There’s a new program this year offering Allegan Area ESA students the chance to get a head start on their careers after school. It’s a dual-enrollment program for the trades.
Elia Ruiz is a participant in the new program and a senior at Fennville High School. She said, “I like using hammers. I like nailing.”
Another participant, Otsego High School senior, Stacey Milton, said, “I’ve always just liked doing stuff with my hands, whether it’s machines or wood or whatever.”
Allegan Area ESA is now partnering with the Carpenters and Millwrights Training Center in Wayland to offer this new program.
Beth Johnston is a career development specialist with Allegan Area ESA. She said the program was started, “out of the need to help students find quality careers after high school,” adding that, “The idea that everyone has to go to college is starting to be cracked. It’s more a myth than a reality.”
Through the program, seniors not only finish their last year of high school but also complete year one of the Carpenters and Millwrights Apprenticeship.
“So, instead of having to go through four years of our apprenticeship, they could end up being three years,” said Jeff Taylor with the Michigan Region of Carpenters & Millwrights.
“This is a program that can give students a viable, high-paying position without any student debt,” said Johnston.
Milton strongly believes, “This was a good opportunity for me to get a good job after high school.”
For Ruiz, she said, “I just like hands-on work more than going to school and studying sitting down.”
She’s surrounded mostly by men, but that’s not stopping her.
“Just because I’m a girl doesn’t mean anything. Girls can do anything. Even if guys tell you that like ‘Oh, you’re a girl, you’re not strong enough, you’re not like – to do anything,’ yes you can. If you have the mindset that you can do something, you can do it,” said Ruiz.
She’s determined to complete the apprenticeship and go to college. Then, one day start her own construction company.
“I want to get my own business degree so I can start working for myself, help my family out, for others to get the opportunity as me,” said Ruiz.
Taylor says that’s certainly a possibility, and that, “We have other members who have gone through the apprenticeship and are now foreman, superintendent, project manager. Even some that have gone through and now own the companies and employ the carpenters, the floor layers, the millwrights. So, the sky’s the limit for them. They can go as high as they want.”
“It’s a great program. Even if you don’t stick with it for your career, it’s a great thing to know after you leave high school for your own home. You can fix your own stuff. It’s just a great job opportunity,” said Milton.
Ruiz wants others to pursue their dreams, saying, “If you hear an opportunity or a way that calls out to you, take it, because you never know what’s going to happen.”
This free program offers students a 17-week metal framing and drywall class at the carpenters and millwrights center.
As you can see in the video, they're also getting hands-on experience building a home from the ground up.
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