Hundreds of Erie County students are getting a hands-on look at careers in the skilled trades \u2014 actually trying the work for themselves.<\/p>\n
Inside the Zem Zem Shrine Club, students from nine Erie County schools move from station to station, exploring a variety of technical jobs waiting for them. It\u2019s part of Erie Together\u2019s expanded Skilled Trades Fair, now stretched over two days because demand was so high after last year\u2019s event.<\/p>\n
For many of these students, this is the first time they\u2019ve ever picked up tools like this \u2014 and that\u2019s exactly the point.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the future, if we ever need it, and like if somebody needs us to do it, then we\u2019ll know what to do and we could do it ourselves.\u201d Layla a student explained.<\/p>\n
Watching these demonstrations, students say they\u2019re learning about careers that could shape their future.<\/p>\n
Teachers say moments like that are why they bring their classes here \u2014 trying something hands-on can help students realize it might be the right fit.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of them have options to actually get paid while you learn, and then jump right into the job earning quite a bit of money compared to leaving college with some debt.\u201d Scott Hutctison explained a STEAM teacher for Parker Middle School at General McLane.<\/p>\n
Representatives with Erie Together say the goal is to show students that the trades offer strong wages, stability, and a chance to build the world around them \u2014 without needing a four-year degree.<\/p>\n
\u201cSustaining wages really require a lot of skill, and they\u2019re really important for the success of our communities and our world.\u201d Mary Bula the Executive Director of Together Erie explained.<\/p>\n
With about 400 students cycling through over two days, organizers say this kind of exposure can spark interest early and help build the region\u2019s future workforce.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you like working with your hands, there\u2019s a career for you. You can make a really good wage. There are opportunities out there that maybe not everyone knows about.\u201d shared David Dixon, a representative from Regional Council of Carpenters.<\/p>\n
Students can already start earning college credits and move directly into apprenticeships, creating a strong foundation for the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hundreds of Erie County students are getting a hands-on look at careers in the skilled trades \u2014 actually…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":148519,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[33549,67770,136,138,137,57469,14335,3315],"class_list":["post-148518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-erie","tag-apprenticeship","tag-career-exploration","tag-erie","tag-erie-headlines","tag-erie-news","tag-hands-on-learning","tag-skilled-trades","tag-students"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148518"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148518\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/148519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}