1,250 students learn about trades in GLOW hands-on career expo

Photos by Tom Rivers: Camden Reimer, a Batavia middle schooler, pushes a wheelbarrow with two cinder blocks during Tuesday’s GLOW With Your Hands: Manufacturing event at the Genesee County Fairgrounds. Laborers’ Local 435 in Rochester set up a course and had students compete to see how fast they could pick up cinder blocks, put them in a wheelbarrow and go down and back in a course. It tested balance, strength and making use of their time.

BATAVIA – The Genesee County Fairgrounds on Tuesday hosted 70 companies in the region who introduced students to a number of trades, agriculture, construction and advanced manufacturing skills. It was part of the sixth annual GLOW With Your Hands: Manufacturing event.

There were about 1,250 students from 30 school districts in the four-county GLOW region. There were about 200 students from the five school districts in Orleans County at the event, including about 40 each from Holley and Kendall, 55 from Albion, 35 from Lyndonville and 19 from Medina.

Albion High School senior Joseph Schoberlein said he learned about many careers that he could pursue after he graduates.

“There are a number of jobs you learn about at GLOW With Your Hands that you do not experience in a traditional classroom setting,” he said. “A lot of these careers do not require a college degree. I can enter the workforce immediately out of high school with a good-paying job without taking the college route.”

Sophia Bridge, a seventh-grader at Elba, gives brick laying a try with some guidance from Robert Sotir of the Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Union in Rochester. The union did a brick mockup on how to build a brick wall. Students used a trowel to put mortar between the bricks.

The event introduces students from Genesee, Livingston, Orleans, and Wyoming counties to employers and careers with in-demand jobs. About 70 businesses provided hands-on activities and simulations.

“We have seen GLOW With Your Hands participants grow into successful professionals, and businesses that participate in our manufacturing and healthcare event grow their next generation,” said GLOW With Your Hands co-chair Karyn Winters. “Having over 1,000 students and a record number of employers at our event reaffirms that there is a significant need for these connections and a significant benefit created at our events.”

“Our goal is to provide local youth with family-sustaining career opportunities that lead to fulfilling lifestyles and positively impact local communities,” said GLOW With Your Hands co-chair Angela Grouse. “By getting hands-on and informational experiences, our students are taking the first step toward that goal.”

Ben Wild, right, and Isaac Herman of Attica try soldering in a demonstration run by James Ely, a technical assistant at Monroe Community College.

“It’s pretty awesome,” Wild said about the day, trying different skills. “It’s interactive. It’s hands-on work.”

Nick Cosimeno of Batavia also learned about soldering. He enjoyed the many activities as part of the day.

“It’s interesting,” he said. “It’s a fun experience.”

Darlene Cooper, left, and her daughter-in-law Emily Cooper were tour guides during the event for Lyndonville students. The Coopers are shown after they sampled some of the maple syrup at the maple syrup demonstration. They both work for the state Department of Labor. Darlene is a labor service representative at the Albion Career Center, and Emily is a supervising labor service representative at the Batavia center.

“This gives exposure to the trades that most kids don’t get in school,” Emily Cooper said.

Darlene said the event has grown with more students attending and more companies doing demonstrations.

“It’s hands-on,” she said. “They can run machinery. They can weld. The future is bright for these kids.”

Cheyenne Jablonsky of Dansville tries hoof trimming in a demonstration run by Zane Hendrickson, a hoof trimmer from Perry. It is one of many local careers available in the agricultural community.

Abby Hunt, left, and Naeve Nothnagle of Caledonia-Mumford race to push a wheelbarrow with a cinder block through a course. The activity was set up by John Guilford Sr., in back in orange, who is a trainer with the Rochester Laborers Training & Apprentice Fund Local 435.

Students were able to operate an excavator at one of the stations.

The students each received a hard hat as they went about the fairgrounds, trying the different activities and skills.