Construction Career Awareness Day Held for 1,750 Sacramento and San Joaquin Area Students

Today the Associated General Contractors of California and Granite Construction Company, along with 40 industry partners, hosted a Construction Career Awareness Day for 1750 high school students from around Sacramento-San Joaquin region.

The event, part of statewide effort, put students in contact with construction industry companies and associations to learn about apprenticeship training programs, as well as valuable information for career planning, including job classifications, available scholarships, and local salary information. The event also included opportunities to get hands on experience and observe equipment demonstrations.

In addition, Assemblymember Alyson Huber and Caltrans Director Will Kemton spoke to the students.

“It is wonderful to see so many students attending this event, exploring the possibility of careers in the construction industry,” said Huber. “The construction industry has a long history of providing apprenticeship programs to high school students and the industry plays a critical role in CTE programs that help make education relevant for every student. CTE and apprenticeship programs are essential vehicles for addressing the dropout crisis our state is facing, as well as ensuring we have enough skilled workers.”

According to statistics released in July 2008 by the California Department of Education the statewide dropout average was 24.2 percent from 2003-04 through 2006-07. The 10th Assembly district had some of the worst dropout numbers with 54.2 percent of Stockton Unified high school students dropping out over the four years.

With the current economic uncertainty, many remain doubtful about their future employment security. Our nation continues to experience a sever shortage of skilled workers in the construction industry while thousands of our area youth remain largely unaware of the many employment opportunities and significant financial rewards the construction industry has to offer.

The event was held at the Granite Construction Company location in Sacramento on Bradshaw Road and included students from 52 schools and programs.