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James Cuyler, an educator at Charles W. Baker High School in the Baldwinsville Central School District in upstate New York, came up with the idea to develop a summer pre-apprenticeship trades program for students after he watched a group of contractors build a new gymnasium and track at his school. The crew arrived early in the morning while it was cold and raining. They never complained. They took deep pride in their work. And they were making a solid living.
“It dawned on me that building trades are such an undersold career path for our students, and if you did want to pursue a career, where would you go?” Cuyler wrote in an email to the AFT.
The AFT funded this summer pre-apprenticeship program with grant money through our partnership with Micron Technology Inc., a microchip manufacturer. The program ran from July 27-31. Each day, the students learned a new trade through a hands-on activity, such as building a farm stand for a local farmer. During their lunchtime, representatives from different unions and trades visited the students to talk about their work and the different opportunities for the young people, often focusing on the skills need at Micron. Students also got to tour Onondaga Community College, the construction site where Micron is building a new fabrication facility and the ongoing construction at Baker High School.
The Baldwinsville Central School District is one of 10 districts in New York that are implementing an Advanced Technology Framework as part of a partnership between the AFT, New York State United Teachers, the United Federation of Teachers and Micron Technology Inc. The framework, which was developed by teachers in collaboration with Micron, is designed to prepare middle school and high school students for high-tech careers through a curriculum infused with hands-on learning.
This summer program does just that—and more. It gives students the opportunity to learn skills related to construction and advanced technology, so they explore career pathways and gain meaningful paid workforce preparation.
Dozens of students from Baldwinsville learned about framing as they started building a farm stand for a local farmer on July 27. For many of the teens, it was their first time handling tools like the ones they used to build the stand. As part of this project, each student received a professional nail pouch, hammer, tape measure, speed square, pliers and a six-way screwdriver that they got to keep.
While they were working, Tyler Lobdell of Raulli and Sons Inc. —a family-owned steel fabrication and erection company in Syracuse, N.Y.—visited the students to discuss his work as a welder and fabricator. The tradesman spoke about constructing stairs for a new aquarium project.
On July 28, students got to experience electrical work, learning about AC/DC currents. They safely wired outlets and switches.
For the rest of the day, they finished framing the walls for the farm stand they were building, and they built some training walls to practice drywall, plumbing and window installation. The windows were donated by Comfort Windows & Doors, a locally owned window installer based in Baldwinsville.
On July 29, students used a concrete mixer and got their hands dirty as they poured concrete and built some concrete corn hole boards, which they will donate to the Donald S. Ray Middle School in Baldwinsville.
The students also installed windows in the farm stand, learning how to prevent rain from entering the frames. The students then measured, cut and installed trim for the windows on the front wall of the farm stand.
At lunchtime, representatives from Comfort Windows & Doors offered every student in the pre-apprenticeship program a summer internship for the future.
On July 30, students learned how to hang and tape drywall. In addition, representatives from Barnes & Cone Inc.—a masonry supply store in Syracuse—and a union member from the local bricklayers union developed hands-on activities for students to learn about bricklaying. Many of the students wanted to work through their lunchtime to get one more coat of mud on their wall section to make it better than everyone else’s.
The students also started to work on the farm stand’s roof. They built the trusses from scratch and then got to use ladders, picks and scaffolding to attach them. Occasionally, the students took out their phones to sneak a selfie or a photo of their work.
On July 31, the students toured the construction at Baker High School and visited the UA Local 81 Plumbers and Steamfitters where they learned about soldering and threading pipe.
After their lunchtime, the students visited the new Micron Cleanroom Simulation Lab at Onondaga Community College.
In his email to the AFT summarizing the week, James Culyer praised the students’ work ethic.
“We pushed them, they got dirty, sweaty. Nobody complained. It was hard,” he wrote.
“They were early to arrive, polite and genuinely invested. John, one of the bricklayers, said to me. ‘Baldwinsville huh? These are the most well-behaved, hardest working kids I’ve ever worked with.’”
[Alvin Buyinza]