7 hours ago
16
We’re now seeing the results of a new skilled trade program at the Saint Paul Public Schools. It comes with a dose of heavy lifting.
The classroom is filled with the beeps and grinding of heavy equipment moving through a lot of sand. The district calls it the Sandbox Classroom.
For a handful of Saint Paul students this year it was also the beginning of a new dream.
“Everybody is really good at something, even if you don’t know it yet,” said Travion Gonzalez, a student in the program. “You just try different things.”
Gonzalez was one of about 100 students who took the course learning to operate heavy construction equipment.
He describes what it’s like to drive the specialized vehicles.
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