With artificial intelligence transforming many aspects of life at a fast rate, job security and the future of work became a topic of conversation during the William S. Hart Union High School District governing board meeting on Wednesday.
During board member reports, Joe Messina pointed out that although AI may take over roles in coding and information technology, hands-on trades such as electrical work, plumbing, carpentry, masonry and more continue to rely on real-life people and cannot be replaced by AI.
“Nothing will replace the human mind or the human ingenuity,” Messina said.
To fill that high demand, Messina not only encouraged students and families to explore the career technical education program, aimed to support students on their path to high-wage, high-skill careers in established and emerging industries, according to the district’s website, but also recommended the creation of a CTE center, with a focus on manual trades.
In recent years, students have been told to learn how to code, but now, Messina believes “it’s time to change the mantra,” he said, switching their focus to manually focused trades because there’s a shortage that needs to be fulfilled in the upcoming years.
With a CTE center, which has been “in my heart for years, we deserve one,” Messina said, it would allow the next generation of students to create a pipeline of partnerships with local companies and organizations, in high-demand jobs that can lead to promising futures with job security.
“We need to focus strictly on the trades. We have builders and businesses that would love to provide internships or even let us know what they see as a need in the future,” Messina said. “Research out of the UK and the U.S. now show that trade jobs will be the least affected by AI.”
“I know that we work hard at trying to pull all this together, but I’d like to see us really ratchet up in looking to pull together a career tech ed program that includes all the trades, the manual trades, and get us a career tech ed center that we need and put a little bit more weight behind this.” Messina added.
Messina envisions the center can be created through a collaborative effort with other local districts, the city, and community partners.
“I’m also a CTE advocate,” said governing board President Cherise Moore. “We’ve also talked about a center that is a dual center, that serves our adult learners and our students. I agree with you,” she said, speaking to Messina. “Trades aren’t going away. I also think it’s important to do labor market research to make sure that whatever career pathways we are creating have a sustainable wage. I know many of the trades do, [but] not all.”
Currently, the CTE program offers 13 to 15 high-demand industry sectors and multiple career pathways that students sign up for beginning their freshman or sophomore year of high school and take at least two years of coursework within that pathway, according to the Hart district’s website.
Some of the pathways offered in the 2024-25 school year across junior high schools and high schools were: graphic design, professional music, multimedia production, entrepreneurship, systems programming and networking.
