When our students leave us, Whitney M. Young Job Corps Center wants them to know everything they can about finding success after graduating.

To that end, and to celebrate National Apprenticeship Week, Whitney took a group of students to the local carpenter’s union in Louisville, where they learned more about what it means to be an apprentice carpenter and what life looks like beyond that.

“I think it was a very successful trip. I was very happy that not only so many students, but also staff members were able to go,” said carpentry instructor Steve Rusch. “I think they have a better understanding now of what we’re all about and what our opportunities are.”

And with the opportunity that National Apprenticeship Week presented, Rusch saw a reason to give the students the chance to get a hands-on look at what comes next for them.

“I wanted them to see what our actual training center looked like…And then meet some of the personnel there,” Rusch said.

One of the biggest takeaways was that carpentry goes beyond just working with wood and can take its workers from rising above the clouds with work on skyscrapers to deep below with underwater welding. This, Rusch said, really made an impression on the students.

“A lot of them said wow. They couldn’t believe all stuff that was available there,” Rusch said. “I don’t think they knew how big of projects we actually do…They can’t fathom how far we can really go.”