GENESEE COUNTY, Mich. (WJRT) - Starting this fall, Hamady High School students will be able to get their feet wet in the skilled trades field, thanks to a unique partnership with the Saginaw-based Youth Development Corporation.
“It’s so greatly needed and so greatly overdue,” said Skeeter Holmes, CTE Instructor.
Holmes is excited he gets to teach students how to do things like electrical work, building a wall, carpentry, roofing, plumbing, masonry, all skilled trades that the students can carry with them from the classroom to the job site.
Students can also earn up to 47 college credits.
“We have a format set up to help them learn on different levels, and it’s a format where no one should feel intimidated because we want to help you every step of the way to be successful,” Holmes said.
The CTE program at Hamady was all made possible through a partnership with the Youth Development Corporation out of Saginaw, that helps troubled teens get their GED’s, earn college credits and earn skilled trades certifications.
“What we try to do is help them figure out who they are, what they want and guide them through the process in terms of getting that,” said Cal Telley, YDC’s Chief Operating Officer
Telley is just as excited as Holmes that the program will now be taught at Hamady.
“One of the things that we see around our communities and our infrastructure being old, we’re going to need a lot of people in the trades, and I think these young men and women will be instrumental in doing that,” he said.
The Youth Development Corporation’s growth isn’t stopping in Saginaw or Hamady.
There are efforts right now to bring the program to Flint and Memphis, Tennessee.
https://www.abc12.com/news/education/hamady-high-school-to-offer-new-skilled-trades-program-for-students/article_f5f387ef-0d73-5a90-8871-b44c6a716bbf.html
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