Walking into the WAVE Tour this fall brought with it a wall of sound.
A student with a jackhammer broke through a concrete block in one corner, while students lifted a wooden wall in place in another. At another station, students bent conduit and figured out electrical wiring. Around the corner, students used virtual reality to practice excavation.
The WAVE (Washington Apprenticeship Vocational Education) Tour, presented by the Career Connect Northwest Network (hosted at the Northwest Educational Service District 189), offered students the chance to try out different trades through hands-on activities in a day-long career exploration event.
A total of 21 schools from five counties (Whatcom, Skagit, Snohomish, Island and San Juan) participated this fall, in addition to the welding, construction and maritime courses from the Northwest Career and Technical Academy (NCTA). Additionally, the NWESD Migrant Out of School Youth reengagement program was able to bring a group of students and their families.
The tour welcomed 384 students between Oct. 23-26. That’s up from 260 students last spring. Of those, about 44.5% of students identified as black, indigenous, and people of color, including roughly 21.4% that identified as Hispanic.
Many students (roughly 85%) said their knowledge of the construction trades increased and 73% of students asked to be contacted after the event regarding apprenticeship opportunities.
About a third of students said the most surprising thing they learned centered around the wages and benefits for these positions.
More than 55% of students listed themselves as seniors who were considering the next steps following graduation.
Participating trade organizations include the Operating Engineers Regional Training Program JATC, Construction Laborers 292, Electrician Apprenticeship Program JATC, Carpenters Local 70 and The Northwest Carpenter’s Institute, Puget Sound Energy and MacDonald-Miller Facility Services.
This is the second WAVE Tour hosted by Career Connect Northwest this year at the Northwest Carpenter’s Training Institute. Unlike a career fair, the tour allows small groups of students to see trade-specific workstations, as well as an “Apprenticeship 101” presentation, given by a Labor and Industries representative.
This tour was originally called the Hands-on Training Tour and was created in 2007 by Lindsay Fiker, the former College and Career Counselor at Burlington-Edison High School. Career Connect Northwest assumed leadership of the WAVE tour in 2022 to revive the event after the COVID-19 pandemic had placed it on hiatus.
This spring, the CCNW team moved the WAVE Tour to be exclusively at one location, so students would have more of a chance to try out the trades and spend less time traveling from site to site. This year, the WAVE tour was moved to October to reinforce for students that applying to an Apprenticeship and applying to colleges/universities options should be given equal consideration.
In support of the WAVE Tour, several organizations collaborate to make the event a success. Career Connect NW, hosted at the NWESD 189, convenes, plans, and facilitates the WAVE Tour, organizing school district attendance, trades presentations, and volunteers. NW Washington STEM and Snohomish STEM, as a co-leads of the Career Connect NW Network, are integral in this work. The Northwest Carpenters Training Institute has been an incredible host at their facility in Burlington, assisting with logistics and presenting to students. Washington Department of Labor & Industry supports by conducting the Apprenticeship 101 session for students. The Northwest Workforce Council has passed on knowledge from previous tours and supports with supplies and ongoing assistance to students interested in applying for apprenticeships. Also, Lindsay Fiker, former Burlington-Edison High School Counselor and imaginer of the WAVE Tour, continues to volunteer to make the event a success!
The WAVE Tour was sponsored by HF Sinclair, Milwaukee Tools, and Career Connect Washington.
About Career Connect Northwest
Career Connect Northwest is part of a statewide initiative set by Gov. Jay Inslee in 2017. It is one of nine Career Connect Washington regions and in 2021 became part of the NWESD. The network’s three main goals are to strengthen regional stakeholder partnerships, collaborations, and strategies; to increase equity and access to high-wage, in-demand career opportunities; and support career pathways and workforce readiness. Key industry sectors that Career Connect Northwest focuses on expanding include construction, healthcare, informational technology, advanced manufacturing and maritime, which have been identified as high-wage, in-demand career fields in the NW region.
The NWESD provides support and services to more than 35 school districts and over 165k students. That’s about 16% of public school students in the state.
Read more in our Stats-at-a-Glance document.
For more information about the WAVE Tour, please contact the Career Connect Northwest (CCNW) team.
Media Inquiries: Briana Lindquist, NWESD Communications Specialist, blindquist@nwesd.org or 360-299-4714
