High School Students Get Hands-On Building and Construction Trades Education
in New Washington State Pilot Programs
BURIEN, Wash., Oct. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- High school students in Washington
State can now participate in one of two pilot programs on the West Coast for
building and construction trades.
"Graduates are going to have fine marketable skills, very marketable that our
industry needs for tomorrow's technology," said Eric Peterson, Sheet Metal
Workers JATC. "They are going to be able to live well and provide for their
families."
Highline School District's Puget Sound Skills Center in Burien and Wenatchee's
Skills Center will offer the pilot programs for core skills for pre
apprenticeship in the building and construction trades.
Sean McGarvey, Secretary Treasurer of the national Building and Construction
Trades Department, AFL-CIO said, "The Building Trades Multi-Craft Core
Curriculum is an innovative training program that provides a gateway from high
school or community college to joint labor-management registered
apprenticeships throughout the United States."
The Core Curriculum is also designed to provide an on ramp to careers in the
construction trades for adults exploring a career transition. The Building
Trades "Core" was developed as a national industry credential by the National
Apprenticeship and Training Directors in the construction industry to
establish, for the first time, a standardized pre apprenticeship for entry
into any of the crafts in the Building Trades.
The Puget Sound Skills Center in King County's Highline School District and
the Wenatchee Skills Center in Eastern Washington are among the first in the
nation to pilot the Multi-Craft Core Curriculum. The Training Centers are
creating new opportunities for many in the communities they serve to earn a
family sustaining wage while earning the credentials for a career in the
construction industry.
'We in the Building Trades are pledged to building these partnerships with the
Puget Sound and Wenatchee Skills Centers," McGarvey said. "They share our
commitment to preparing young people and adults for careers in the
construction industry. And like us, they have shown they are determined to
help students and workers reach informed career choices by providing knowledge
about the training path required."
Industry leaders and local educators are offering the media a tour of the
Puget Sound Skills Center [18010 8th Avenue South, Burien, WA 98148] at 2:15
p.m. on October 28.
"Washington State's skills centers offer students the proper instructional
attention, space and industry interaction to achieve pre apprenticeship basic
skills," said Dave Johnson, Executive Secretary of the Washington State
Building and Construction Trades Council, AFL-CIO.
"Apprenticeship in the trades provides affordable, earn while you learn,
collegiate pathways that can lead to engineering, project management and
design service professions for the next generations of creative thinkers and
problem solvers," Johnson said. "These students will help shape and fuel the
technological changes that green our industries like construction and
manufacturing."
The national Building and Construction Trades Department selected these two
pilots based on Washington's unique apprenticeship utilization laws for public
works construction, strides made to build a seamless P-20 Career and Technical
Education system, and for their recognition and political leadership to return
pre apprenticeship in the 21st century model of education reform.
Wednesday's tour includes:
-- Sean McGarvey, Secretary Treasurer of the national Building and
Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO
-- Dr. Sue Shields, Director of Highline School District's Puget Sound
Skills Center
-- Ken Pierson, Construction Technologies Instructor
-- Ed Holmes, WSBCTC Curriculum Committee
-- Dave Gering, Manufacturing Industry Council
For more information, please visit our web site at www.WaBuildingTrades.org
For more information contact:
Terry Tilton, Assistant Executive Secretary
Washington State Building & Construction Trades Council, AFL-CIO
tradeswoman@qwestoffice.net 360.357.6778
SOURCE Washington State Building & Construction Trades Council
Terry Tilton, Assistant Executive Secretary of Washington State Building &
Construction Trades Council, AFL-CIO, +1-360-357-6778,
tradeswoman@qwestoffice.net
