For some students, school may seem like a stressful time, while for others school may seem easy. Either way, school is a place for students to learn how to prepare for their future. One way for students to do that was to attend the Construction Career Day.
On Oct. 8 career and technical students, including those in construction or auto tech classes, had a chance to go on a trip to Construction Career Day. During this trip, students were able to explore jobs in the construction and the automobile industries as well as learn the more technical sides of these jobs.
“Students will be able to try many different construction related activities such as masonry, sheet rock, welding and also auto technical work while there,” career and technical teacher Joey Joyner said.
While at the site of the trip, students were able to interact, learn and decide if these various jobs were right for them. Students were able to participate in activities such as a virtual welding lab, driving different types of construction vehicles and getting the chance to see exactly how a car worked by viewing it running while it was stripped down.
“Pretty much everyone who is in CTE classes will be eligible to go, but mainly the construction classes,” Joyner said.
As long as a student completed or took a CTE course, such as construction or auto tech, they were able to go to the event. Even if a student was not taking one of the CTE courses at the time, they were still able to go if they went to the office for a form to attend the trip.
“All of the local community colleges will be out there representing their colleges,” Joyner said. “They will also be showing some demonstrations to allow students to understand more about the job.”
When students were checking out the demonstrations, they had the chance to check out the colleges offering their respective careers. One of the demonstrations was a realistic welding lab that had students practice skills while viewing them on a screen. Another demonstration was of a driving course, during the course students were allowed to operate heavy machinery and drive through obstacles. Afterwards, the students were given a chance to try the course again but with drunk goggles on as a way to show students the effects of drinking as well.
“The event usually lasts from 8:30 in the morning to 12:30,” Joyner said.
The event lasted for about three hours and allowed students to come back to school around 1:00 p.m. Students did not have an entire day to try out everything thoroughly, but it might have been enough time to give them an idea of what each station was and if they wished to find out more about the job associated.
“We’ve had students go into the construction field after high school,” Joyner said. “This gives them a view of the areas that interest them.”
The trip was a chance for students to get some more insight on the technical aspect of construction and get some actual hands-on experience in the career field. Construction Career Day allowed students to see if they would, indeed, be interested in a construction career.