Washington State Skill Center Association

Updated August 10, 2026 3:59 PM

Inside a classroom at 1225 Maritime Center Drive is an array of boxes filled with dogs. Not real dogs, of course. Robot dogs. They have names like Captain, Pilot and Blaze. They’re joined by dozens of other drones in storage, all to be used by students who are learning about cybersecurity and technology.

The dog robot technology is just one of the many offerings at Maritime | 253, a new career and technical education skills center from Tacoma Public Schools. It’s the result of over a decade of planning and $52 million dollars — and it’s finally ready for business. Maritime | 253 director Kristie Wolford said the center will be home to 13 staff and 258 students. The building is done, and staff are working on moving equipment and supplies into the classrooms. The first day of classes is Sept. 9, she said.

After the years it took to bring the project to life, Wolford and other leaders at Tacoma Public Schools described the prospect of finally opening the center as “surreal.”

“It’s a dream just to be able to bring this to our students and the community as a whole,” she told The News Tribune. Students will participate in half-day programs to learn about subjects like maritime manufacturing, port operations, cybersecurity and more — in labs stocked with versions of the equipment they would use in real life. The skills center also houses nine simulators, which cost almost $2 million, Wolford said. They’re designed to recreate the experience of using equipment like port cranes, forklifts and excavators, without the risk of using real equipment for teaching. Three of the simulators are specifically for vessel operations, which can reproduce weather and ocean conditions anywhere in the world to give students the chance to practice navigating and managing vessels without needing to be on the water.

A crane simulator lets students get training hours operatoring equipment at Maritime | 253 Skills Center, on Monday, Aug. 3, 2026, in Tacoma, Wash. A crane simulator lets students get training hours operatoring equipment at Maritime | 253 Skills Center, on Monday, Aug. 3, 2026, in Tacoma. Brian Hayes bhayes@thenewstribune.com

Haylie Tulupan, associate administrator at Maritime | 253, said the simulators will give students access to training that some crane and forklift operators don’t even get when they’re on the job.

“Our students will get that opportunity before they graduate,” Tulupan told The News Tribune. The building is also next to the Port of Tacoma’s new headquarters, which is currently under construction. Both Tacoma Public Schools and Port of Tacoma officials have said the proximity of the two buildings will be mutually beneficial, and will play a part in the effort to train kids in Tacoma to get well paying jobs that will allow them to stay in Tacoma. The district also has partnership agreements with several other school districts in the area like Franklin Pierce, Orting and University Place to send interested students from their districts to Maritime | 253 — though they make up a minority of the participants, who are primarily from Tacoma schools. “[It’s] really cool because we want them to see this as an extension of their programming as well,” Wolford said. The program is designed to last for two years, for students in their junior and senior years in high school. They can choose from one of four “pathways” or subject areas: Sustainability, Technology, Port Operations and Logistics and Advanced Maritime Manufacturing. Maritime | 253 Skills Center, the multi-million dollar facility equips Pierce County and surrounding area high school students with hands-on training for careers in marine engineering, port operations, and maritime trade, on Monday, Aug. 3, 2026, in Tacoma, Wash.

Maritime | 253 Skills Center, the multi-million dollar facility equips Pierce County and surrounding area high school students with hands-on training for careers in marine engineering, port operations, and maritime trade, on Monday, Aug. 3, 2026, in Tacoma. Brian Hayes bhayes@thenewstribune.com By the end, students will have up to 1,080 training hours, industry credentials and college credit, according to the center’s website.

Tulupan and Wolford said Tacoma students and families have been excited about the prospect of the facility opening after the years of planning. “We’ve explained it, we’ve sent out renderings, things like that,” Wolford said. “But I think until you see it, it’s hard to imagine what it’s going to be like. We’re hearing a lot of excitement to get in the door.”

Read more at: https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/education/article316602545.html#storylink=cpy