North Marion Shows Up in Full Force at the ABC Craft Championships

By Jillian Daley

The Camp Withycombe building where the ABC Craft Championships was held on Oct. 7 didn’t really seem full until North Marion unloaded two packed buses of students.

“We always have a big group when we attend this event because our students know that the trades offer a bright future,” Teacher Sherie Moran said.  “I always (and now Damien) try to take students out on a trades field trip at least once per term to increase students' knowledge of the trades and careers they may not have considered before.”

North Marion boasts a thriving Career Technical Education program, so it’s no surprise that 83 of the 450 attendees at the seventh annual event were from North Marion. Students also attend to compete in different skilled activities for a shot at a place in the national competition or to participate in the job fair. The event is also fun, this year, featuring a photo booth, trades demonstrations, and hands-on activities, such as helping to build a doghouse. 

Freshman Levi Farrens tried his carpentry skills on the doghouse, his face breaking into a huge smile as he wielded a hammer and a cordless drill for the task.

“This feels normal,” Farrens noted afterward. “I’m often in a shop.”

In fact, these hands-on activities are connected to his future in boat building. Many other students at the event also hoped to spend time regularly in a shop in the future, whether as a professional, a hobbyist, or a handy helper around the house. 

Yet there were also many students who weren’t thinking of the future just yet, simply of how much they enjoyed building things right now.

Ninth-grader Doris Rios-Valencia said that she has learned so much in her Intro to Woods class because of Moran, who adeptly instructs students in how to use machines in the woodshop. Rios-Valencia also enjoyed observing the experts at work during the demonstrations at last week’s event.

“It’s cool,” she said. “I like how you can see them doing different things.”

“That’s fun,” freshman Marcos Mejia agreed.

José Quevedo-Vazquez added that Teacher Damien Trammel’s Intro to Metals class is also excellent and that classes like that, combined with this type of event, advance his career plans.

“I need to know how to build to be an architect,” Quevedo-Vazquez said.

The Championships was a great place to obtain some construction insight. Associated Builders and Contractors-Pacific Northwest (ABC-PNW) President and CEO Laurie Kendall said that her organization not only puts on events like the Championships, but also helps school districts, including North Marion, provide resources to students. 

ABC-PNW offers an apprenticeship program encompassing seven trades, including jobs specializing in energy analysis and HVAC systems. Post-high school students earn while they learn, jumping into hands-on projects with a company that usually pays for their apprentice training. Students who leave the program are often successful in finding work.

“You come out making $65,000 a year, debt-free,” Kendall said.

ABC-PNW also certifies teachers, such as Moran and Trammel, in areas such as welding and carpentry. That means that Moran and Trammel’s students can receive certification through the National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER) after completing their teacher’s instructional module and taking an exam on it. Students will then receive an NCCER transcript to share with employers, and that transcript is accepted all over the United States — and internationally.

“You can go anywhere in the world,” Kendall said.

Based on the number of North Marion students who turned out for the Championships event, this path to a successful career seems to be common knowledge on our Aurora campus. 

“I’m proud of our students for all of their hard work and like to help them achieve their goals,” Trammel said.

To share stories on the North Marion School District, email Communications Specialist Jillian Daley at jillian.daley@nmarion.k12.or.us.