Kenosha summer camp teaches students about the trades

2022-07-29 12:29:51 By : Ms. Leona Deng

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KENOSHA, Wis. — Peyton Munson spent a summer Wednesday morning working with metal pipes, making something specific. 

“A picture frame that you can use for a family member, or a picture of your dog, or somebody you know or something like that," Munson, a seventh grade student at Kenosha Unified School District said. 

It was part of a new Building Trades Summer Camp. 

Munson signed up for the camp because the trades are something he wanted to learn more about. 

“My dad, my uncle, and my grandpa have all worked in mechanics stuff, and I always thought it would be cool to go to a construction thing and see what it’s like," Munson said. 

That picture frame is just one of the projects he and about 30 other students in the Kenosha Unified School District got to work on during the four day camp.

“They learned masonry and concrete, carpentry, drywall, they learned some of the engineering aspect of it with their virtual reality simulators," said Aaron Williams, the Coordinator of Career and Technical Education at Kenosha Unified School District. "Yesterday we were at Pieper Power, and they learned the electrical trades.”

He said he and the school wanted to do this camp to get these students exposed to industries that are in need of quality workers. While they still have a few years before they’re working, the earlier they learn about their opportunities, the better. 

“Letting the kids know what’s here in Kenosha, these are careers, some of them we learned about you don’t have to necessarily have to go the four year route, the two year route, the apprenticeship they learned about, some of those direct high school to employment route too, so all of those possibilities," Williams said. 

The school hopes to be able to continue the camp in future years.