[image-caption title="Students%20explore%20hands-on%20career%20opportunities%20during%20Trades%20Day%2C%20a%20Hill%20County%20Electric%20Cooperative-sponsored%20event%20that%20highlights%20skilled%20trades%20and%20rural%20workforce%20pathways.%20(Photo%20By%3A%20Photo%20By%3A%20Tom%20Metcalfe%2FHill%20County%20EC)" description="%20" image="%2Fremagazine%2Farticles%2FPublishingImages%2Fthinkingbig-lead-TradesDay4.jpg" /]
Hill County Electric Cooperative's Trades Day was the place to be in March for more than 250 Montana high school juniors and seniors.
For the fourth straight year, the Havre-based co-op opened its doors to students looking for alternative career pathways beyond the four-year college route.
Trades Day provides hands-on sessions led by employees to demonstrate a range of jobs at the co-op's electric and broadband divisions.
It's also an effort to hold on to young people in sparsely populated Montana by showing there are good jobs to be had that don't require the financial commitment of a four-year college degree.
“We want to introduce young people to opportunities that exist right here in our state," says Craig Gates, CEO and general manager of Hill County EC and Triangle Communications, the broadband co-op. “We need youth to keep our communities viable, and if we can get kids from the area, they are more likely to stay."
[blockquote right quote="%22There's%20nothing%20else%20like%20this%20program%20in%20the%20state.%20Kids%20spend%20their%20day%20with%20us%20in%20an%20environment%20where%20they%20actually%20get%20to%20see%20what%20happens.%20The%20comments%20we've%20heard%20from%20teachers%20and%20counselors%20at%20just%20about%20every%20school%20is%2C%20'I%20haven't%20seen%20my%20kids%20that%20jazzed%20up%20or%20excited.'%22" author="Craig%20Gates%2C%20CEO%20and%20general%20manager%2C%20Hill%20County%20EC%20and%20Triangle%20Communications" align="left" /]
To do that, the co-op decided several years ago to piggyback Trades Day the day before its popular Triangle Communications' Big Sky Tech Fest, a popular training event for telecom professionals in Montana.
Gates says the co-op had been making career-day presentations in high schools but needed to take their efforts a step further.
“We thought, 'Why don't we bring the kids here?'" he says. “Several of our vendors were already here for Tech Fest with their equipment, so we asked them if they wouldn't mind giving presentations."
To get schools on board, Gates and his staff visited school counselors and principals to promote Trades Day—and got a positive response. Since then, “it's really grown, and it's done great. We have quite a few other schools that now see the value because not everybody's going to college."
The co-op serves the area surrounding Montana's Hi-Line, a 650-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 2 that crosses the northern part of the state. But the vast distance didn't stop a record nine schools from participating this year, with some students coming from nearly 100 miles away.
Trades Day kicks off with a short overview by Gates, and then students rotate among eight career “zones," each taught by a trade professional from Hill County EC, Triangle Communications or program partner Montana State University-Northern.
After lunch, students return to their area of greatest interest to participate in hands-on activities while meeting with mechanics, IT professionals and lineworkers and more.
“The kids actually get to splice fiber, put on the lineman gear and climb the poles a little, jump on the excavators, or draw on the computer using AutoCAD [drafting software]," says Tom Metcalfe, the co-op's marketing manager. “This year, our electricians showed them how to build an extension cord."
[section separator="true"]
[section-item 6]
[row]
[column 11]
Montana State University-Northern in Havre has been involved with Trades Day since the beginning by sending instructors from its diesel equipment repair and welding programs. MSU students accompany welding instructor Jason Tanner to share their experiences with high schoolers.
“The [MSU] students talk about the program, what it was like, the outcome and where they're going to work," Tanner said. “The younger students are really interested in that."
[/column]
[/row]
[/section-item]
[section-item 6]
[row]
[column 12]
[image-caption title="%20Welding%20demonstrations%20gave%20students%20a%20firsthand%20look%20at%20one%20of%20the%20many%20skilled%20trades%20highlighted%20during%20Trades%20Day.%20(Photo%20By%3A%20Tom%20Metcalfe%2FHill%20County%20EC)" description="%20" image="%2Fremagazine%2Farticles%2FPublishingImages%2Fthinkingbig-secondary-tradesday.jpg" /]
[/column]
[/row]
[/section-item]
[/section]
For most students, Trades Day is their introduction to the world of trade careers, highlighting possibilities for life after high school.
“It allowed me to narrow down my interests and gave me a clearer idea of that career path I want to pursue," says recent North Star High School graduate Dirk Wolery, who went to Trades Day as a sophomore and junior. Today, the Rudyard native is working as an electrical apprentice and studying diesel technology at MSU-Northern.
Trades Day has generated several interns for Hill County EC and Triangle Communications. If rave reviews from instructors, students and teachers are any indication, co-op staff are confident the program will continue to bear fruit.
“There's nothing else like this program in the state," Gates says. “Kids spend their day with us in an environment where they actually get to see what happens. The comments we've heard from teachers and counselors at just about every school is 'I haven't seen my kids that jazzed up or excited.'"
