Construction Career Pathways<\/a>, a statewide effort funded by the constriction industry, trade unions and the state of Minnesota.<\/p>\nFrom July 16 to July 27, 2018, students met at Johnson High School in Saint Paul to complete hands-on projects in the classroom, take field trips and tour construction job sites. Over the course of the program, students were introduced to many construction trades and types of projects, from designing bridges out of popsicle sticks, to touring the plumbers shop at Saint Paul College.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/constructioncareers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/unnamed-4-225x300.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\u201cThey learned how to make marshmallow shooters with professional plumbing techniques,\u201d says Vicki Sandberg, the Kids at Work program leader. \u201cKids at Work is all about developing skills in a fun way.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of these kids are here because they didn\u2019t want to sit around in summer school or at home,\u201d she adds. \u201cThey\u2019re already having so much fun. Because we attract kids from all over Saint Paul, many of the students didn\u2019t know any of their classmates. The first day was kind of quiet, but now, we can\u2019t get them to stop chatting with their new friends.\u201d<\/p>\n
Much of the program is focused on learning to work with teams in the classroom, giving the students a chance to get to know their classmates better and develop valuable skills.<\/p>\n
Students also complete projects on their own, such as building a toolbox out of sheetmetal that they can take home. In the process, they discover work ethic and gain independence.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to open the door for a career in construction at a young age,\u201d Sandberg says. \u201cAfter getting involved in the Kids at Work program, students can take construction courses at CAP schools and go on to earn union apprenticeships.\u201d<\/p>\n
Construction Apprenticeship Preparation (CAP) schools provide students with hands-on learning opportunities in the construction building trades career fields while using the Multi-Craft Core Curriculum (MC3). The curriculum supports a variety of different classes designed to introduce high school students to the construction industry in an engaging way.<\/p>\n
Because the Kids at Work summer program is only two years old, it\u2019s still too early to clearly understand the extent of the program\u2019s impact on students. However, enrollment numbers are rising steadily and interest in Kids at Work is growing.<\/p>\n
Rick Gale, the training director and apprenticeship coordinator for the Plumbers and Gasfitters Local 34, says the most important impact that the program can have, from someone who has worked in the skilled trades for most of his life, is simply to introduce the idea that there\u2019s much more to the skilled trades than most of us think. While working with a group of students in the Kids at Work program, Gale explained that plumbing is a lot more than just toilets and sinks.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/constructioncareers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/unnamed-8-300x146.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\u201cWe helped the kids see that in every building, there is a complex system of plumbing that helps that meets specific needs,\u201d Gale says. \u201cFor example in hospital surgery rooms, plumbers set up the lines that feed the gases that are used in surgery.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019re working with kids who are between 11 and 13 years old,\u201d Gale adds, \u201cthey\u2019re really not thinking about plumbing as a career option. The hands-on demonstrations that we use, such as cutting pipe, helps them see that there\u2019s an option for those who like to work with both their minds and their hands.\u201d<\/p>\n
While it may be too soon to understand the impact on students, the program is helping educators more aware of career options available to their students.<\/p>\n
\u201cTeachers are especially interested in Kids at Work,\u201d Sandberg shares. \u201cThey\u2019re learning more about construction and getting excited about everything the program offers.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMany educators don\u2019t know a lot \u2013 if anything \u2013 about construction,\u201d she explains. \u201cThe Construction Careers Foundation, the nonprofit that funds the Kids at Work program, is more than happy to help teachers learn about the building trades industries and the opportunit<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/constructioncareers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/unnamed-5-300x200.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
ies it holds for their students.\u201d<\/p>\n
Along with their teachers, the students participating in Kids at Work are getting interested in the construction industry and what their futures could hold. At first, according to Sandberg, not all of the students could see a future for themselves in construction.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe students had several different summer programs to choose from through the St. Paul school system, and more than half of them didn\u2019t list Kids at Work as their first choice,\u201d Sandberg says.<\/p>\n
After the first day of the program, students were given the chance to switch out of Kids at Work and join another class.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnly one student chose to switch out of Kids at Work, and the rest decided to stay and keep having fun in an engaging environment where they could work with their hands,\u201d she explains.![\"\"](\"https:\/\/constructioncareers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/unnamed-9-300x200.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a sign that Kids at Work is on the right track,\u201d Sandberg adds. \u201cThe students love it, they\u2019re making new friends and they\u2019re discovering work that matters.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
While many kids see summer vacation as a break from anything to do with learning, a growing number of students in the St. Paul School District are getting involved in summer programs to learn about hands-on, skilled careers in the construction industry From throughout St. Paul, 24 youth participated in this year\u2019s Kids at Work, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Saint Paul Middle School Students Spend Summer Discovering Careers in Construction - Construction Career Pathways<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/constructioncareers.org\/saint-paul-middle-school-students-spend-summer-discovering-careers-in-construction\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Saint Paul Middle School Students Spend Summer Discovering Careers in Construction - Construction Career Pathways\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"While many kids see summer vacation as a break from anything to do with learning, a growing number of students in the St. Paul School District are getting involved in summer programs to learn about hands-on, skilled careers in the construction industry From throughout St. Paul, 24 youth participated in this year\u2019s Kids at Work, […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/constructioncareers.org\/saint-paul-middle-school-students-spend-summer-discovering-careers-in-construction\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Construction Career Pathways\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-07-31T19:58:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-08-24T21:27:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/constructioncareers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/unnamed-4-225x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"phadmin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"phadmin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/constructioncareers.org\/saint-paul-middle-school-students-spend-summer-discovering-careers-in-construction\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/constructioncareers.org\/saint-paul-middle-school-students-spend-summer-discovering-careers-in-construction\/\",\"name\":\"Saint Paul Middle School Students Spend Summer Discovering Careers in Construction - Construction Career Pathways\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/constructioncareers.org\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-07-31T19:58:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-08-24T21:27:11+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/constructioncareers.org\/#\/schema\/person\/f42558a4d3c22c16502d287e857f164e\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/constructioncareers.org\/saint-paul-middle-school-students-spend-summer-discovering-careers-in-construction\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/constructioncareers.org\/saint-paul-middle-school-students-spend-summer-discovering-careers-in-construction\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/constructioncareers.org\/saint-paul-middle-school-students-spend-summer-discovering-careers-in-construction\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/constructioncareers.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Saint Paul Middle School Students Spend Summer Discovering Careers in Construction\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/constructioncareers.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/constructioncareers.org\/\",\"name\":\"Construction Career Pathways\",\"description\":\"FIND YOUR PLACE IN THE WORLD BY BUILDING IT.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/constructioncareers.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/constructioncareers.org\/#\/schema\/person\/f42558a4d3c22c16502d287e857f164e\",\"name\":\"phadmin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/constructioncareers.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a4ab6267e78265fe2b945b7e7309922f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a4ab6267e78265fe2b945b7e7309922f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"phadmin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/constructioncareers.org\/author\/phadmin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Saint Paul Middle School Students Spend Summer Discovering Careers in Construction - Construction Career Pathways","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/constructioncareers.org\/saint-paul-middle-school-students-spend-summer-discovering-careers-in-construction\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Saint Paul Middle School Students Spend Summer Discovering Careers in Construction - Construction Career Pathways","og_description":"While many kids see summer vacation as a break from anything to do with learning, a growing number of students in the St. Paul School District are getting involved in summer programs to learn about hands-on, skilled careers in the construction industry From throughout St. Paul, 24 youth participated in this year\u2019s Kids at Work, […]","og_url":"https:\/\/constructioncareers.org\/saint-paul-middle-school-students-spend-summer-discovering-careers-in-construction\/","og_site_name":"Construction Career Pathways","article_published_time":"2018-07-31T19:58:24+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-08-24T21:27:11+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/constructioncareers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/unnamed-4-225x300.jpg"}],"author":"phadmin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"phadmin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/constructioncareers.org\/saint-paul-middle-school-students-spend-summer-discovering-careers-in-construction\/","url":"https:\/\/constructioncareers.org\/saint-paul-middle-school-students-spend-summer-discovering-careers-in-construction\/","name":"Saint Paul Middle School Students Spend Summer Discovering Careers in Construction - Construction Career Pathways","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/constructioncareers.org\/#website"},"datePublished":"2018-07-31T19:58:24+00:00","dateModified":"2022-08-24T21:27:11+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/constructioncareers.org\/#\/schema\/person\/f42558a4d3c22c16502d287e857f164e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/constructioncareers.org\/saint-paul-middle-school-students-spend-summer-discovering-careers-in-construction\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/constructioncareers.org\/saint-paul-middle-school-students-spend-summer-discovering-careers-in-construction\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/constructioncareers.org\/saint-paul-middle-school-students-spend-summer-discovering-careers-in-construction\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/constructioncareers.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Saint Paul Middle School Students Spend Summer Discovering Careers in Construction"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/constructioncareers.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/constructioncareers.org\/","name":"Construction Career Pathways","description":"FIND YOUR PLACE IN THE WORLD BY BUILDING IT.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/constructioncareers.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/constructioncareers.org\/#\/schema\/person\/f42558a4d3c22c16502d287e857f164e","name":"phadmin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/constructioncareers.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a4ab6267e78265fe2b945b7e7309922f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a4ab6267e78265fe2b945b7e7309922f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"phadmin"},"url":"https:\/\/constructioncareers.org\/author\/phadmin\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/constructioncareers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/657"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/constructioncareers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/constructioncareers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/constructioncareers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/constructioncareers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=657"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/constructioncareers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/657\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":664,"href":"https:\/\/constructioncareers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/657\/revisions\/664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/constructioncareers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/constructioncareers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/constructioncareers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}