Soddy-Daisy students get to simulate skilled labor as leaders hope they will fill jobs
Students trying out a forklift simulator at Soddy-Daisy High School.
SODDY-DAISY, Tenn. (WDEF)- How will companies across the Tennessee Valley fill an increasing amount of open jobs in the trades?
Leaders hope one kind of outreach will fill that gap.
Soddy-Daisy High School Students who took part in the “Be Proud. Be Pro.” career event say that it was eye opening.
They got to try out simulators of various skill based jobs like running a forklift, bulldozer, and tractor trailers housed inside of a truck, the only one of its kind in Tennessee.
Senior student Micah Sneed said, “I would like to do lineman work so I enjoyed the bucket over there. They have a lot. It was like really realistic. I shadowed EPB and their lineman crew and this was really cool, basically the same.”
Fellow senior student Gabe Ferguson added, “I got a little work over the summer running excavators and stuff and it was pretty cool to go in there and see how similar it really was to the actual machines that you get to run. I thought it was very similar and stuff, pretty awesome.”
Jason Lewis, the tour manager for “Be Proud. Be Pro.” Tennessee said, “Most of these careers on this truck the students they may don’t know much about and so we’re just kind of exposing them to these things, and trying to spark their interests and get them excited.”
Soddy-Daisy High waited for a year to get the program, as teachers say an increasing amount of students want to go into the trade.
Kristina Youngblood, a college/career advisor at Soddy-Daisy High School said, “It’s been great. The kids have really responded well and it’s giving him some real hands-on experience with things that they could be looking at future jobs.”
TVA and companies like Black and Vech had representatives on site to talk with students, saying they need large numbers of the next generation to choose the trades.
Jamie Choate, director of HR support for TVA, said “We do see a shortage of skill trades and labor coming up. We’re seeing millions of jobs posting and being unfilled across the nation and then we see that only increase in over the next decade when we estimate about 50% more of the skill trade workforce will retire.”
This program also caught the attention of Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp, who says the tools in this program will be inspiration for the new Future Ready Centers across the county.
Mayor Wamp said, “One of the first things that you’ll see happen at Franklin-Roberts downtown, in fact preceding enrollment of students is an immersive experience like this where younger students in fact, beginning of middle school and maybe even earlier, students will be able to come and able to get a feel for career pathways that are available throughout the school system.”
Students we spoke with say the program reinforces their desire to go into the trades.
Senior student Nayeli Sinental said, “I mean, I like hands-on work overall. I mean the income has been really good. I think it’s a pretty stable job.”
The experience is so in demand that there is a two year wait list for schools who want to bring this experience to their students, at no cost to the schools.
