Milwaukee-area students step up to apprenticeships for trades signature day

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The Milwaukee Building and Construction Trades Council, WRTP | Big Step and several contractors on Tuesday welcomed five new high school seniors and postsecondary students choosing a trades career path for signing day at Brown Deer High School

Students from Brown Deer, Mesmer High School and the Carmen Schools of Science and Technology signed with contractors such as USA Fire Protection, CG Schmidt and Milwaukee-based Sirrah Construction and unions such as MBCTC and the Wisconsin Laborers’ District Council.

From there they would sign onto a job and join the industry as apprentices, MBCTC President Dan Bukiewicz told The Daily Reporter.

“(Contractors) are looking for standards. The union is where you get training to get them. Whether you’re post high school coming in or coming out of high school, this is your chance,” Bukiewicz said in front of students, parents, contractors and labor officials during Tuesday’s event.

The signatures would open future career opportunities to students, such as instruction and entrepreneurship, David Polk, the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development director of Bureau of Apprenticeship Standards and a plumber by trade, said. “You may end up as a bureau director,” he added

Dylan Richards, a 17-year-old senior at Brown Deer High School signing onto CG Schmidt, told The Daily Reporter he was looking forward to learning new skills and improving them.

“I like working with my hands, so I’m looking forward to being able to build things with my hands and learn how to use different skills and translate them from the job and into my personal life as well,” Richards said.