As the Northern Kentucky labor market evolves, more students are turning to the trades to find viable careers. To aid their transition, public school systems are partnering with local tradespeople and businesses to change the “blue-collar” stigma around trade jobs.
The Campbell County Area Technology Center, located at the high school’s campus, is at the center of working to erase that stigma for public school students in the county. The goal of the area technology center is to expand student’s career options, providing them with technical skills training that can lead to a successful post high school transition.
The program offers programs in carpentry, welding, auto body, auto technology, electricity, health science and masonry. Students from the surrounding school districts of Fort Thomas Highlands, Dayton, Bellevue, Newport and Pendleton County can also attend classes at the ATC, expanding the school’s reach into more communities.
The United States labor market is amid a skilled labor age gap for jobs such as plumbers and electricians, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Essentially, a large portion of the plumbing labor force is aging out of the profession while there are fewer upcoming plumbers to replace those positions.
“Because we’ve been so short of workers for so long, there’s an abundance of opportunities out there,” said Jimmy Porter, masonry instructor at the ATC.
A 2023 Bureau of Labor Statistics analysis found that the median age of a plumber in the US is 42.9 years old; 34% of the US plumbers fall with the 55 to 64 age bracket. In contrast, only 15% are in the 20 to 24 age bracket.
“I think the state of Kentucky has realized they needed to put a greater emphasis on trades,” ATC principal Carolyn Stewart said. “We’ve seen that in the way schools are supported or the ATCs are supported and the training that’s provided for new teachers in the ATCs.”
The ATC classrooms feature a variety of hands-on learning stations so students can get the feel of operating in a live workstation and the satisfaction of completing a job while still in school. For example, the ATC’s welding classroom features multiple concrete welding bays for individual students. In the auto body classroom, students have access to a fully-sized car painting booth.
Stewart said the program is so popular among students that some even come in after school hours to continue working on the donated vehicles.
Carpentry instructor Jason Decker told LINK nky that participation in the ATC’s carpentry program is up over 10% from this school year to last.
“It’s just a different pathway,” Decker said. “That doesn’t mean it’s any less important than the kid going to college and if they can, that’s fine — but we also have good options here.”
ATC programs are gaining students due to a concerted marketing and recruiting effort conducted by the teaching staff and administration, according to representatives of the program. This effort includes posting about the programs on major social media platforms and hosting tours and open houses from Campbell County feeder schools, even as young as elementary school.
“We’ve had multiple elementary schools come see us,” Stewart said. “We’ve had two of our feeder middle schools come visit us. We’ve had three of our feeder high schools bring kids to see us. When they come here, you can see it in some of these kids’ eyes.”
At the core of Campbell County ATC’s education strategy is engagement, Stewart told LINK nky. The ATC provides students with hands-on learning opportunities to see a finished project and derive satisfaction from completing the project.
Phil Griffin, founder of TradesNKY, a regional nonprofit dedicated to promoting trade education to K-12 students, said that he feels traditional classroom lectures often fail to keep a portion of students engaged, causing them to fall behind academically.
In Griffin’s opinion, trade education — like what is offered at the ATC — can re-energize a student academically by granting them access to hands-on instruction.
“Some kids learn through chalkboards, other kids learn when you put a tape measure in their hand and teach them fractions through a real application of it,” Griffin said.
Griffin told LINK nky he was once one of those students who struggled to find a viable career path while in high school. Like many students, Griffin said he felt more academically engaged when working with his hands.
As a former Campbell County High School student, Griffin was introduced to the trades by masonry instructor Jimmy Porter. Porter taught at the McCormick Vocational School – Campbell County’s School’s previous vocational education campus, before the introduction of the ATC.
At 16, Griffin started working in commercial masonry before shifting his focus to framing. His formative experiences in vocational school, as well as his real-world work experience, helped Griffin decide to pursue a career in the trades. He founded his own business, AnyWeather, a commercial heating, ventilation and air conditioning company based in Cold Spring.
“When people see our schools promoting all these pathways and all these opportunities, it gives them confidence in the idea that these careers are desirable and respected,” Griffin said. “For a long time, being blue collar had a negative connotation.”
This hands-on approach paid dividends for Campbell County High School at the statewide SkillsUSA event, a career competition showcasing Kentucky’s best career and technical education students. Overall, ten students placed in events like masonry, related technical math, first aid/CPR, welding and teamwork.
According to Decker, one of the ATC’s most valuable attributes is reaching wider swaths of students, such as those either unengaged, struggling in traditional academic settings, or prone to behavioral issues.
“A kid comes into this building with a clean slate,” Decker said. “We don’t care what their grade was prior. We don’t care where they came from. They all get the same opportunity. That’s what we love – building them back up.”
Griffin seconded this description saying while he was in school, he felt as if vocational education was sometimes viewed as a “dumping ground” for students who struggled with behavioral issues.
However, Decker and Griffin both agreed they felt like that specific stereotype is diminishing. Decker told LINK nky their staff deals with “minimal” behavioral issues from students.
“It’s changing,” Griffin said. “Some kids who have behavioral issues might come here and flourish, but now they’re holding a standard here (ATC).”
