Students from throughout the Grand Traverse County region are getting out of the classroom to get some hands-on experience. The students of today are the workforce of tomorrow. Friday they had an opportunity to explore different careers in the trades.
“We are introducing them to the trades. Trying to get them excited, planting that seed. Letting them know that there’s great careers in the trades,” Carolyn Andrews, NMC Construction Technology Program Coordinator, says.
Hundreds of 6th, 7th and 8th graders walked through the doors at NMC’s Aero Park Laboratory to get exposure to all kinds of trade careers.
“The middle school students it’s, I think, the prime opportunity to have them introduced to the trades. Getting them in early, getting their hands immersed in it. So that when they get to high school they have an idea of what courses they may want to take in high school… so they can steer their career from there,” Andrews says.
This is not the kind of experience today’s students are usually getting, unlike their parents or grandparents.
“There’s not a lot of shop classes in high schools anymore. So we have great facilities like career tech where they can get used to taking those classes at career tech and transfer, and then they have an advantage when they start at NMC,” she says.
Ashly Bode from Bill Marsh Automotive is one of the professionals helping students on this career exploration.
“I think it’s very smart, because these are programs that a lot of people don’t know we’re still available. Like welding, construction, carpentry. A lot of people still don’t know that they can go to school for this and learn a little bit more,” Bode says.
They’re getting hands on experience.
Alexis Hillier is a Kingsley 7th Grader who tried her hand at operating some heavy machinery. “It was hard getting used to it. You have to put your hands on the joystick and like twist it around and move it different ways. It’s like hand-eye coordination kind of,” she says. “It was really fun to do it, and I messed up a bunch.”
Whether it’s carpentry or automotive or HVAC, all of the students are getting a lot of exposure to a lot of different careers. And the common thread? They’re all high demand fields.
“The demand for all the trades is huge,” Andrews said. “We had a period of time where we had the recession and everything is bouncing back and everybody’s busy. And there’s a huge shortage of workers. So this isn’t going away.”
“We are always hiring. We are always looking for technicians, service advisors, lube techs to change oil, change tires. We’re always in high demand for hiring.”
Hillier says she’s glad she came for the experience. “It’s maybe something I would consider doing when I’m older. But yeah, but I would definitely think about it.”
There is plenty to think about, with plenty of open jobs for plenty of years to come.
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