{"id":34282,"date":"2026-09-18T18:41:56","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T18:41:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/?p=34282"},"modified":"2026-09-21T18:45:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T18:45:11","slug":"launching-the-socotra-skilled-civic-trade-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/launching-the-socotra-skilled-civic-trade-schools\/","title":{"rendered":"Launching the Socotra Skilled Civic Trade Schools"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\nWe still have subscriptions to the two old Papers of Record, the Post and the Times, although we no longer start our days poring over their columns. Or, for that matter, remembering the passwords required to read much below the headlines.<\/p>\n

We did manage to get into one of the articles yesterday because it cut directly across some current Socotra House business.<\/p>\n

That business grew out of what had been the evening cleanup crew in the Galley: young people trading a little work\u2014cleaning up, moving things around and keeping the place looking halfway decent\u2014for free food and a place to hang around with interesting people.<\/p>\n

Then somebody noticed they were learning things.<\/p>\n

The article was about the University of Maine at Presque Isle, where an accelerated degree program has raised an interesting question about the traditional four-year bachelor’s degree. If students can demonstrate the required competencies much faster, what exactly are the four years for?<\/p>\n

There are legitimate arguments on both sides of that question. We have considerable respect for anyone trying to make higher education less expensive, more useful and more responsive to the people actually paying for it.<\/p>\n

But it prompted a somewhat different question around the Conference Table:<\/p>\n

Why borrow a hundred grand and spend four years preparing to come to Washington broke and desperate to do something of minor importance when you could come directly into the Swamp, learn how the place actually works from people who have worked in it, and leave with a piece of paper saying you know how to do something?<\/p>\n

That was how the Galley Fritter Line and evening cleanup detail suddenly began evolving toward the Socotra House Skilled Civic Trades School.<\/p>\n

The curriculum practically wrote itself.<\/p>\n

Journalism. National security. Intelligence. Legislative affairs. Budget formulation. Conference committees. Procurement. Logistics.<\/p>\n

Writing something comprehensible before deadline.<\/p>\n

And, naturally, chicken pot pie.<\/p>\n

The concept is not to replace conventional education. It is to recover something that used to accompany it: learning a trade from people who actually practice the trade.<\/p>\n

Naturally, once you start thinking seriously about education, you wind up thinking about freezers.<\/p>\n

You know how these things go.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Our planning rhythm already follows the quarterly arrival of bulk beef and pork and the monthly Big Box expedition to Costco. The two chest freezers are down in the garage, while the Galley is upstairs and the Chairman’s suite is way up on 17.<\/p>\n

That is why I have been staring at the rather magnificent Gladiator roll-around vertical freezer.<\/p>\n

It costs about $1,800, which means there is some work to do with Finance before it becomes an educational appliance.
\nBut I like things that roll.<\/p>\n

We already have the preparation cart with the convection oven and the rolling buffet cart with heated storage underneath. A vertical freezer on wheels would complete a little logistics train capable of moving provisions between the garage, Galley and Chairman’s suite without turning every meal into a minor amphibious operation.<\/p>\n

Besides, autumn is arriving. Outdoor grilling is about to become more complicated.<\/p>\n

And apparently the first capital-improvement request for the Socotra Island Skilled Civic Trades School is not a lecture hall.
\nIt’s a freezer.<\/p>\n

School is in session.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 Vic Socotra
\nwww.vicsocotra.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We still have subscriptions to the two old Papers of Record, the Post and the Times, although we no longer start our days poring over their columns. Or, for that matter, remembering the passwords required to read much below the headlines. We did manage to get into one of the articles yesterday because it cut […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-socotra"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34282","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34282"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34282\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34287,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34282\/revisions\/34287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}