In the summer of 1972, the Career Education Center opened at 815 North 18th Street. The $260,000 building was constructed to provide vocational training courses to Pottawattamie County students, ranging from 6th to 12th grades. Previously, vocational classes were held in some of the area high schools, with the majority concentrated in Thomas Jefferson High School, according to an April 25, 1971 Daily Nonpareil interview with David White, a printing instructor at the high school. A May 25, 1972 Daily Nonpareil article announced the classes that were offered when the center opened, including building construction, carpentry, cosmetology, drafting, printing, electronics, food service, machine tools, power mechanics, welding, medical health careers and business careers. Don Haberman, the vocational education coordinator for city schools, explained that “the idea is to make the students aware and give them hands-on experience in the various fields in these different and varied occupations.” The program had an initial capacity of 650 students and in its first year roughly 260 students outside of Council Bluffs registered for classes, while most of the other students were from Abraham Lincoln High School and Thomas Jefferson High School.
In the 1980s, students from the Career Education Center welding class created two sculptures to help beautify Council Bluffs. The first sculpture was a “Welcome to Council Bluffs” sign that was placed on West Broadway at the west entrance to the city. An April 29, 1983 Daily Nonpareil article reported that the idea came from Raj Chopra, the superintendent for Council Bluffs Schools. The West Broadway Improvement Committee was formed, headed by Council Bluffs Schools administrative assistant Carmen Gioiello, to pick a location and determine funding. It was decided that 3603 West Broadway would be the location after a local company donated land for it and a fund raising drive helped to raise about $7,500 for the project.
A contest for designing the sign was held and Jeff Brown, a student at TJ, won the contest. The sculpture was a 20 foot tall outline of the state of Iowa atop an arched railroad track. Career Center instructor Dale Driver directed 40 welding students to construct the steel and wood structure. The sign, officially named the West Broadway Recognition Sculpture, was installed on May 5, 1983 and dedicated on May 12, 1983. A July 2, 2000 Daily Nonpareil article mentioned that the sign was later moved to the Rock Island Depot and it is currently located at the northeast corner of South 6th Street and 16th Avenue.
The other project that Career Center students worked on was the Globe of the World sculpture. Career Center instructors Dale Driver and Herbert VanNordstrand came up with the idea and presented it to the West Broadway Improvement Committee, which was still headed by Carmen Gioiello. Gioiello spoke with city officials and the idea was approved but funds to erect the sculpture only became available in 1985. Students in the welding program had finished the sculpture in 1984. According to a January 28, 1985 Daily Nonpareil article, the globe was made of “steel rods curved into a 10-foot circular shape and placed in a grid. Sheet metal, cut into the shape of continents, was then welded onto the grid structure.”
There were two proposed locations for the globe. The Rotary Club of Council Bluffs wanted to place the globe “in the block where the former Herman-Marcus building stood between 6th and 7th streets, Broadway and Kanesville Boulevard.” City officials planned to place the globe on the “triangular piece of land between Frank Street, Broadway and Kanesville Boulevard.” The site favored by the city was eventually chosen. Dale Driver and students in the Career Center welding class helped erect the Globe of the World sculpture on a concrete base on May 15, 1986. The City of Council Bluffs, Mercy Hospital and several area businesses helped make the installation possible. A few years later on Thursday, October 19, 1989, the sculpture was renamed “Share the World” and rededicated with lighting installed at the base of the globe courtesy of Iowa Power and Light. The sculpture still stands today. The Career Education Center is still open at 815 North 18th Street and was renamed the Tucker Career & College Center after former administrator Harmon Tucker.
Sources:
Daily Nonpareil articles