EAST GREENWICH, RI — The Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) teamed up with numerous construction and trade industry professionals to help more than 500 high school seniors from 26 schools explore new careers in the transportation construction trades at the RIDOT Construction Career Days, held at RIDOT's Midstate Facility in East Greenwich.

The event offered students hands-on experiences in a range of skills and trades. These included operating backhoes and excavators, welding and plumbing and visiting with representatives of colleges, training academies and apprenticeship programs. Dozens of companies and organizations involved in the construction industry donated time and resources to make this event a rewarding experience for students.

"The Governor's RhodeWorks program is putting a record number of projects on the street to rebuild our roads and bridges," RIDOT Director Peter Alviti, Jr. said. "With that comes the opportunity for thousands of jobs. We want students to learn about the many good paying careers open to them in construction."

"A career in the construction industry offers high school students an exciting and rewarding alternative to college, especially for those students who are hands-on learners," said Michael F. Sabitoni, President of the RI Building & Construction Trades Council. "Upon graduation, students can enter a host of apprenticeship programs and can look forward to family sustaining wages and benefits for a lifelong career in any of the trades, without the enormity of college debt. The Construction Career Days event is a great opportunity for our youth to experience what the construction trades are all about and all the advantages it can offer them."

While the Construction Career Days event targeted seniors graduating next year, RIDOT and RIPWA are simultaneously planning a larger, two-day event next spring that will accommodate more than 1,000 high school students.