MUKWONAGO — In a Mukwonago classroom, you’re encouraged to play with sharp objects and hit things hard.
“A lot of people in a lot of different schools can’t say that they have the program that we have," Jerynn Mueller, a senior at Mukwonago High School, said.
Since starting high school, Mueller has taken a lot of tech ed classes like manufacturing, design, welding, and now, as a senior, she is enrolled in the building trades class.
“I wanted to take this class because I want to go into civil engineering," Mueller said.
In some of her classes, she is the only woman, but that doesn't affect her.
“I don’t go into these classes wanting to be the only girl. I don’t go into these classes wanting to represent. I go into these classes to learn and get experience doing whatever I end up doing in the future," she said.
She is here to learn and build. The class’ big project this year is building a large shed to house a golf simulator. It’s part of a regional high school competition called NextGen Trades hosted by the NARI Milwaukee Chapter, or the National Association of the Remodeling Industry. The goal is to get students interested in the trades, inspire friendly competition, and introduce them to potential employers during the judging process at the State Fair grounds from February 13 to 15.
The NARI Milwaukee Foundation focuses on growing the trades by offering scholarships and supporting trade professionals as they pursue continuing education.
"There's such a need for the trades, and this is just a great exposure. Not only finding out what they like, but maybe what they don't like. And, you know, embracing that, and then going out, so that they're ready to go into the workforce, and they're prepared," Tech Ed teacher Mark Soiney said.
The competing schools include: Greendale, Hamilton, Mukwonago, Muskego, Franklin and Oak Creek, St. Francis, South Milwaukee, and Wauwatosa East.
According to the global consulting firm McKinsey and Company, there is already a strong need for skilled workers. That number is only expected to grow.
Tech ed classes like this are not new. They have been around for a while. There has been a resurgence in these types of programs in recent years. However, the programs aren't just for aspiring professionals. Classes can be a good way to learn practical life skills.
Watch the story to see how the golf simulator shed the students are building...
“In reality, most all of them, if not all of them, are going to own a home at some point, and these are just tangible skills that they will be able to use for themselves, for their friends," Tom Geis, the former president of the NARI Milwaukee chapter, said.
I’m not ashamed to admit this. I don’t know my way around a toolkit. Do not come to me asking for help fixing something, but it would be nice to know how to do a thing or two. So when I look at a shed like the one the seniors at Mukwonago High School are building, I'm lost. But for Jerynn Mueller and her classmates, they see exactly how to build it.
“I see a process cause it takes a process, takes so many different parts and bits and people and thought and effort," Mueller said.
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