Fordson High School students will get the chance to learn more about trades with some hands-on activities when Tools for Schools visits the campus on Thursday, April 25, 2024.
Tools for Schools give students, parents, teachers and school counselors more information about the training and career opportunities in the construction trades and apprenticeship programs. The group will bring its mobile field trip semi trailer to Fordson to provide virtual reality and hands-on activities so students can explore what it’s like to work in the skilled trades. The trailer is sponsored by the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters and Millwrights. Students will be able to visit six stations trying their skill at driving nails or inserting screws, a virtual welding simulator, leveling, and framing. Students can also check out a virtual reality experience and get more information about trade apprenticeships.
More than 200 selected Fordson students from ninth to 12th grade are scheduled to visit the truck during school on April 25. This school year, the Tools for Schools trailer has also visited Edsel Ford High and Dearborn High, the two other traditional high schools in Dearborn Public Schools.
Each of Dearborn’s traditional three high schools encourages students to explore different career options, separating students into Career Academies according to what career fields they might be interested in – business and hospitality, health services, human services, or industry, tech and innovation.
“We want Tools for Schools to come to Fordson to make our students aware of the different opportunities in skilled trades, the income potential, and the apprenticeship programs available with the carpenters and millwrights,” said Joanne Fairbanks, Fordson’s Career Business liaison.