In recent decades, we’ve seen a steep drop off of young people going into the trades, but that trend has started to reverse. Lee Kounovsky has played a big role in steering young people in Oregon toward meaningful and lucrative careers in tradework - from construction to electrical work and beyond. He is the Lane County Construction Trades Specialist, working with students at the community college, high school and middle school levels. After the devastating wildfires of 2020, he inspired students—who had lost everything—to rebuild for others through a program called Sheds of Hope. That program has grown into a statewide initiative called Constructing a Brighter Future, impacting close to 4,000 students last year.  These types of programs illuminate the need to reduce barriers to career technical education — for as Lee points out, these students are learning more than job readiness.

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