Apprenticeship Panel and Trade Fair
March 1, 2024
Throughout their time at W.F. West High School, students have multiple opportunities to explore the variety of options for post high school pathways. Some of these opportunities include college tours, trade school tours, Career Spotlight events, College/Career Fairs and military representation. February's student opportunity was the W.F. West Apprenticeship Panel & Trades Fair.
About 200 W.F. West students attended this experience, which featured guest presenters from our community. They included:
- Chad Strodemier, Lewis County PUD
- Jeremy Clevenger, Laborers Union
- Jeff Reinhardt, Sheet Metal Union
- Barry Blackburn, Electrical Union
- Jake Dunthorn, Operating Engineers Union
- Travis Dodson, Carpenters Union
- Elizabeth Lazo, Centralia College Career & Technical Programs
- Jeb Kozisek, I-5 Toyota
- Nicole Miller, Construct a Career Program
The event began with a panel discussion where our guests discussed information and advice for students considering a career in the trades. Afterwards, our guest presenters were available to students for one-on-one discussions and questions during the Trade Fair in the W.F. West Library.
What Our Experts Said
What should students interested in apprenticeships and careers in the trades think about? Here's some of the advice our experts had for them:
- Find your passions and what is going to make you happy.
- Most programs are looking for people with a good attitude and who are teachable/coachable.
- Many apprenticeship programs are very competitive. Be aggressive, be a go-getter and ask questions.
- If there's one thing that can give you a competitive edge, it's communication skills.
- If you have opportunities to practice your interviewing skills, take them.
- Be punctual and show up.
- Keep up the math. Many jobs in the trade use math skills from classes such as geometry and trigonometry.
In Other News ...
Don't Forget to Make Your Voice Heard
If you haven’t already, please make your voice heard by taking our survey about an important change being made to before- and after-school care choices in our district. You may choose to take the survey in English or in Spanish.
We would appreciate if you would participate in the survey, which will help us gauge whether there is enough interest to move forward with a partnership to provide tuition-based before- and after-school care at our schools. The grant funding that pays for our Math Mindsets groups currently being held before school at James Lintott (K-2) and Orin Smith (3-5) and after school at Chehalis Middle School (6-8) has now expired. Our district is able to fund the continuation of this program through the end of the 2023-2024 school year but we will be unable to offer Math Mindsets during the 2024-2025 school year and beyond.
In an effort to provide affordable options for families in need of before- and/or after-school care for their students, our district is considering partnering with Right At School, a company that provides before- and after-school enrichment programs based at your student’s school. Besides offering the space for the programs, this partnership would not cost the Chehalis School District any money because family participation in the program is tuition-based. Right At School offers tuition discounts and assistance for families that qualify for free and reduced lunch, military families, Chehalis School District employees and other circumstances.
CLICK HERE to learn more about this program and to take the survey.