High school students attend construction interactive showcase

In Columbia County, a group of high school students attended a construction career fair. Build My Future is a showcase for high school students to get hands-on experience from those in skilled trade industries.

Hammers were banging, concrete was poured, and bucket trucks were in the sky. About 300 teens in grades 9 through 12 gathered at the Columbia County Fairgrounds for a construction interactive showcase.

There were over 20 demonstration booths with learning labs featuring welding, flooring, foundation work, and heavy equipment operations.

"Hopefully one of them will experience something here that they want to say well maybe I'll do that for a living and that's the one thing that we want to stress to them that is the construction trade, heavy equipment, mechanical industry is a good viable industry for them to provide for their family, make a good living and be a good outstanding citizen," stated Bryan Zecher, event organizer

One 12th grader who's preparing for life after high school says the event inspired her.

" When I came here I didn't know what I wanted to do. There's so many options out in the world that we can each take. But once you put yourself out there it inspired me to do something new with my life and create something that could inspire other people," stated Hannah Hartop, Columbia High School senior.

This was the inaugural event organized by Zecher who says they're planning for this to be an annual event because there is always building in the future.

“Being President of the Local Builders Association I saw an event down in Fort Myers that they were hosting something like this and I decided to bring this to our community," stated Zecher.

Zecher says one of the goals is to spark some interest among students so that may potentially pursue a career in one of the trade industries.