On Tuesday, October 4th, Swallow Middle School students went to the Waukesha County Expo center to attend the Waukesha County Business Alliance’s ‘Experience the Trades Expo’. Students walked around and were initially engaged by candy and door prizes, but candy was not the only takeaway! Hands-on experiences offered by each company in attendance provided valuable chances to learn about careers in the trades.
The types of careers that were displayed during this event included Architectural, Engineering, Manufacturing and Construction-based career paths. There were 39 different companies across the 59 total booths that were exhibited. All students were required to wear safety glasses during the experience because there were many interactive and hands-on activities across the booths. Some of the most popular interactive booths were the welding booth presented by Universal Welding and Engineering, the picture booth presented by MetalTek, a spinning wheel presented by InPro, the hydraulic press presented by Superior Crane Corp (SCC), the VR job-site station presented by Gilbane, and the internet and ethernet booth presented by CC&N. There were also booths that were more informational about how to enter the trades such as Waukesha County Technical College.
Eighth grader Taylor Wold commented, “This was a great opportunity because it allowed us to explore many different future options and the companies stressed that you could start a trade and then keep learning and trying new things along the way. This is important because it helped me realize that I can try many things in my future and not be locked into one career for the rest of my life.”
Fellow eighth grader Ian Anderson added, “Each company we visited talked about how doing an entry level job, and then a next level job, can help you advance and there are additional credits that can be taken once you get beyond a starting point. Now I know if I want to do something specific, the job I begin with does not have to be the job I do forever and companies may help cover training costs along the way.”
“It was surreal because we got to try things we have learned about or watched videos on doing, like welding, and “the information was more in-depth than just talking to us about a career,” added Evelyn Grieve-Waite.
Over 1,500 students attended this event from Waukesha County schools. The Experience the Trades Expo helped the students to get a better understanding of possible careers that might interest them and a chance to try them out.
Thank you Waukesha County Business Alliance for the opportunity to experience these career opportunities.
Written by students Grant Khoury and Natalie Krogwold.