More high school students considering careers in public works for El Paso County

EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) — Five years ago, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, county officials began courting high school graduates to offset worker shortages that limited how much snowplowing and other public works tasks could be done.

That effort appears to be a growing success.

The county's CONNECT program periodically invites students to its transportation facility, near the intersection of Marksheffel Road and North Carefree Circle, to learn how to operate plows and other equipment.

The program also travels to schools, as it did yesterday to Calhan High School.

Scott Hall, the county's training division manager, said that students received hands-on training in simulated and actual equipment.

He said that the true purpose of CONNECT is to provide a career option to high school graduates who don't plan to attend college, join the military, or remain undecided about their future after graduation.

"I've been to 16 of the programs, just with current construction," he explained. "And all told, right now, I've been through 22 kids, and I have ten full-timers working right now. My first three kids are still there."

A partner in the effort is Careers in Construction Colorado, an organization created by the construction industry in 2015 to provide similar assistance to students.

"We started in one high school with 23 kids," said coordinator Sydney White. "We've since grown to 91 high schools with over 4,700 kids. We've partnered with six different trade associations. We're still sponsored by the industry, just to show students their options."

During the pandemic, the county eased some job requirements to further encourage interest in a public works career: It waived the requirement for a high school diploma and provided free training for the required commercial driver's license.

However, the county will help non-diploma students to earn their equivalency degrees if they are interested.