Health and Restoration Hardware is a welcome sight. More than 300 warehouse jobs within an easy drive of Patterson sit waiting at online job sites such as www.indeed.com.

But filling those jobs remains a challenge, employers told school personnel Thursday. They need workers with the skills and certificates, sure. But more than anything they need workers who show up every day, on time and ready to work, managers said.

“Hiring is a constant challenge. We have jobs we can’t fill fast enough,” said Scott Pathe with CVS Health.

Transiency, absenteeism and night workers who get no sleep were all mentioned by managers as chronic problems.

Logistics teacher Hilario Garcia told them the high school program stresses work ethic, attitude and other so-called soft skills.

“I don’t treat my students like children,” he said.

At the meeting of educators and industry, each took tentative steps toward hammering out long-standing kinks between what employers want and what high school graduates know. Among the ideas floated: teaching teens how to fit sleep in around a graveyard shift; and showing attendance rates on high school transcripts to give employers a read on reliability.

The program aims to have students college-ready but able to get a decent paycheck if they are done with homework, for now. It aligns with Modesto Junior College certificate programs. Students can also earn logistics associate and logistics technician certification through the Manufacturing Skills Standards Council.

Truck driver school trains Patterson High seniors and students in adult school classes to the point of qualifying for a commercial learner’s permit. Trainees get 80 hours of basics such as vocabulary and mechanical systems, then they bank 20 hours on ATS truck driving simulators visitors tried out Thursday.

Graduates of the trucking program then can apply to school partner Morningstar Foods to get behind-the-wheel training for their license for a seasonal job, Morningstar trucking coordinator Marcus Chavez said. Summer hires can make $700 or more a week, Chavez said, and leave with three months’ experience on their résumé.

For senior Adam Heath, 18, being able to get a job close to home while he goes to school sounds good.

“Warehouses are where I hope to go,” said Heath, who plans to play football for Modesto Junior College in the fall.

The camaraderie of packing and shipping appeals to junior Alejandro Sanchez.

“I like this process because it’s a team,” he said.

This story was originally published February 4, 2017 at 3:31 PM with the headline "Patterson High program opening doors to distribution center jobs."