WRTP | BIG STEP annual trades summer camp starts this week

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A week-long summer trades academy for high school students has returned to Milwaukee.

WRTP | BIG STEP on Monday launched its annual Milwaukee Summer Trades Academy which will introduce roughly 180 Milwaukee area students to construction careers. The five-day academy will run June 23-27 and will teach high school juniors and seniors about skilled trade jobs and apprenticeship pathways.

The construction industry will need around 439,000 new workers this year to meet the expected demand for construction services, the Associated Builders and Contractors reported.

Construction apprentices made an overall annual median salary of $99,840, higher than the state’s apprenticeship median of $96,733, a January 2025 Wisconsin Technical College System report showed.

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson on Wednesday will attend the academy at the Plumber’s Union Local 75 in Milwaukee, WRTP | BIG STEP officials said.

Students from Milwaukee, surrounding suburbs and Racine will visit local union halls and try hands-on activities, officials said.

In 2024, students tried concrete finishing at the Operative Plasterers & Cement Masons Local 599 and hopped onto a virtual reality machine to try activities such as equipment operating. Trainers have said the virtual reality setting gives students a chance to try their hand at in-demand work without using expensive materials.

Last year, trade academy students were expected to visit the $3.3 billion Microsoft data center in Mount Pleasant. They toured the facility and met with workers who explained the day-to-day routine of the project.

This year, students will visit halls for the Iron Workers Local 8, Operative Plasterers & Cement Masons Local 599, Steamfitters Local 601, North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters in Pewaukee and Plumbers Union Local 75.

Students will also visit union halls for IUPAT District Council No. 7 in Big Bend, Bricklayers and Allied Craftsmen in New Berlin, Laborers’ Local 113 and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 494.