CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — For most of June, aspiring students in Clayton County are taking part in a job training program in partnership with non-profit Construction Ready.
The program runs until June 26 at the Perry Career Academy in Jonesboro, giving recently graduated high school students with training and credentialing for careers in skilled trades and construction work.
Channel 2’s Linda Stouffer went to the academy to see how students are getting ready for real jobs with real wages, all without taking on student loans.
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“The crane skid steers, I want to be able to move all that,” 19-year-old Sa’Quan Sirmons said, showing how he’s training for a career in construction, including controlling a crane. “I’m also big on elevation, I don’t like standing in one spot and if there’s an opportunity to grow, why not take it?”
Building a construction career has a new start point for some Georgians, starting right in a Clayton County classroom.
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A new class of students are getting “Construction Ready” and preparing to get jobs with average starting salaries of $16 per hour.
“I want to get into carpentry, general carpentry,” Zai’Onna Wilson, a student, told Channel 2 Action News. “I want to take that and turn it into a whole business.”
Construction Ready Site Manager Mary Williams said it’s inspiring to see students find their career match.
“The construction industry is just booming, thousands of jobs,” Williams said. “They are the bedrock of society, the very buildings we live in, the very floors we walk on, the roads we drive on.”
Sirmons told Wilson he’s big on growth and learning.
“I just want to learn and get better and gain skills,” Sirmons said. “Why not do it? I’m ready.”
This week’s programming has students meeting with recruiters. The “Career Ready” program has a 97% placement record for students finding jobs, according to officials.
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