Career Academy Road Show

They are some of the fastest-growing career opportunities with employee demand - welding, engineering, and computer integrated fabrication. That is especially true in this area with companies like Hagie Manufacturing in Clarion, Chantland in Humboldt/Dakota City, and Prestage opening later this year near Eagle Grove.

That’s why the North Central Iowa Career Academy in Eagle Grove took a sampling of their classes in these strands on the road Monday, Jan. 8,to the Eagle Grove High School

Every student, grades 9 - 12, spent nearly an hour walking through the gymnasium where Career Academy instructors were set up, ready to talk about the strand of classes in the three above mentioned fields, and give them a hands-on opportunity to give them a try.

“We hear from business and industry that they cannot find employees to fill jobs. Our thought is that a student does not know what they don’t know, so we are bringing the Careeer Academy to them,” said Colleen Bartlett, Eagle Grove Career Academy site director who helped organize this event.

Branden Otto, a welding technician in the welding technology program captured the students’ attention when he told them the average pay for a welding inspector (who still needs a welding degree) is $90,000. As he talked about what it takes to earn a welding certificate at the Career Academy, he also showed them some of the past projects the students have worked on - like building homemade smokers.

Read the full story in the January 11 edition.