Hands On the Tools – Minds On the Future for Trades Studies Students

Hands On the Tools – Minds On the Future for Trades Studies Students

Thursday, June 10th, 2021

The Middle School Trades Exploration program has delivered more than we ever hoped for. Program leaders designed curriculum with goals of fostering career interest and equipping our future workforce with useful and hirable skills. Their work exceeded expectations, also giving students an incredible outlet for creativity while building strong connections to learning during the pandemic.

Early this winter, a group of 20 highly-impacted middle schoolers received Career Connection Kits. A much-anticipated way to continue their trades studies, kits included the tools and supplies needed to complete three woodworking projects. Once Hybrid Learning began, similar kits were utilized in the classroom, strengthening the connection between online and in-person studies with a familiar activity and creating an unexpected opportunity for students to re-engage in the classroom.

As students continued to grow their technical skills, they also began to consider the future, imagining the potential career options in the construction industry. With fundamental skills in place, middle schoolers find themselves especially prepared for high school trades classes and further ready to enter the pipeline to skilled employment.

The Trades Exploration program was available this year to students from Mountain View, Five Oaks, and Whitford Middle Schools. As educators roll out Trades Exploration 2.0, the program will transition to an after-school offering, available on-site at the Merlo Construction Tech Campus.

This critical work was made possible thanks to: Beaverton teachers Janine Weir, Hannah Hardt, Ghislaine Castle, Jon Hauben, and Stephen Sieg; funding from BEF’s partners, PGE Foundation, Spirit Mountain Community Fund, and U.S. Bank Foundation; and our powerful community of donors – proving that we are stronger together.