With college costs rising and technology shaking up the job market, more and more students are showing interest in the skilled trades – bring FREE opportunities to your students and staff
Across Michigan, new structures are redefining our skylines, infrastructure and our lives. From the Gordie Howe Bridge in Detroit to the New Lock in the Soo and places in between, Carpenters and Millwrights have joined with other skilled trades workers to build and maintain the places we live in, travel over and rely upon. As students think about their future, we believe that presenting a career as a Carpenter or Millwright is important for them to consider.
Manufacturing, construction, energy, transportation, and advanced technology all require highly trained workers, while many existing tradespeople are approaching retirement. These careers can also provide strong wages and opportunities without requiring a traditional four-year college degree, making skilled trades an important pathway to stable, middle-class careers. To help students and educators have a better understanding of the opportunities a career in our field presents, we have created the Schools to Tools program.
Schools to Tools is a program that educates students in middle school and high school about what a career as a Carpenter or Millwright can look like. The program offers hands-on learning and virtual experiences. From driving a nail to using VR headsets to stand on top of the Gordie Howe Bridge during construction, a Schools to Tools Mobile Field Trip gives students a day of fun, learning and a vision of their possible futures.
To date, we have completed roughly 340 Mobile Field Trips across the states – serving 60,000+ students. Of those students, nearly one third have reached out to our Union for additional information about a skilled trades career.
In addition to educating students, we also offer FREE SCECH training for educators. These trainings help teachers and counselors understand the skilled trades in more depth so that they can then guide interested students on their career journey.
We offer two types of SCECH offerings for either one-hour or three-hours of continuing education. The one-hour classes are offered in-person and online while the three-hour classes are offered at one of our training centers across the state that include the class, a tour of the training center and a meal. In addition, the building will also be available for use to complete a full professional development day.
Regularly scheduled SCECH training can be found by visiting our SCECH Registration page, but you can also book our team to do a private training just for your staff either at your school or at a training center nearest you.
With more than 60,000 students served, we believe that our program is a vital part of ensuring that students have a complete understanding of all of the options available to them as they embark on their career path. As Michigan and the country continue to progress and build the buildings and infrastructure of the future, many of today’s students will be the construction workers building and maintaining those structures. The Northern Midwest Regional Council of Carpenters stands ready to work with educators across the state to introduce a career in the trades as a viable option for career-ready students.
For questions or next steps, you can contact Zach Rich at zach.rich@nmrcc.com or 248-320-7934.
The Northern Midwest Regional Council of Carpenters (NMRCC) represents more than 36,000 skilled union members and their families across Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. We are proudly chartered by the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America (UBC) – one of North America’s oldest and most respected labor unions that is committed to raising industry standards, protecting workers’ rights, and strengthening both our communities and our industry since 1881.