High school students learn about unique trade

Learning the particular trade of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning may sound complicated. Instructors at the Northern Michigan University showed high school students just what it is they are trained to do.

Students from Marquette and Gwinn High Schools attended the workshop put on by NMU. The main focus of the event is expose students to the number of options students will have when it is time for them to consider career options.

“I think it is important because a lot of people typically think of HVAC repair guy, they think of the plumber working under the kitchen sink,” Assistant Professor Nick Griewahn said. “There is a whole lot more to it than that. Most people, when they ask, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ The first answer usually is not ‘HVAC mechanic or HVAC technician. So what we’re trying to do is get students familiar with the trade and familiar with the field and show them the opportunities that it offers. Which are really good right now.”

With the expected number of current H-VAC workers expected to drop by about 34% in the next ten years, there will soon be more jobs than students in the trade. The workshop was paid for by the MACAN’s Taco Bell Foundation for Teens Grant which donated $3,725 to the Jacobetti Center.