Anchorage Daily News

PALMER -- Kirsten Lyman gave the railroad little thought until Wednesday morning when she got an up-close look.

"Yeah, I'm thinking about working in the railroad now," the Palmer High junior said after participating in Construction Career Day at the Alaska State Fair grounds. "They have some cool equipment. I like how they put the cars on the tracks and they just go."

The 16-year-old was among 500 students from Anchorage and the Matanuska-Susitna Borough who got to see what it's like to work in a number of trades.

"It was nice not going to school," Lyman said, despite the light rain that fell on the students and workers for part of the day.

Construction professionals helped the students learn to operate heavy equipment. Other craftsmen demonstrated trades such as welding, concrete work, carpentry and materials testing.

Roger Wetherell, spokesman for the state Department of Transportation, said some students got behind the controls of state snowplows and learned snow removal procedures. But a big draw, he said, was a couple of heavy equipment simulators.

"For kids growing up in the gaming age, this was right up their alley," he said. "They got to sit in the seat and see how operating a backhoe or road grader really feels."

Anthony Anderson, a senior at Palmer High, said he enjoyed the hands-on chance at pipe bending and also got a demonstration in sheetrock work.

"It was nice to talk to people in Local 302," he said. "I learned a lot about the different jobs and benefits."

Anderson, 18, said his stepfather is affiliated with the International Union of Operating Engineers, so he hopes to follow in his work boots.

"After I graduate I'm going to join Job Corps and maybe learn about heavy equipment. I'll pick one of the jobs there."

The career day, centered around Raven Hall, started about 8 a.m. and ran through 1 p.m. when students, each with a hard hat, got on buses to go back to school.

Wetherell said that in addition to 150 students from the Mat-Su schools -- Colony, Houston, Mat-Su Career and Technical High School, Palmer, Su-Valley and Wasilla -- about 350 students also came from Bartlett, Chugiak, Dimond, Eagle River, East, West, Service and South high schools in Anchorage.

The state Department of Transportation and Public Facilities sponsored the mentoring program.

The department teamed with more than 20 partners from the private business sector, the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development and others to host the event that organizers hope would be the first of similar annual events.

The Federal Highway Administration provided part of the funding.

"Over the next 10 years the construction industry will see a need for thousands of new workers," said Jon Dunham of the state Department of Transportation in a press release.

Find T.C. Mitchell online at adn.com/contact/tcmitchell or call 352-6716.

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