Becoming clear, cool, and comfortable. .

Becoming clear, cool, and comfortable.

In partnership with the Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters, Gateway Regional High School in Woodbury Heights, New Jersey , is the first school in Gloucester County to offer the new Career Connections program that enables eligible students to work and learn the trades as part of their career pathing. Developed and certified by the Carpenters International Training Fund and the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, the new initiative aims to strengthen the nation's talent pipeline by preparing students for rewarding and high-demand careers in the construction industry.

WOODBURY HEIGHTS, N.J. , May 31, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters and Gateway Regional High School are helping students build a better future, quite literally. As part of its new Career Connections program, the Woodbury Heights, New Jersey , school helps students develop real-world construction skills and putting them on a path toward rewarding and high-demand careers in the trades.

The Career Connections program is developed and certified by the Carpenters International Training Fund (CITF) and the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America (UBC).

"We take kids that have never held a hammer, and show them how to build structures, lay groundwork, and more, as they earn various certifications, and strengthen their career pathing," said Thomas Sommers , Director of Outreach and Development at Northeast Carpenters Apprenticeship Fund. "We're putting all the pieces in place and offering career guidance from an insider's point-of-view, at a time in their lives when decisions will very soon need to be made."

The program employs a blended-learning approach and a Learning Management System that includes textbooks and hands-on shop time. It includes a full four-year curriculum that can be taught as a standalone course or in four separate modules. At the end of the program, students earn four certificates along with valuable career-based skills.

"The objective of the program is to show teenagers viable, debt-free, career options in union trades and to help them work their way there," said Chris Better , Career and Technical Education and engineering teacher at Gateway Regional High School. "Our Career Connections seniors are now much better prepared for careers in the real world: they have visited a nearby carpentry training center and pile driving facility in Hammonton and have already had a chance to use the skills they have read about and studied. They also have their professional headshots, know how to interview for a job, and how to connect with others in the field using professional networking platforms."

On June 2nd, 2022 , at Senior Recognition Day, Gateway Regional High School will honor its first set of 13 Career Connections graduates who have completed three or more years in the construction and trades program.

One of the program graduates, Michael Saraceno , has been selected by his instructor to interview for the Carpenters Apprenticeship Program and will be honored with his first professional tool belt.

"I hadn't really considered construction as a career path before," said Saraceno. "There are so many things to know, and I'd never done anything like it. This program gave me the opportunity to test-drive it, so-to-speak, and I really like it. I plan to build a career in this."

Saraceno has since started working at a construction company after school.

With President Biden's $2 trillion plan to rebuild the U.S. infrastructure, as well as New Jersey's offshore wind industry boom, the demand for skilled carpenters, pile drivers, commercial divers, and other skilled trades professionals is expected to continue increasing. To help strengthen the nation's skilled trades pipeline, the Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters plans to continue honoring high school seniors enrolled in the various Career Connections programs across the region for choosing a versatile, high-demand, and a debt-free career path.

Maria Coder , Carpenter Contractor Trust, 954-379-2115, maria@redbanyan.com

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