050123...HUSTED/BROOK 3...Brookfield...05-01-23...Brookfield HS student Troy Randell, 17, left, explains his pick and place machine to Ohio Lt. Governor John Husted, right, as Brookfield Industry 4.0 & Robotics teacher Josy Kirila, center, looks on during the tour Monday morning at Brookfield HS...by R. Michael Semple

BROOKFIELD — Ian Reichart is a 17-year-old junior at Brookfield High School. He’s well into his career path to becoming a heavy machine operator in the building trades through the school’s pre-apprenticeship program.

In fact, Reichart said, he’s already running an excavator with a local company that digs around and installs gas lines.

“Taking this class will help sharpen my skills, so whenever I go into the union, (I will) be fully certified and ready to go,” Reichart said. “Honestly, it’s fun. It’s not like a job. It’s fun to be in this class.”

Jack Nicholas is a 16-year-old sophomore at the school who already has landed a job with Brookfield-based Kirila Fire, one of the leading fire equipment and training manufacturers in the U.S., with certifications he has earned in school.

They were among a group Monday who sat down with Lt. Gov. Jon Husted at the school to talk about career pathways and educational opportunities that are available to students in the district, from the pre-apprenticeship program to robotics and manufacturing.

It was Husted’s first stop to mark the start of In-Demand Jobs Week, a statewide celebration of jobs, skills and industries that are in-demand in Ohio.

He also visited the high school’s Industry 4.0 robotics and automation lab and part of the Makerspace lab. The lab has laser cutters, a plasma arc cutter, milling, six 3D printers and other machines.

“We have more jobs than we have people and technology is changing the future of the economy in the world faster than ever … and for our students to be prepared for opportunities after high school and helping the public understand what is out there, we think it is super important to do these visits,” Husted said. “So they know what is available in their schools, what their students can do, what their adult learners can do in preparing for the future.”

The first pre-apprenticeship program installed in Brookfield, and 15 other districts in the area, was done through a partnership between the Educational Service Center of Eastern Ohio, the Builders Association of Eastern Ohio and Western Pennsylvania and Western Reserve Building Trades.

Called Career Connections, the program was created by the Carpenters International Training Fund to introduce students to the trade and craft of carpentry, but it’s been changed here in the region for outreach across all trades.

What the program does, said Rob Eggleston, coordinator of career counseling at the ESC, is expose students to careers in the in-demand skilled trades fields.

“One of the great things we have done in the classroom is allowed the avenue for different trades to come into the classroom and show what they do,” Eggleston said. “So, we have bricklayers coming in and laying block in the classroom … it’s nothing for the carpenters to come in and lay flooring with the students, or for the roofers to come in and show something.”

Expected to launch next school year is an information / technology support pre-apprenticeship. Also planned for the school through the Mahoning Valley Manufacturers Coalition is a program that puts students on the path toward industrial maintenance, automation and robotics.

“We’ll be laying the groundwork this year,” Jessica Borza, executive director of the manufacturers coalition, said. “We have to line up all of the curriculum and credentials as the first step (for state approval), but in the meantime, we will be strengthening connections between the manufacturers and the school so we’ll be ready to go once the approval is all done at the state.”

Said Husted, “the engagement of the trades in our high schools has increased dramatically over the last five years. Everybody is competing to find new talent and the trades’ involvement in our local high schools around the state, particularly in this part of the state, has been commendable.”

Husted also used the stop to announced the launch of a new resource that provides information to students, parents and teachers about various career pathways available to high school students — a video, the “Find Your Career Pathway.”

The video highlights career technical education, pre-apprenticeships, College Credit Plus and industry-recognized credentials, and encourages adults to start conversations with students about the pathway that fits them best.

It and an accompanying toolkit are available at workforce.ohio.gov/careerpathways.

rselak@tribtoday.com