Wave Staff Report
LOS ANGELES — Hundreds of Los Angeles County high school students will get paid to learn construction, welding and other critical trades this summer through support from Harbor Freight Tools for Schools’ L.A. County Skilled Trades Summers program.
The expansion of the program comes as a new national survey by NORC at the University of Chicago shows U.S. voters across party lines support increasing access to skilled trades classes and rank them as the top high school elective funding priority for school districts, ahead of science, technology, engineering, math, business, arts and physical education.
Harbor Freight Tools for Schools, the flagship program of the Smidt Foundation, first launched the L.A. County Skilled Trades Summers program in 2021 to introduce the region’s young people to skilled trades and offer early access to career pathways and opportunities before they graduate from high school.
Building on five years of success, the program has grown to serve more than 800 students across 11 sites in 2026 — more than double the enrollment in 2024. The program has served over 2,000 young Angelenos to date.
Among the sites are Bell High School and Bridge Housing at Jordan Downs in Watts.
The program is especially critical as Los Angeles faces urgent and growing infrastructure needs, and the rise of artificial intelligence raises new questions about the future of work. The NORC survey found strong agreement among voters (94%) that government should fund AI-resilient career training, with 95% believing more opportunities to study skilled trades in high school would better prepare students for careers.
“Skilled trades careers remain essential and resilient,” said Belen Vargas, senior director of L.A. County Programs at Harbor Freight Tools for Schools. “Through hands-on learning and work experience, students build confidence, develop real-world skills, and explore pathways to meaningful careers. Year after year we see that giving students early access to these opportunities while they are still in high school can be life-changing.”
Students in earn-and-learn programs, which last up to eight weeks, receive hands-on instruction in solar panel installation, welding, automotive, carpentry, construction, plumbing, electrical, woodworking, metal fabrication, building inspection and industrial fabrication. In addition to receiving a paycheck, students receive career readiness support and earn valuable industry-based credentials, setting them up for future success.
New this year, 24 students will learn how skilled trades connect to today’s creative economy through a partnership with Otis College of Art and Design and the TGR Foundation.
Several programs are introducing community impact projects for the first time. For example, welding students will build and install benches in their community, and solar students will help install solar panels for local residents.
Given the demand, Bridge Housing will expand to a year-round program in the fall to serve 120 students, all of whom are teen residents of the Jordan Downs and Evermont low-income housing communities.
Pasadena City College, a Skilled Trades Summers partner since 2025, is expanding to serve 110 students through their new construction readiness pathway, where students will obtain the skills and experience needed to help rebuild their community after the destructive January 2025 fires.
“Skilled Trades Summers is awesome,” said Victor Soto Marquez, a high school participant in last summer’s program at PCC. “It is really important for us to learn trades young, so we have real experience and know how to help our community. We are going to be the generation that will fix and build up Altadena again.”
For several decades, skilled trades programs have been steadily cut from high schools. Today, just one in five public high schools in L.A. County offers any kind of trades class — and the NORC survey found that nearly four in five voters consider this declining access a major problem.
Students who take skilled trades classes report many benefits, including stronger connections to school and greater confidence about their future. Compared with students who have never taken a trades class, they are more likely to say they enjoy school, believe they are receiving a high-quality education, and develop the skills and knowledge they need for college and life.
“Skilled Trades Summers is really a transformative program, and I can see it in the students,” said Jordan Ivie, an instructor with the Bridge Housing program. “Typically, students come in with zero experience since they aren’t learning the trades in school. The interest is sparked; they fall in love with it.”
“It’s awesome seeing that I can do this, even though not many girls think they can,” said former La Mirada High School student Nataliah Castro. “It pushes me to continue to be better and makes me want to work hard in life.
“What we are doing here matters. It helps us prepare for the future,” she added.
