During my recent travels up north, I came across a sculpture representing the famous 1932 photograph Lunch Atop a Skyscraper—11 ironworkers sitting on a steel beam high above New York City, eating lunch during the construction of Rockefeller Center.
I’ve seen that photograph many times. But standing in front of the sculpture made me think about it differently.
We typically remember the building. But we often don’t remember who built it.
We know the names of famous buildings like the Freedom Tower, Biltmore Hotel, Vizcaya Museum, Stranahan House, Broward Center for the Performing Arts. We might know the developers or architects behind them. We attend ribbon cuttings and celebrate the vision that brought them to life.
But we rarely celebrate the people who actually built them. Without skilled workers, there is no skyline.
For years, we’ve put a strong emphasis on one path after high school: go to college, earn a degree and begin your career. College is the right path for many young people, but it isn’t the only path to success and other pathways shouldn’t be viewed as “alternative.”
Our communities need young people who will:
- Build the homes, schools, hospitals and businesses we use every day.
- Wire and power the places where we live and work.
- Repair and maintain our cars, boats, equipment and infrastructure.
- Manufacture the products our economy depends on.
- Create the businesses and jobs our local economy needs to thrive.
- Keep our communities running through careers in public works, telecommunications and other essential industries.
These aren’t backup careers. They are essential careers.
September is a fitting time to have this conversation, with it being National Tradesmen Day – a day dedicated to recognizing the skilled men and women who build, repair and maintain the infrastructure and systems we depend on every day.
That’s why this work matters.
Through a very strong partnership with Broward County Public Schools, Junior Achievement of South Florida’s Pre-Apprenticeship program is introducing high school seniors to these opportunities, providing hands-on training and certifications, industry exposure, connecting them with employers and helping them move from high school directly into meaningful employment.
But I believe we’re doing something bigger than workforce training. We’re changing the narrative around careers in the trades and the perception of what success looks like.
A young person who chooses an apprenticeship instead of a college isn’t choosing a lesser path. They’re choosing a meaningful career. They’re learning skills that have real value. They’re becoming part of the workforce our economy depends on.
As we place Broward County Public Schools graduates into careers in these fields, the building you walk into today or one you enter in the future, may have been built, wired or maintained by one of them. The road you drive on may be one they helped build and the boat you step onto may be one they repaired.
That sculpture reminded me that we need to do a better job of recognizing the people behind the finished product—the skilled hands that build, wire, repair and maintain the world around us.
