Students secure their futures during Industry Signing Day

(Seguin) – The futures of area seniors was signed and delivered this past week. The Seguin Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) recently celebrated its third annual Seguin Industry Signing Day in recognition of students choosing to enter career pathways leading to in-demand careers and occupations directly from high school.

Seguin Industry Signing Day also highlights the importance of Career and Technical Education (CTE) to ensure a skilled future workforce for the Seguin Community and nationwide.

It has become a tradition across high schools to hold a “signing day” for high school athletes to announce which team they will join. There is a signing day for kids to announce where they will go to college. There is also the Skills US National Signing Day, where students sign “letters of intent” for job offers, apprenticeships or advanced technical training.

During Seguin Industry Signing Day, local high school senior students sign letters of intent reflecting their commitment to go straight into the workforce with Seguin companies or various technical schools across the nation.

During Navarro ISD’s Seguin Industry Signing Day, seven students signed their letters of intent to enter the workforce or attend a technical school to study welding, advanced manufacturing and cosmetology at Caterpillar Inc, Discount Tire, South Texas Electrical JATC-Electrical Lineman School, Texas State Technical College, St Phillips & Coastal Bend College.

Seguin ISD’s Seguin Industry Signing Day featured 28 students planning to enter the workforce or attend a technical college at Caterpillar Inc, CMC Steel Texas, United Alloy, Master’s Electrical, Alamo Industrial, St. Phillips College, Texas State Technical College, Lincoln Tech, Palo Alto College, The Art Institute of Austin for Animation, Blinn College, Texas Lutheran University, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, University of New Mexico, Universal Technical Institute, and Ocean Corporation.

“We are thrilled to be able to recognize high school seniors from our area high schools across the community for their commitment to the skilled trades,” said Josh Schneuker, executive director of the SEDC. “These students will make a big impact on the U.S. labor market and will help to close the skills gap impacting our country today. We hope that by raising awareness of the many career options in the skilled trades, we will have even more students signing their ‘letters of intent’ next year.”

Seguin Industry Signing Day encourages partnerships between high schools and community/technical colleges and local companies. These partnerships help to prepare students, who are the future workforce of Texas, for promising careers. That’s according to Rick Bough, Seguin ISD CTE director.

“We are excited to partner with SEDC to recognize Seguin ISD Career and Technical Education students that have completed their pathway at Seguin High School and are ready to take the next step in their careers. For some, that means attending a trade school to gain further understanding of their craft, while for others it means using the skills and knowledge, they have gained in their CTE courses to enter the workforce. We (Seguin ISD) are proud of these young men and women and know that they will represent our district and their programs well,” said Bough.

Also applauding this type of recognition was Vanessa Ritenour, Navarro ISD CTE director.

“We are proud to recognize the hard work and dedication of our young professionals who are continuing to pursue their career pathways after high school. They have acquired real-world knowledge and technical skills in their high school Career and Technical Education (CTE) program pathways. By committing to a post-secondary/technical education or by joining our local workforce within their selected Program of Study, these students are getting a jump start on their future career goals.

We congratulate them all and wish them the best on their future endeavors,” said Ritenour.

Navarro’s signing day was held on Monday, May 15 followed by Seguin ISD’s signing day on Wednesday, May 17.