Gianforte, Dirty Jobs host highlight High School House program in Great Falls
Gov. Greg Gianforte and Mike Rowe, host of Dirty Jobs, joined community members to celebrate the High School House program, a collaboration between NeighborWorks Great Falls and Great Falls Public Schools.
The two men toured the 48th High School House, currently under construction at 1314 6th Ave. S., and visited with the construction students.
They also signed a wall inside the house, with the students, to commemorate what Gianforte proclaimed High School House Day to highlight the program and its alignment with the state’s 406 JOBS Initiative.
After the tour, the group moved to the Great Falls High School auditorium for a celebration of the program and discussion on the importance of the trades.
During the event, Wells Fargo announced a $200,000 contribution to the High School House program, which will fund the 49th and 50th houses, NWGF Director Sherrie Arey said.
Arey lead a brief panel discussion on the trades with Gianforte, Rowe, plus Pete Pace the GFPS High School House teacher and Kaleb Stringer, a 2020 CMR High School grad who helped build the 43rd house.
Asked why the trades were important, Rowe said when he started launched a public relations campaign for skilled labor, mikeroweWorks Foundation, 17 years ago, he had a different answer, but now they have to make a more persuasive case for the trades since there’s a generation of kids brought up to believe they have to go to college to be successful.
This year, he said for every five tradesmen who retire, only two will be available to replace them.
That means there’s opportunities in the trades and that they’re needed for the growing AI industry and national security, such as building submarines.
“We ignore that at our peril,” he said.
Rowe said he had a call from someone in the maritime industrial base asking where the tradesmen were, to which he replied, “they’re in the 8th grade.”
“You’re going to get swept up in a revival,” Rowe said.
Gianforte said that when he visits high school shop classes, he tells them to stop building bird houses and build real houses.
He said “you could see the pride and ownership” in the faces of the students showing him the house under construction and that many of the seniors said they plan to go into the trades after graduation.
Kaleb Stringer, who is now 23, said he didn’t know what he wanted to do after high school and signed up for the High School House class his senior year and it inspired him to pursue the trades.
High school house program highlights value of trades; needs funding to continue [2018]
Now he’s a carpenter and told the audience that included high school students that they could pursue a wide variety of paths in the trades.
“It’s a great career and you can make money as you learn,” he said.
The event also kicked off the “Rock the Trades” initiative, a partnership of NWGF and the Home Builders Association of Great Falls, which supports the recruitment of the next generation of skilled builders, creating foundation for lifelong careers in the trades.
The agencies are teaming up to bring Las Vegas headliner Patrick & The LVB to town for “Rock the Trades,” benefit concert to support the High School House program.
The concert is Dec. 11 at Montana Expo Park. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. with music starting at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are $65 and are available at the Expo Park Box Office, HBA office and the NWGF office.
“Wells Fargo is proud to invest in communities throughout Montana. Through our local presence, we serve our customers while supporting the areas where we operate. By collaborating with organizations like NeighborWorks Great Falls, we proudly invest in the community by supporting initiatives such as the High School House, “Rock the Trades,” and the Mike Rowe Works Foundation. These programs offer valuable resources for students, foster workforce development, and contribute to local economic growth,” Jason Rosenberg, Wells Fargo spokesman, said in a release.
You must be logged in to post a comment.