First-ever trade fair at Chicago area school offers high school students alternatives to college

CHICAGO (CBS) -- A high school on the Northwest Side is encouraging kids to consider not only college, but a career right out of school.

St. Patrick High School hosted a trade fair Friday morning, inviting industry leaders to connect with kids, and give them a taste of working in the trades.

Potential jobs included carpentry, heavy equipment operators, mechanics, painters, plumbers, the military, and more.

A handful of options sounds better than one, especially to high schoolers thinking about their future.

"It's not only college; that maybe there's a trade out there for you that you may like," said senior Christian Medina.

St. Patrick junior Joey Rosenau said he wants to explore all his options.

"It's just good to learn about everything you have," he said.

Students met the professional tradesmen like Chicago Painters District Council business representative Dan Granadon.

"I never painted in my life before I was a painter," he said.

Granadon was one of several local trade union representatives invited to the school's first-ever trades fair.

The event was a chance to show students they can make a good living doing hands-on work.

"If you're a good solid worker, and you keep employed, you're making a good $110,000 a year, right out of school," Granadon said.

Some of the professionals were in the students' shoes at the same school. Granadon graduated from St. Patrick in 1997, and wishes he'd known back then what he does today.

"It's not always just college. There's other things to do to get paid while you train for a position, instead of going into debt," he said.

High schoolers don't have to figure out their future right now, but some have.

"I'm hoping to be a plumber apprentice and see where that takes me," Medina said.

Every student at St. Patrick knows they have options.

"It's just really great to have people who care about you, and care about your future enough to actually bring in trained people to tell you about their career and whatnot. It's just really awesome," Rosenau said.

Each of the industry leaders gave a brief presentation at the school before the students had a chance to connect with them one-on-one.