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Patriot High School hosted the Southern California Trades Tour in their school gym for the first time in February. Students met with over 40 industry representatives in construction, law enforcement, community colleges, trade schools, health care, and more. Jurupa Unified staff departments also participated, including Human Resources, Maintenance and Operations, and the Jurupa Adult School.
High school juniors and seniors from across the district participated in the Trades Tour.
“We are one family. We are the JUSD family. Why not bring our district partners and celebrate together and have opportunities presented to everybody?” said Patriot Assistant Principal of Athletics, Activities, and Facilities Eric Hammond. “We want to create connections for our (students) for life after high school.”
Teacher on Special Assignment Robert Green organized the tour to stop at Jurupa Unified after visiting a Southern California Trades Tour in West Covina earlier this year.
“The skills trades are something that we are trying to get more exposure to for our (students),” said Teacher on Special Assignment, Robert Green. “The goal for students is to see a wider variety of career possibilities.”
Students’ interactions with industry representatives went further than their time in the gym. The Trades Tour allows students and representatives to stay connected afterward for more information.
“(We) are trying to get students interested in the trades. They can take (the skills) to just about anywhere they want,” said Event Manager/High School Outreach for The Fab School, Victor Angon.
Jurupa Unified currently offers 27 Career Technical Education (CTE) pathways ranging across 11 industry sectors at all high schools.
Patriot High School Junior Zane Fulmer is interested in firefighting but participated in the Trades Tour to explore other careers.
“There are trades that I don't even know about, and I think it’s really cool to get to know… and understand different jobs,” Zane said.
“For students to have the best chance to succeed, they need to have a wider variety to choose from,” Mr. Green said. “Every student is different and… in order to meet the individual needs of students, we want to offer a greater variety in our career exploration.”
“The Southern California Trades Tour is an exciting opportunity for our students to learn more about the wide variety of possibilities available to them,” said JUSD Superintendent Dr. Trenton Hansen. “There are many promising, lucrative career fields and training programs that our students might not be aware of. This event will help our juniors and seniors to learn about some of those opportunities so that they can begin planning their futures. I applaud the JUSD Career Technical Education team and thank our participating educational partners for making this event available.”
To learn more about JUSD CTE programs, visit
https://jurupausd.org/our-district/edserv/secondary/ccreadiness/Pages/Career-Technical-Education.aspx
