Building Trades Career Fair offers opportunities for students

Dozens of students and community members were given firsthand demonstrations on career opportunities in the building trades at the Worth Township Career Fair.

Township Clerk Eamon McMahon and the Worth Township Community Development Board arranged for the Construction Industry Service Corporation, and the Chicago and Cook County Building Trades, to present the career fair on Tuesday, April 26^th at the Worth Township Hall.

Through the cooperation of administrators and career counselors of District 229 and all four District 218 schools, interested students now have a clear understanding of the career options available to them.

Frank La Mantia, Curriculum Director for Career and Technical Education at District 218, believes the event provided students with real career opportunities.

Group shot with all the attendees at the Worth Township Career Fair

“We want to build a partnership between the community and the building trades. On a national scale, the goal is to develop partnerships to promote work-based learning to provide students with work-place experiences. The career event gave students a chance to meet union representatives, to learn about apprenticeship programs and career opportunities in the building trades,” La Mantia said.

Dominic Stahulak attended the career fair to get more experience on what the trades have to offer. “I am interested in IBEW, the electrical union, because the pay is good and electrical work sounds cool. It also seems like a good field trip for high school kids particularly if you do not want to go to college.”

“Honestly, I don’t know what I want to do after high school so I’m looking for direction,” said Camiron Witkowski. “I’m thinking about getting into the trades more because I don’t want all that college debt.”

Holly McGrath and Lilianna Graytan were both keen on joining the carpenters’ union. “I want to do carpentry. My dream is to flip a house someday,” explained Graytan. McGrath was also considering a career with the carpenters’ union. “I want to join Union Local 272 and be a carpenter like my dad. He works downtown and I want to work with him doing tradeshows.”

John Husnick provides direction at Worth Township Career Fair

Electrical workers IBEW Local 134, Sprinkler Fitters Local 281, and the Elevator Constructors Local 2 all have their training centers within the township boundary. Other trades represented at the event include IBEW Local 9, Plumbers Local 130, Sheet Metal Workers Local 73, Mid America Regional Council of Carpenters, and Pipefitters Local 597. Kids from H.S. District 229 Oak Lawn High School and H.S. District 218 Delta, Richards, Shepard, and Eisenhower High Schools were in attendance.

Township Supervisor Patricia Joan Murphy grew up in a union household. Her father and brother are Local 134 electricians. She told some of the students “choosing to be a trained tradesperson isn’t just a job. It is a solid career path that will provide skills that will earn not just higher wages but healthcare benefits and income security later in life.” Supervisor Murphy and the Worth Township Board of Trustees were proud to host the event.

Clerk McMahon is also a union carpenter. He related that “Worth Township is home to the highest concentration of union members in the state. I think it’s the reason for our economic strength and resiliency. It’s the reason why our community is the best place to raise a family or start a business. A trained and skilled workforce is the economic backbone of any strong community. Higher safety and training standards at work equate to higher standards of living at home. Even non-union families benefit from this. Union wages set the standard that all other wages are derived from. There has never been a better time to join a union and begin a career in the building trades. We are committed to growing the workforce of the future.”

Worth Township will announce plans for another career event in the fall. In the meantime, more information about different careers in the building trades can be found at www.worthtownship.com.

About Worth Township, Alsip, IL – Worth Township is comprised of 12 communities in the south suburbs of Chicago, in the State of Illinois. The Township holds all or a portion of the following municipalities within its borders: Alsip, Blue Island, Bridgeview, Chicago Ridge, Crestwood, Evergreen Park, Hometown, Merrionette Park, Oak Lawn, Palos Heights, Robbins and Worth. For more information, visit https://worthtownship.com.

Media Contact: Rosemaria DiBenedetto, Communications Department, 708-712-4629 or [email protected].

Caption 1 – Students from Oak Lawn Community High School District 229, students from the four schools from Community High School District 218, administrators from CHSD 218, and Supervisor Patricia Joan Murphy and Clerk Eamon McMahon in the center.

Caption 2 – John Husnick, Instructor for the Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council Apprentice &Training Program, instructs a student on carpentry work offered through the program.

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Ray Hanania is an award-winning opinion columnist, author & former Chicago City Hall reporter (1977-1992). A veteran who served during the Vietnam War and the recipient of four SPJ Peter Lisagor Awards for column writing, Hanania writes weekly opinion columns on mainstream American & Chicagoland topics for the Southwest News-Herald, Des Plaines Valley News, the Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers, and Suburban Chicagoland.

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