Mobile workshop exposes students to different skills

JONESBORO, Ark. (KAIT) - A mobile workshop made a stop in Jonesboro for students to get hands-on experience in skilled professions.

The Be Pro Be Proud mobile workshop truck welcomed the Westside Warriors aboard Wednesday, allowing them the opportunity to check out professions like welding, diesel driving, and eight other skilled professions.

Tour Manager Montrell Thornton says exposure is important, and our future leaders need to know what these skilled professions look like.

“We’re not against a four-year college, but we want to make sure they understand that if they are struggling to try to make their way into a four-year college, they can actually go to a technical school, an academy, a community college, they can get a certificate, a commercial driver’s license, an associate degree and go into a profession that you don’t necessarily have to have a four-year-degree to do and still have the life and dreams and less of the student loan debt o someone who’s going the four-year route,” Thornton said.

He said the goal is to build tomorrow’s workforce.

The truck travels all over Arkansas and four other states looking to educate and reeducate students. By using simulators, students get to see what a day in the life of a skilled worker looks and feels like.

Senior Kaylee Johnson says it was cool operating machines that feel like the real deal.

“It really opens up different possibilities that are only just the things that people talk about you can do, but there are more creative things you can do in life,” Johnson said.

To learn more about Be Pro Be Proud or to schedule a visit to your school, click here.