Charles City High School launches new career training program

By Travis Fischer, tkfischer@charlescitypress.com

A new program is reflecting on the end of its first year at Charles City High School.

This year was the first for SkillsUSA in Charles City, an extracurricular program for high school students interested in getting a jump start on their technical industry education.

With the state mandating schools to have a Career Tech Student Organization for the 2024-25 school year, faculty advisors Dan Bohlen and Jesse White have been working for the past year to get the program off the ground. After surveying students last fall, they found they had 32 interested in joining.

“With the establishment of the SkillsUSA chapter, Charles City High School is poised to become a hub for vocational training and leadership,” said White.

Meeting a couple of times per month, 32 students joined the inaugural year of the program, developing workplace skills, learning about industry standards and practicing technical skills.

Students in the program are also given the opportunity to put their knowledge to the test by competing against their peers.

“The new chapter at Charles City High School has already hit the ground running, with students demonstrating their talents and dedication at the recent state SkillsUSA competition,” said White.

Ten students competed in the contest last April, demonstrating their skills in welding fabrication, welding sculpture and diesel equipment technology.

A team of students consisting of Andrew White, Avery Schoeck, Ella Jones and Everett Schmitt earned a silver medal in the TeamWorks construction building competition; while Gabe Noble won bronze in the Diesel Equipment Technology category.

With the first year under their belt, White and Bohlen said they are looking forward to seeing the program grow as more students learn about it.

“Next year we are hoping to expand as students hear more about SkillsUSA in our classes and from other students that actually competed this year,” said White. “I think it’s a great program that will only help to encourage students to go into the trades.”