Franklin Regional fifth-graders explore a variety of career paths

When Olivia Hamilton of Murrysville was younger, she spent a lot of time with her father working on cars.

“I knew I didn’t want to be a mechanic, but I remember thinking that welding sounded pretty cool,” she said.

She may not have had that career path chosen by fifth grade, but Hamilton did go on to become the first female welding student from the Franklin Regional School District, and one of only four in her classes at Northern Westmoreland Career & Technology Center during her senior year in 2018.

Franklin Regional officials want more (and younger) students to recognize the benefits of vocational and trade schools. During Hamilton’s senior year they began organizing fifth-grade field trips to local career and technology schools. One of those trips took place in January.

Accompanied by counselors from the district’s three elementary schools, students were divided into groups to visit programs in multimedia, computer networking, health occupations, construction, auto-body, cosmetology, culinary, HVAC, auto mechanics, welding and machine tooling.

“We really try to make this a part of their education, all the way from kindergarten through their senior year,” said Jeff Stanczak, senior internship supervisor at Franklin Regional Senior High School.

As the cost of a four-year college degree continues to rise in the country, the prospect of immediate employment has made trade schools more attractive to students like Hamilton. She said the nature of her skills, and the simple reality that welding is an essential part of the construction process, boosted her confidence in the decision to go straight into the job market, even though it has taken some getting used to.

“It was hard adjusting to the adult life of going into a full-time job right after high school and not having anyone my age there,” said Hamilton, who now works at Sabina Manufacturing in Carnegie. “But I’m very happy and excited to continue my career path because there is a lot of room for growing and learning how to build new projects.”

In addition to the fifth-grade field trips, elementary school counselors will host a spring 2020 career speaker series for fourth-graders, introducing younger students to a variety of possible career paths.

“We want out students to be exposed to different career pathways, and really be thinking about where they’re going with their education, even starting at a very early age,” Stanczak said.