Groups of Waukegan High School students crowded around a mine-resistant military vehicle outside the school Thursday waiting to climb aboard when it was their turn. Friends snapped pictures, and a few got to rev the engine.
“This is pretty cool,” senior Emmanuel Sanchez said. “I’m going to either Roosevelt (University) or Northern Illinois (University), but this is something I might do, too.”
Watching the students and caring for the vehicle was Illinois Army National Guard SSgt. Andrew Romig. He said the National Guard is a potential part-time job that could pay for a student’s education through the GI Bill, as it did for him.
Students also gathered around a cherry-picker truck, learning how it is used for tree trimming. If they choose to obtain a commercial driver’s license, they can get their schooling through the union they will join.
Sanchez was among the hundreds of Waukegan High School students — many of whom are graduating next month — learning about job opportunities available upon graduation, at the school’s third-annual Trade and Tech Fair Thursday on the Washington Street campus.
Chad McMillin, a counselor who has organized the event since it began, said more than 80 industry representatives were on hand. It took place in two gymnasiums and in a field outside the building, where students got to see the trucks and a live welding demonstration.
“It’s a great opportunity to learn about jobs in the trades or industry,” McMillin said. “There’s no retail or fast food here. These are jobs where you don’t need a college degree, and you won’t have a bunch of debt.”
Bari Schwartz, the school’s college and career counselor, said some of the companies who were engaging students Thursday will return later this year to, “hire on the spot.”
New this year were demonstrations outside the school letting students get a feel for things like getting on a military vehicle, rather than only talking to recruiters inside the building. Welding was another demonstration that intrigued students, like Osvaldo Guadarrama.
“It was pretty cool,” Guadarrama, a senior, said. “You could see them cut the iron.”
Guadarrama said he plans to attend the College of Lake County in the fall, and enroll in the welding program to earn a certificate.
“In three to four years, you can earn $100,000 a year,” he said.
Gian Flores, a senior, who got a look at the vehicles, said he plans to obtain a commercial driver’s license. He looks forward to, “driving the big trucks.”
“My dad drives big trucks, and he encourages me to do the same,” Flores said.
Michael Borjas, the executive director of Illinois Teamsters Joint Council No. 25, was one of the industry representatives at the event letting people know how to obtain a commercial driver’s license and become a union member.
As long as you are 18, have a good driving record and pass a drug test and physical examination administered by the U.S. Department of Transportation, Borjas said you can join the apprenticeship program.
“We get them ready to go to the (Illinois) Secretary of State and pass the test,” he said, adding they can expect to earn between $83,000 and $93,000 annually. “The benefit program and pension are on top of that. We don’t take it out.”
Paul Brown, an organizer with the Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters, said once an apprentice reaches journeyman status after four years of working and schooling, they can expect to earn more than $100,000 annually.
Through their apprenticeship as carpenters, Brown said they are paid — starting at $21.40 an hour — while they both go to school and get on-the-job training
Katherine Guadarrano is a senior who said she is headed to the College of Lake County after graduation. She knows what she wants to do, and both the Waukegan and Gurnee police departments had representatives there recruiting.
“I want to be a crime-scene investigator,” she said. “I want to get into fingerprinting so I can help find out who did it.”
