BOWLING GREEN — More than 800 high school students from across Northwest Ohio spent a day working with their hands at the Wood County Fairgrounds, testing out construction careers at the Build My Future event hosted by the Home Builders Association of Greater Toledo and 34 partner organizations.
Unlike a traditional college or job fair built around brochures and sign-up sheets, Build My Future is structured as a working day. Students rotated through interactive learning labs run by businesses in the skilled trades and the building industry.
At those stations, students could try immersive activities, operate equipment under supervision and explore educational displays showing what different jobs on a job site actually involve — from framing and finishing work to the planning that happens before a crew breaks ground.
Organizers say that hands-on format matters. Many students have never held the tools of a trade or spoken directly with someone who earns a living using them, and a single supervised attempt can tell a student more about whether the work fits than a classroom description alone.
The association describes the event’s mission as encouraging young people in and around Northwest Ohio to consider a professional career in the skilled trades, while raising awareness of the home building industry among students, teachers and families.
The need behind that mission is long-running. Builders across Ohio have for years pointed to a shortage of trained workers as projects compete for the same pool of carpenters, electricians, plumbers and other tradespeople, and events like this one are aimed at widening that pipeline before students graduate.
Partners at the fairgrounds were not only recruiting for the future. Organizers said participating businesses also look to engage students directly and, where possible, connect them with immediate job opportunities — a reminder that some paths into the trades begin with work experience rather than a degree.
Students and educators who want to take part next year can find exhibitor information and involvement details through the event’s website. For the students who attended this year, the takeaway was practical: a clearer picture of what a day in the trades feels like, and what it would take to make it a career.
