High schoolers introduced to various in-demand jobs

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

Hundreds of high school freshman and sophomores from Van Wert, Paulding and Mercer counties spent some of school day on Tuesday at the Van Wert County Fairgrounds, getting hands-on exposure to a number of in-demand and skilled trades through the fourth annual “Build Your Future” program.

Van Wert, Crestview, Lincolnview, Wayne Trace, Paulding and Antwerp rotated through interactive career stations led by Vantage Career Center seniors who explained and demonstrated industry-related skills they’ve learned to this point, then had students try their hand at the various stations. Van Wert County schools and Parkway attended the morning session, and the Paulding County schools were at the afternoon session. 

“The purpose is to gain some exposure for these kids to see what’s really out there, to find out about skilled trades that they hear about,” Van Wert High School Careers Counselor Kerry Koontz said. “This gives them an opportunity to get hands-on experience and to get a sense of what might be a future for them. Vantage does a great job coordinating with the economic development office and providing this event our students.”

Among the businesses and organizations that participated were Danfoss, OhioHealth Van Wert Hospital, Paulding County Hospital, Alexander & Bebout, Ayers Mechanical Group, ATR Contractors, OhioMeansJobs, Paulding Economic Development, and the Van Wert Area Economic Development Corporation.

“It starts with Vantage Career Center and economic development offices in Van Wert County and Paulding County,” said Lauren Buchanan, Workforce Development Manager with the Van Wert Area Economic Development Corporation. “We were able to bring in other businesses and for the first time we were able to bring in healthcare stakeholders and Danfoss, the largest employer in the county, so this is great exposure for those places as well to network and meet their future workforce essentially.”

“It’s well organized and the feedback is such that the kids lock in and they start looking ahead and want to attend Vantage for welding or carpentry or what have you,” Koontz added. “We have great buy-in from our businesses here.”

Stations included construction and carpentry, masonry, welding, electric, HVAC, heavy equipment, manufacturing and health trades.

“A lot of the students are excited to hold tools for the first time or maybe they’ve never stepped foot in a hospital for a personal experience,” Buchanan said. “It’s really unique working with this age group because they were in late elementary school or early middle school when the pandemic happened and I think they were really the first kids constantly heard the term ‘essential and non-essential’ jobs, so they do have a keen interest in going for what’s in-demand.”

Tuesday’s event also showed students that they don’t have to go far from home to find their future career path, hence, Build Your Future.

“Even though each county has their own school districts and their own economic development offices, we’re not selfish – we just want these students to find meaningful employment after graduation,” Buchanan said.