Not for sports only: Construction students get signing day for new careers
By Jean Cole, The Decatur Daily, Ala. | Originally posted on yahoo.com
May 2—About this time each year, high school athletes get a lot of attention as they sign with different colleges and universities. But there is also a signing day for students in the building and construction trades.
They sign letters of intent to take jobs straight out of high school.
For the second year, the Academy of Craft Training in Decatur had this kind of signing day Thursday for students in the building and construction trades. The program includes students living within about a 45-minute radius of Decatur. It includes 25 schools from Morgan, Lawrence, Limestone, Winston, Madison and Cullman counties.
The goal of the program is to empower the next generation of skilled professionals, officials said. The program offers:
—Hands-on learning with tools and equipment, not just textbooks.
—Real-world experience through working internships with top employers.
—Job placement, with graduates getting job offers, not just diplomas.
The academy, which now has campuses in Decatur, Birmingham and Mobile, started in Birmingham in 2016, said Charles Hall, director of operations.
“I worked for the Associated Builders and Contractors starting in 2012,” Hall said. “Our board of directors challenged us to come up with a new model for craft training. There were so many jobs in the industry but contractors struggled to find people qualified to go to work for them.
“So, we decided a captive audience was high school students. We know that about 30% of high school students go to college, leaving 70% that want to go straight into the workforce. So, we focused on that. We have the audience of 600 to 700 contractors across the state. What makes us unique is the backing of contractors so that during school breaks students can work paid internships with these contractors.”
They encourage the students, who start in the junior year, to change to a different contract whenever there is a school break they can work, Hall said. They go to a career fair their senior year and talk to contractors about working. A few weeks later the contractors come back with a list of students they want to interview. They interview them and come back with a list of offer letters for the students they want to hire.
Over the past few weeks students have had the opportunity to interview with the businesses and industries that help support the academy and try to get a job, said Haynes Riddle, Academy of Craft Training North Alabama education director.
Signing day “is a celebration of their hard work, dedication and bright futures,” Riddle said. “We are eager to see where these future leaders will land, and we could not be more proud of them.”
Hall said the day is a culmination of a lot of hard work by a lot of people — students, industry partners and instructors.
“This is a true public-private partnership,” he said.
Among the students at the event Thursday was Fernando Diaz.
He said he came to the craft academy because “I really just wanted to learn a trade.”
Ethyn Yancy said he couldn’t pass up the good opportunity.
“Well, when they came to our school and talked to us about it the first year that they did this, I thought there were going to be some good opportunities. I came in here and just took advantage of it. I mean, why not? You get to come out here and you can do internships and go out there and work with people while you are in school,” he said. “You get to learn it while you are here. And you get a little bit of money while you are in school.”
They will be earning a paycheck just a day or two after graduation.
“That’s how soon they want us to start,” Diaz said with a grin. He studied metal fabrication.
Yancy studied HVAC because his dad has done it, he said.
Jordan Hubbert, who studied commercial construction, said he has landed a job with Nearen Construction.
Tanner Lawrence said he signed with Fite Building Co. as a commercial construction worker.
Both said the Academy of Craft Training program was a “great opportunity.”
Brayden Palma, a senior at Austin High School, officially signed with Lee Company.
