Miguel Silva Goncalves had his hands in everything, literally, at the It’s OK to Trade: Student Workforce Expo. He tried bricklaying and tile laying and would have tried more hands-on activities if they had been available.
“I like to experience stuff. I like hands-on learning,” the Lawton High School freshman said after laying bricks not once but twice and laying a sheet of flooring.
Silva was one of hundreds of Lawton Public Schools freshmen who attended the expo at Great Plains Technology Center where they could experience various jobs in the trades sector. Students rotated through as many as nine stations where they learned about welding, plumbing, roofing, pouring cement and construction. They also toured the industrial automation program at Great Plains Technology Center and virtually operated an excavator courtesy of the Association of Oklahoma General Contractors.
The expo, which was open to every freshman in Lawton Public Schools, was intended to generate interest in the trades sector, according to organizers. The businesses represented centered around career paths at Lawton Public Schools Life Ready Center and Great Plains Technology Center.
“We try to get them interested so as sophomores they can go to the LRC and Great Plains. They still have three years if they want to make a change in their academy, they can. When they turn 15 or 16, they can get an entry-level job with these companies,” said Adam McPhail, director of Workforce Development for LPS.
And it was those hands-on activities that interested Silva the most. He was one of the first ones to volunteer to lay a brick at the Texoma Masonry station where employees helped students build a wall one brick at a time. Students used a trowel to scoop up some “mud”, slap it on the brick wall, place a brick on top of the mud and tap the brick into place.
Silva enjoyed it so much that he asked to do it again.
“I didn’t get to put the cement down. The cement was already down when I put the brick down. I wanted to do it again to get the full experience,” he said.
After a few other students tried their hand at the activity, Silva was granted a second opportunity.
“It was a better experience because I got to put the cement down,” he said after his second chance.
What was the best part?
“Putting the cement down and knocking the brick down,” he said.
Then it was off to the Creative Tile Solutions station where students got to lay a large section of flooring. Once again, Silva was the first to volunteer.
“It was pretty fun. This and the other one go together,” he said after laying the flooring.
“To build a house, you need both of them. You can just do it yourself. This stuff is pretty important to learn,” he said. “I feel like the tile was easier because you just put it down. The other one you had to line up.”
Silva said the stations that were not as interactive did not hold his interest.
“The first one, with the pipe, I didn’t really like,” he said, referring to plumbing. “I really like working with my hands.”
Silva said he is considering a career in the construction field.
While the plumbing station may not have held as much interest for Silva, DeQuan Yarbrough and Bradley Lane got a lesson in pipe fitting from those manning the station for Pippin Brothers. An employee showed students how to measure a length of pipe and add joints to it to make it the correct length to do the job.
“A plumber needs to be able to know math, fractions especially,” Lane said after watching the demonstration and using a tape measure to measure some pipe. “I will consider it” as a possible career.
Students didn’t have to get their hands dirty at all of the stations. One manned by Brysn Hunt of the Association of Oklahoma General Contractors gave students the opportunity to virtually drive an excavator and pick up a bucketful of dirt and move it to a job site.
“It was fun. It was kind of hard to pick up the dirt. The bucket was hard. The bucket goes up and you have to push it to the left,” said Braiden Davis, LHS freshman.
Davis, who attended the HVAC station, said his career choices involve being a plumber or being a photographer.
“You have to move the pipes around and know how they work. You have to maneuver through tight spaces,” he said of plumbing.
Anngelina Matthiesen was one of those who tried her hand at virtually driving the excavator at the Association of Oklahoma General Contractors station.
“It was fun. It was really easy. I expected it to be hard,” Matthiesen said. She said the hardest part was using the controllers. “It was different. It was strange. They are harder to move. They are stiff.”
Matthiesen said the Association of Oklahoma General Contractors station was her favorite one.
“I didn’t really have any interest in the other ones,” she said.
Matthiesen said she is considering a career as a veterinarian or as a model.
Event organizers said the expo is timely because trade skills are in short supply in the workforce.
“The workforce is in need of trade skills. Oklahoma has a push for trade. We are making sure it fits our job market,” said Cassandra Vazquez, director of Workforce Development for Great Plains Technology Center.
Vazquez said the student expo differed from other hands-on events for students at Great Plains because of the format.
“Typically these programs come in and set up. Today, they are actually going to the trades shop and seeing current students in class. It is significant in having the company come in and have a hands-on demo and they see the students over there. They can say, ‘that’s how we do it in industry,’” Vazquez said.
Vazquez and McPhail both said the businesses were eager to help.
“A lot wanted to bring their equipment and wanted to build a full-scale project. They miss getting to do this with the kids,” Vazquez said. McPhail added that several business owners said a similar event was held in the past and they were glad to see it return.
“We had lots of kids asking good questions. We saw lots of kids jump in there and do an activity,” McPhail said. “We are grateful for the community support, they want to invest in LPS kids and train their future employees.”