Notre Dame Building Trades
The University of Notre Dame‘s Stepan Center was filled with the sounds of power tools, state-of-the-art construction equipment and hundreds of high schoolers during the second annual BLDG Trades Day. Organized by Notre Dame, the Michiana Area Construction Industry Advancement Fund, St. Joseph Valley Building Trades, the South Bend Regional Chamber and the Greater Niles Chamber of Commerce, the event brought together students from Michiana high schools and over 70 different contractors and training partners to share information about trades education and careers. Notre Dame Building Trades.
Students also had the opportunity to tour some of the building projects currently under construction at Notre Dame, hearing from tradespeople on the job about what a career in the construction industry is like.
Tony Polotto, the senior director of construction at Notre Dame, said there’s a high demand for people in construction, and with a wide variety of trades represented on Friday, the event was a perfect opportunity for students to discover more about what they could do as a career.
Friday’s event drew over 1,100 students from around Michiana
According to an email from Jeff Rea, president and CEO of the South Bend Regional Chamber, students from 17 different school corporations around northern Indiana and southwestern Michigan were expected to attend.
Polotto said organizers expected more than 1,100 students to visit throughout the day.
Dulce Mares, a junior at Concord High School in Elkhart, said she was at the event to learn more about the trades, since she’s looking at construction “as a second option.” She said she likes the benefits that come with a career in the industry, though she hasn’t settled on a specific trade she’d like to pursue, and she had talked with several of the exhibitors in attendance.
“There’s a lot of things to look at,” Mares said of Friday’s event.
Also from Concord High, sophomore Kailee Nichols and freshman Isaiah Tisdel said they’d especially enjoyed going on the construction site tour. Tisdel said he’s not sure what he wants to do after graduation, but Nichols said she’s interested in going into construction as a career.
“I want to build houses,” she said, adding that she wants to work on a project and see everything come together.
Construction companies see need for more young people in the trades
The dozens of companies represented at the event had tables set up for attendees to visit, several offering hands-on activities like virtual reality and tool demonstrations.
One exhibitor, Annette Knoop, is a customer service representative for Kuert Concrete. She said she wanted to attend on Friday to talk with students about all the different career options they have.
“I feel like it’s my job to be that advocate for youth,” Knoop said. “Because as a youth myself, I never knew any of these jobs existed, but I knew I would not want to go to a four-year university.”
Elena Guadiana, community outreach coordinator for the Indiana Careers in Construction Association, echoed this. She said she was encouraged in high school to go to college and that she “could do better” than a career in the trades, but, she said, she regrets taking that advice.
Now, Guadiana helps young people find connections in the construction industry, working to increase gender diversity in the trades.
“I’m always telling (young women in the trades), ‘Don’t give into the pressures. It looks scary, it’s not diverse, but you can change that,'” she said.
At another booth, Ann McDaniel and Michael Kite were sharing information about their company, roofing contractor Midland Engineering, which has worked on several projects at Notre Dame.
Gap between projects and employees
Kite works as Midland’s sheet metal manager, and he said he was attending on Friday because he’s seen a gap between the number of building projects around South Bend and the number of construction employees available to meet those needs.
“There’s lots of opportunity out there for any young person wanting to get in the trades — the pay and the benefits is fantastic,” he said. “Having a college education myself, I would highly recommend the building trades route for somebody interested in this type of work.”
McDaniel is in her second year as an apprentice sheet metal worker, splitting her time between working on roofing projects and taking classes at Ivy Tech Community College. She said her two brothers, who also work in the sheet metal industry, inspired her to get started.
McDaniel said she enjoys the combination of creativity and hands-on experience, and she plans to continue working in the industry after her apprenticeship ends.
“One of my favorite things about it is being able to show off the work that I’ve done,” she said. “I mean, I get to pass a building, and I think it’s really cool that I can be like, ‘Hey, I actually worked on that. I made those parts.’ That’s honestly one of my favorite things about it.”
Though McDaniel said it was a bit daunting when she first started her apprenticeship, she’s learned a lot and has found a passion for what she does.
“I didn’t really expect it to be this easy, but if you just put in a little hard work and get some good connections, you can really get far,” she said. “And being a female in a male-dominated trade, at first I was very intimidated. It’s kind of scary getting into this, but now I feel really comfortable. … Once you kind of get into it, you honestly never want to go do anything else.”
Source: Notre Dame Building Trades
- The University of Notre Dame hosted its second annual BLDG Trades Day, aiming to connect high school students with careers in construction.
- Over 1,100 students from 17 schools attended the event, participating in activities like virtual reality experiences and tool demonstrations.
- Industry professionals emphasized the high demand for skilled workers in construction, highlighting the variety of trades and career paths available.
https://www.techedmagazine.com/category/news-by-industry/construction-education/