If you don’t go to college you’re a scrub. This so-called “truth” has rung loudly in our society for some time, but a group of Beaver Area students had the opportunity to see the other side of the spectrum.

March 29, 11 Beaver Area students attended the Trades Convention in Pittsburgh accompanied by technology education teachers Mr. Justin Martincic and Mr. Cameron Brown.

The event allowed students to basically walk around a “trade fair” and talk to professionals about many jobs in the engineering and construction fields as well as others. This event was open to everyone who took tech classes this year.

“It was one of the best field trips I’ve been on. We had a lot of fun walking around the convention and learning about engineering and construction. It was nice to see some other options we have outside of high school,” stated junior Sam Elliot.

The trip’s goal was to open the students’ eyes to other important possibilities that will be available after high school. These kinds of events help to remove the mindset that college is the end all be all.

“It was definitely one of the top six field trips I have ever been on. I learned a lot about the field of engineering, and to top off everything, I got a good laugh at the end when 20 people got stuck in an elevator for 50 minutes,” said senior Christian Hartman.

Yes, there was a minor mishap when several students from other schools also attending the event were stuck in one of the convention center’s glass elevators—in full view of the convention floor below. All were rescued without incident.

Not only did the students learn invaluable information about trades, but they also got to explore the innovative and exciting David L. Lawrence Convention Center where the event was held.

“I think it was great; [the event was] Friday and Saturday and there were, I think, about 4,500 kids [attending] from Western Pennsylvania. Friday, just after we left, Governor Tom Wolf was there which just kind of shows how important of an event it was,” Mr. Brown explained.