From builders to health leaders, these Washtenaw County professionals found their start in high school CTE classes

This article is part of Concentrate’s Voices of Youth series, which features stories written by Washtenaw County youth with guidance from Concentrate staff mentors, as well as adult-written stories spotlighting local youth perspective. In this installment, student writer Shruti Attili interviews Washtenaw County professionals about how high school CTE classes have shaped their careers.

As Andrew Milkey drives past a house in Saline, he proudly says to his family: “I built that house when I was in high school.”

Today, Milkey is a project manager at Ideal Contracting, overseeing major construction projects at General Motors’ (GM) Milford Proving Grounds and managing the GM Romulus Plant. But his journey in construction started years earlier at Dexter High School, when he attended the Building Trades Career and Technical Education Program through the South and West Washtenaw Consortium. 

Milkey worked on a two-year project alongside his peers to build the house in Saline. Beyond gaining technical skills in rough framing and concrete work to build the foundation of this house, Milkey built connections that carried into this future career.

“We were working right next to a mechanical professional that has come on site to help us with the plumbing of the house. And it’s a connection that we’re able to carry on through the industry,” he says.

Stories like Milkey’s highlight the importance of CTE programs in preparing the next generation of builders, managers, and innovators. Current high school students are discovering their own potential future career paths today through the Building Trades Program. Dexter High School senior Julie Rascol is an active member of Building Trades, where she has taken on leadership roles in various projects – installing drywall, laying concrete, and building dog houses. By leading these projects, CTE students like Rascol are able to practice communication, teamwork, and problem-solving skills that are essential to success in the workforce. 

“Senior year is geared towards applying to college,” Rascol says. “CTE programs allow space for students who are interested in attending trade school, like me, to work towards their future.” 

With 41% of the current construction workforce retiring by 2031, programs like the South and West Washtenaw Consortium’s Building Trades class ensure that communities thrive with a balanced workforce while allowing students to pursue their professional goals. 

According to Milkey, CTE programs allow students to save time by providing hands-on and relevant activities in high school instead of waiting until college or entering the workforce to gain those experiences. 

Similar to construction, health care is facing a shortage of 100,000 critical professionals – including nurses, nursing assistants, and phlebotomists – by 2028. In the midst of this crisis, Cindy Elliot, the president of Trinity Medical Group, credits her experiences in the Health Occupations CTE program at Milan High School for her decision to pursue nursing.

“Three days a week, I actually worked in a doctor’s office right in my town – drawing blood, handing the doctor tools during suturing. A couple of times when he made rounds at the hospital, he let me go with him on his rounding schedule”, Elliot recalls. These experiences solidified her interest in health care, after being torn between a career in law and medicine. 

When she later attended nursing school, she felt confident in taking people’s blood pressure, finding their pulses, and performing arterial blood gas tests. She also points to the long-term mentorship that the Health Professionals Program has provided her: “I called my mentor from the program even through difficult times in nursing school to ask questions.” 

Elliot says this guidance helped her navigate struggles in nursing school, ultimately adding to the confidence and professional insight that has been invaluable to her career.

Echoing Milkey and Elliot’s experiences, Jay Roberts, industrialization manager for Liebherr Aerospace in Saline, emphasizes the irreplaceable value of hands-on CTE learning.

“CTE programs are real-life hands-on – not just reading about it in a book or listening to a lecture,” he says via email. “This teaches things that can only be learned by diving in and getting your hands dirty. Nothing can replace our top experience.”

Roberts explains that participating in Saline High School’s Auto Repair, Welding, and Machining program dramatically changed the course of his career, teaching him how to approach and solve problems. Many of the technical skills Roberts learned in high school, such as fixing cars and making mini-bikes and go-carts, have helped him advance quickly at all companies he has worked for. His experience has led him to success in his current role at Liebherr, where he sets up new aerospace component repair stations around the United States, France, Singapore, and China. 

CTE programs help students with big dreams launch their careers by providing hands-on technical training, real-world experience representative of the industries they aspire to join, and meaningful opportunities to build connections with professionals. 

As Andrew Milkey puts it: “If you’re someone who enjoys working with your hands, solving real-world problems, and physically seeing the results of your efforts, then a CTE program is probably one of the smartest moves you’ll ever make.”

Concentrate staffer Sarah Rigg served as Shruti’s mentor on this article.

Click here to read more from the Voices of Youth series.