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July 27, 2005
Adult School
Photo by www.KieslerPhoto.com
The sign is as clear as day, but I still miss East LA Occupational Center on my first pass. It’s not surprising that I missed it. LA County Hospital is across the street and enormous. Tarps are draped down the side of the hospital and blowing in the sweltering wind. It’s hard not to gawk at it. It’s 6:00 in the evening, but the heat feels like a noon sun. I ignore the hospital on my right as I pass back to the school.
We head to the cosmetology class first. The students are young, in their teens and early 20s. They talk about their teacher Miss Maria Bererra with fondness even though they all say she’s strict. Then we leave the air-conditioned cosmetology classrooms to the open door of the electrician class. No AC. Just a few large tall fans blowing muggy air. The students in this class range in age from 19 to mid-40s. David has a way of getting people to talk. One guy talks about how he needs this job as an electrician. He has two kids and a wife. He wants more for them and himself. He hopes this hot classroom and the hours he spends in it will make that possible. It’s a lot for a nineteen-year old guy to think about.
Posted by Julia Posey at 05:08 PM
