MACLEOD PAPPIDAS | THE DAILY WORLD Shelton High School sophomore Fransisco Paz takes a turn at demolishing a concrete block with a jackhammer during the annual Try-A-Trade in Construction career fair at the Satsop Development Park Friday. All of the days participants were required to wear goggles, ear protection, safety vests and hard hats.

Construction career fair steamrolls into Satsop

For more than 500 students from 20 school districts in Western Washington on Friday, school was a whole different experience.

It was the annual Try-a-Trade in Construction career fair sponsored by the Regional Educational and Technical Center at Satsop Development Park near Elma, and by all accounts it was a huge success.

 “This is the crown jewel of field trips” raved Terry Arnold, a teacher at Shelton High School, who brought two busloads of students to the event. “This is the one they can literally get in and do things.”

The message was clear throughout the event: An apprenticeship in the building and construction trades is a career option that includes family-wage pay, excellent benefits, and even the opportunity to get a college degree.

For three Elma students standing in line for a turn operating a crane — Kat Hennigar, Shelby Weiller and Ally Bertsch — the tunnel making grabbed their attention.

“You just had to listen to the directions and work together as a team,” said Weiller. “It was really fun.”

One emerging work field is working underground in tunnels. Stan Simons of the Laborers Union teaches tunnel classes at the Satsop Development Park.

“There’s going to be a need for a lot of people with tunnel training in the next 25 years in the Seattle area,” he said.