As higher education costs rise, Massachusetts teen forges success at trade school
As the cost of higher education continues to rise, a Massachusetts teenager is forging a new way forward for the growing number of young people turning to trade schools.
It follows the Healey administration's move in February to overhaul how trade schools admit new students by implementing a lottery system for trade schools with waitlists.
A passion for welding
You won't find many teenage girls with a passion for welding, but the trades have always been a way of life for 17-year-old Riley McKnight.
"Most of my family is in the trades, whether it's carpentry or recycling, or lasers," she said. "So I thought it was cool."
McKnight started her pursuit at Blue Hills Regional Technical High in Canton after discovering and falling in love with the metal fabrication program.
"I got certified my junior year with stick welding," she said.
That was just the beginning. Now a senior, McKnight became the program's first student to earn multiple welding certifications beyond the standard requirements -- all while she was still in school. The experience is getting her closer to her dream of working in the field.
"I actually called every single company within a 50 mile radius, I think. Because I would just, every single day, I think I'd call up to 20-25 companies," McKnight said. "A lot of them would just be like, 'Oh, we're not hiring.' And I even had some just be like, 'Oh, I don't know how comfortable I'd be with a girl working here.'"
Women in the trades on the rise
McKnight finally found Blue Atlantic Fabricators in East Boston and landed a paid co-op position in the fall. The work gave her additional industry certifications, which she passed on her first try.
"Riley's actually really learned very quickly," said Michael Julian, a Blue Hills welder. "It usually takes a year or two coming from a trade school."
"When they go to work for somebody, it's known that whoever they go to work for is going to retest them. And that's where the pride comes in, because any student that has left here with a certification, who has retested, has never failed a test," said Brian Gearty, Blue Hills' lead instructor for metal fabrication and joining technologies. "I take a lot of pride in that."
The number of women working in the trades reached the highest level ever in 2022, according to the Institute for Women's Policy Research, but just 5.3% of welders in the U.S. are women.
Next year, McKnight will take her new skills and certifications to Massachusetts Maritime Academy, where she hopes her talents open even more job possibilities.
"I'm actually kind of hoping just to be able to go around the world," she said.
