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College & Workforce Readiness Webinar

Building for the Future: Igniting Middle Schoolers’ Interest in Skilled Trades & Future-Ready Skills

Thu., March 12, 2026, 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. ET
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Price: Free
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Middle school is buzzing with energy, a powerful moment for sparking curiosity, confidence, imagination, and career exploration. With the right experiences, students can step into active, engaging roles, such as plumber, site superintendent, electrician, sustainability planner, architect, HVAC technician, or site coordinator, and start imagining themselves in the world of work long before they make any big decisions.

This webinar explores how hands-on, minds-on learning in the skilled trades can expand access to meaningful CTE experiences in middle school. We’ll look at practical ways to introduce construction, building systems, sustainable design, and other projects tied to real community needs, all while cultivating partnerships with local and regional industries.

You’ll walk away with strategies for:

  • Bringing skilled trades concepts into everyday instruction through engaging, design-forward activities
  • Helping students explore transferable and technical skills they can use for life, no matter which career they choose
  • Connecting students’ strengths with new possibilities through early, empowering conversations about future-ready pathways

Join us for fresh ideas, real examples, and approaches that help students see themselves as capable creators who can build, repair, design, and reimagine the world around them.

Speakers
Colleen Cassidy
Associate Principal, Architect Populous
Eryca Card
PLTW Teacher Elkhorn Area Middle School
Christina Chandler
Community Impact Education Manager at JE Dunn Construction, Former PLTW Gateway Teacher
Moderator
Dr. Vanessa Stratton
SVP of Instructional Development PLTW

For all webinars broadcast by Education Week after August 1, 2019, Certificates of Completion are available to all registered live attendees who attend 53 minutes or more of this webinar. Educators can download a PDF certificate verifying 1 hour of Professional Development credit. As with all professional development hours delivered, Education Week recommends each educator verify ahead of the webinar broadcast that the content will qualify for professional development in your school, district, county, or state with your supervisor, human resources professional, and/or principal or superintendent’s office.

Education Week is serving only as the host for this presentation. The content was created by the sponsor. The opinions expressed in this webinar are those of the sponsor and do not reflect the opinion of or constitute an endorsement by Editorial Projects in Education or any of its publications.

A transcript will be available for download from the resource list within five business days after the event.

Your e-mail address may be used to communicate with you about your registration, related products and services, and offers sent to you directly from sponsors. Use of your personal information is otherwise protected according to our privacy policy.

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