Hundreds of high school and middle school students from all over the Washoe County School District in Nevada came to the second annual “Construction Career Day”. The event, which celebrates local construction trades and is sponsored by Nevada Builders Alliance, attracted more than 40 construction and education exhibits including Sierra Nevada Job Corps—which proved to have one of the most popular hands-on exhibits of them all.

This year, cement, plastering, carpentry, and building construction technology students used interactive exhibits to highlight their skills. The students used slow-dry cement to mold and smooth forms, demonstrated special plastering techniques, and performed a wide variety of other technical skills.

Event sponsor Pam Duxbury from Nevada Builders had nothing but praise for the Job Corps students:

“The group from Job Corps was so great! The kids were so engaged. Their how-to-do projects attracted hundreds of students. Everyone really loved the hands-on stuff!”

Painting student Timothy Addison felt great about sharing his knowledge with younger students:

“Teaching those kids what I’ve been living the last eight months is easy, especially when they’re interested because they ask questions and get into specifics. I’m not much older than them (I’m 17), but training here at Job Corps makes you grow up faster.”

Building construction technology student Megan Silver was new to her trade but enjoyed the experience.

“I’ve only been in the vocation for a few months, but I already know enough to teach the kids something. I have more confidence from all the hands-on learning I’ve done so far, and that’s a wonderful feeling for me.”