Students learn about the building trades at third annual Build My Future® STL showcase
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By TIM ROWDEN Editor-in-Chief
St. Charles County – Some 3,000 students from 80 high schools in St. Louis, Eastern Missouri and Southern Illinois attended the third annual Build My Future® STL construction career and industry showcase April 24 and 25 at the St. Charles Family Arena. Students had an opportunity to test their skills with hands-on exhibits and virtual reality simulations designed to introduce them to the building trades and the broader construction industry while learning about high-paying, secure careers in the trades.
The two-day event was co-chaired by representatives of the Home Builders Association of St. Louis & Eastern Missouri and the Francis Howell School District.
Participating unions in this year’s event included Bricklayers Local 1, Glaziers Local 513, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 1, Tilesetters Local 18, Missouri Laborers-Employers Cooperation and Education Trust (LECET), Operating Engineers Local 513, Painters District Council 58, Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 562 and Sheet Metal Workers Local 36, as well as the Carpenters and numerous union contractors and technical schools.
– All photos Labor Tribune
SOME 3000 STUDENTS and instructors attended the third annual Build My Future® STL construction career and industry showcase April 24 and 25 hosted by the Home Builders Association of St. Louis & Eastern Missouri and the Francis Howell School District at the St. Charles Family Arena.MIKE HOWARD (left), recruitment and outreach specialist for the Missouri-Kansas Laborers-Employers Cooperation and Education Trust (LECET) talks to students A.J. Mackiwizc, 16 (right), and Carter Passarella, 16 (center) from Francis Howell Central High School about careers in the Laborers.STUDENTS TRY THEIR HANDS at site grating at an interactive exhibit put on by Kolb Grating, a signatory contractor of Laborers Local 660 and Operating Engineers Local 513, among others.JOHN BUCHHOLZ, assistant director of training for Painters District Council 58, guides students through a hands-on demonstration of gilding – applying gold or silver leaf to molding and other surfaces. Buchholz said student interest was high and that was good news. “We need the help,” he said, noting “We’ve been getting a good mix of women and guys.”
OPERATING ENGINEERS LOCAL 513 Training Administrator Joe Wallace (right) shows Tristan Eno, 15, a student at Seckman High School, how to operate a crane at a hands-on demonstration at the Build My Future® STL construction career and industry showcase.TILESETTERS LOCAL 18’s Apprentice Coordinator Charlie Reiter (left) guides Damon Selbvy, 17 (right), a student at South Tech High School, in the use of a power suction tool used to lift heavy tiles into place with reduced risk of breakage.
IBEW LOCAL 1 examining board member Kenny Squires (right) gives students Brenner Williams, 18 (left), and Nicholas Wanko, 17 (center), of Fort Zumwalt South a lesson in bending and use of conduit in electrical contracting at the Electrical Connection’s booth. The Electrical Connection is a partnership between IBEW Local 1 and the St. Louis Chapter of the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA)SHEET METAL WORKERS LOCAL 36 Business Representative Ted Ramsdell (right) demonstrates how to bend and hammer sheet metal for students making metal tool boxes they could take home after the event.
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