A summer program offering local high school students an introduction to high-paying career paths in the skilled trades has arrived in the Quad Cities.
The QC Electrical Training Center is hosting the Heavy Metal Summer Experience (HMSE) camp beginning Monday, July 7, through Thursday, July 10. A graduation ceremony is scheduled for 1 p.m. Friday, July 11.Â
The HMSE is a free, hands-on program designed to introduce high school students and recent graduates to high-demand, debt-free jobs within unionized skilled trades such as sheet metal, piping, electrical, and plumbing.
The QC Electrical Training Center, located at 1700 52nd Ave., Suite C, in Moline will host one of 51 HMSE camps being held this summer across North America, making it the program’s first all-electrical camp in its five-year history. Ten of the camps are across the Midwest.Â
“This is such a cool program, and a great opportunity for young kids trying to figure out a career path,” Terry Van Hook, training director for the Quad City Electrical Training Center, said in a news release.
Experienced teachers
Mr. Van Hook, a graduate of the Local Union 145 JATC program he now oversees, brings 18 years of electrical trade experience to the camp. He and Assistant Training Director Jodi Anderson will guide 12 local students through hands-on electrical projects with the assistance of the Training Center’s three full-time instructors: Josh Parr, Robbie Seals, and Bryan Peterson.Â
“The idea is to show young people that college isn’t the only path to a successful future,” Mr. Van Hook said. “Jobs in the skilled trades are in demand all over right now; they pay really well, come with great benefits, and if you go through an apprenticeship program like ours, you’ll get paid while you’re learning and graduate with no student debt.”
Founded in California in 2021, HMSE was established to address the growing labor shortage in the construction industry, which faces a wave of retirements and a shrinking workforce.
