Revitalizing skilled trades: Overhauling the U.S. education system for a resurgent workforce

In this episode of The Fabricator Podcast, we speak with Antigone Sharris, Chairperson of the Engineering Technology Program at Triton College in River Grove, Ill., and Krystal Santaniello, Industrial Technology Teacher at Crystal Lake South High School in Crystal Lake, Ill., about emphasizing the skilled trades in the U.S. education system. Sharris talks about her more than 25 years of teaching the trades, her experience attending Chicago Lane Tech when it was a true tech school, and her involvement with FMA's Nuts, Bolts, and Thingamajigs (NBT) summer camps, which are designed to introduce middle school students to potential career paths in manufacturing, metal fabrication, STEM, and other skilled trades. Among the several NBT camps that Sharris started are GLoW (Girls Learning to Weld) and GADgET (Girls Adventuring in Design, Engineering, and Technology) Girls. And Santaniello speaks about her efforts to help District 155 in the Chicago-area grow its trades and industrial technology programs at the high school level. Jump to 09:40 for our conversation with Antigone and Krystal. At the top, Dan and the crew talk about their experiences with summer camps, or lack thereof. Email us at [email protected] with any comments, questions, or suggestions.