An estimated 913 high school students got a hands-on glimpse into the construction industry during Tampa Bay Construction Career Day.
Nearly 1,000 high school student juniors and seniors from 39 high schools visited the Hillsborough County Fairgrounds March 21 not to watch a rodeo or ride thrill rides but to attend Tampa Bay Construction Career Day, hosted by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), the Florida Transportation Builders’ Association, the Suncoast Utility Contractors Association, the National Association of Women in Construction and the Federal Highway Administration as well as partners in the private sector. Students learned about the wide range of job opportunities available in the construction industry.
Students were treated to a hands-on, interactive glimpse into the industry at 22 career centers and 46 learning labs, where they got the chance to try their hand at operating heavy machinery, learning about bridge construction, paving, bridge building, traffic control and engineering.
Ginny Burcham, a field specialist with HNTB, a firm that specializes in designing and advancing transportation infrastructure, said the event opens up avenues . “It helps students realize the various opportunities in the industry after they graduate from high school or college,” she said. “For us folks in the industry it gives us a chance to introduce our business to up and coming prospective employees.”
As more people relocate to Florida, the demand for qualified construction workers grows. “We recognize that we have more need than we have people in our industry and so we need to recruit,” said Burcham. “We need these kids to know that there’s a place for them in our industry if they’re interested.”
For Plant City High School junior Jared Hill, the career day was a chance to learn about other facets of the construction industry. “I came to see what other job opportunities are out there and see if anything piques my interest,” said Hill. While rotating through learning labs, he was taught how to work with drywall, how to install cut-in boxes and rebar pipe bending.
While he liked learning new skills, he’s eager to become an electrician, thanks in part to a happy accident during his freshman year, when a shop class he was registered for filled up so he was transferred to an electricity class. He was hooked. “It was easy to learn and you can make good money doing it,” he said.
After high school, Hill plans to work with his cousin, splicing and laying fiber optic cables.
Plant City High School electricity teacher Fernando Guillen brought Hill and 37 other automotive, agriculture and electricity students to the event. “They need to see the benefits a career in construction can bring,” he said. “It’s not just having a job, it’s having a career and finding something they’re truly passionate about.”
