“Where do you want to go to college?” It’s a question we have feared since kindergarten.

Although the idea of going on to higher education such as college has seemed the norm for most of our lives, some students take a different route to their careers: the trades.

Students from all over the greater Pittsburgh area were able to meet with trade unions and industry partners November 17 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center at an event known as the Builders Guild.

Beaver Area’s transition coordinator Mrs. Jacquelyn Ambrose shared, “This was like a one-stop-shop for anyone who’s possibly interested in obtaining a job in the trades. There’s a lot of money and good paying jobs in the trades, so we’re trying to push kids in that direction.”

Beaver Area students who are also enrolled a the Career and Technical Center (CTC, formerly known as Vo-Tech) were able to attend, as well as a group of interested students taken by Mrs. Ambrose who don’t attend the CTC.

Senior Jeremy Merkel went as part of the CTC group saying, “It was nice to go out and see what each of the trade skills offer, and being able to actually do some of the work they do was really interesting.”

Mrs. Ambrose tells us, “[the event] is a huge room full of the various trades in the area that have hands-on experience, possibly for any student who may be interested in doing [that particular job]. For masonry, they had bricklaying so the students were able to see what that was about and hands on.”

Other trades like plumbing, steam fitting, and electrical had their own booths for information and interaction.

With no formal presentation in an auditorium setting, the event center was filled with small booths, similar to a college fair.

“Students can come down, make their way through the trades, figure out if it's an area of interest, make contacts, and go from there,” explained Mrs. Ambrose.

Although students won’t get hired on the spot, they could possibly gather more information on the specific trade. Information could include things like “schooling you can possibly get through them, information on [the respective] union, and contact information,” Mrs. Ambrose explained.

If the student is serious about the trade union, they can meet privately with the representative and start the process.

Senior Jaxon Hall, who attends CTC for electrical occupations, met with a union representative in that area.

With information from the group, he learned about the apprenticeship program.

“The education isn’t like college; it's an apprenticeship. You take classes but you’re also on jobs making money,” Hall learned.

Seems like a win-win sort of thing.

The event is hosted by the Builders Guild, a group located in Western Pennsylvania that promotes “quality construction and provides a forum for labor,” according to their website.

The Builders Guild encourages all who are interested in the trades to “Build On!” as their motto suggests