Route - Christian Homeschool Skills & Trade

Route is a Christ-centered trades program for high school-aged homeschool students. Colassians 3:23

[Route - Christian Homeschool Skills & Trade @RouteCHST]

This is what has made Route such a great model. We have older retired (repurposed) gentlemen that teach our students what thy know. It not only had benefitted the students but also have given these guys a sense of purpose that they lost being “retired”.

[Dustin Burnham @dustinthedad]

@mikeroweworks There are so many highly skilled older men who are not passing on their trade to the next generation. There is a tragic loss of apprenticing

[The Real Mike Rowe @mikeroweworks]

If you’re tired of seeing my face in your newsfeed or on the TV, apologies in advance, because it’s about to get a lot worse. By the end of the year, you’re going to be absolutely sick of me, due to America’s ever widening skills gap, and our ongoing attempts to close it with a record number of work ethic scholarships from mikeroweWORKS, and therefor, a record number of invitations to apply.

The situation is serious. Skilled tradespeople are retiring much faster than they’re being replaced. For every 5 that leave the workforce, two come in. The math is not sustainable, and not a week goes by that I don’t hear from some industry leader wondering if I can help with their recruiting challenges. Every trade is in demand like never before. In fact, there’s been so much outreach from so many CEO’s and elected officials, that we’ve doubled the size of our scholarship fund, and extended the application period this year from six weeks to nine months.

Last year, we received 10X the number of applications we normally get, and this year, with the disruption of AI, I suspect the number will be even higher. These are AI-proof, six-figure jobs that don’t require college debt, but instead, training. Thus, I will be cluttering up the media landscape with an onslaught of invitations to apply for scholarships, (like the one attached,) and good-natured appeals to support our efforts with a modest (or immodest) donation.

Toward that end, I’m pleased to announce that the enrollment period is officially open. Funds are now available to help train the next generation of skilled workers. My goal this year is to award $10 million in scholarships, and you’re invited to apply today. Or, if the spirit moves you, to support our efforts with a donation of any size. The donate button is big and red and hard to miss at https://t.co/uolhGspFtN.

If nothing else, please share this, so others can be similarly annoyed with another unsolicited invitation to help us close America's skills gap.

[Route - Christian Homeschool Skills & Trade @RouteCHST]

Our Route students learned how to frame from a local builder this week and the framed their own bathrooms which will be used to learn electrical, plumbing, and a few other trades.

[Route - Christian Homeschool Skills & Trade @RouteCHST]

We greatly appreciate your prayers and financial support!

https://t.co/Rxv3hgFkOL

[Route - Christian Homeschool Skills & Trade @RouteCHST]

https://t.co/RJMZKoZhuu

[The Real Mike Rowe @mikeroweworks]

I began this post with the intention of thanking the many supporters of mikeroweWORKS for their incredible generosity but got distracted by a few statistics in the attached article. Perhaps they will distract you, as well, along with the rest of the country.

• Two-thirds (66%) of Americans who lost their full-time job during the pandemic say they are only somewhat active or not very active at all in searching for a new job.
• About half (49%) are not willing to take jobs that do not offer the opportunity for remote work.
• More than a quarter (26%) say it will never again be essential for them to return to work.
• Almost a quarter (24%) say government aid packages during the pandemic have incentivized them to not actively look for work.

On top of these recent revelations, is another statistic that's been with us for nearly a decade, and can no longer be ignored. For every five baby boomers who leave the workforce, two come in. That’s a 5:2 ratio, and it’s even worse in the trades. Today, the average age of a skilled tradesperson in America is 55. There’s not a single construction company that isn’t desperate to hire skilled workers, or train those who are willing to learn.

The jobs are clearly there – over 8 million of them, waiting to be filled. But who is willing? How can we inspire the next generation to roll up their sleeves and learn a skill that’s in demand? How can we make a more persuasive case for a career in the trades?

These were the questions that led me to start mikeroweWORKS 16 years ago, and my answer today is no different than it was then – better PR. The trades are, inexplicably, surrounded by stigmas, stereotypes, myths, and misperceptions that have kept millions of kids from giving them an honest look. And to be clear, these myths and misperceptions were not fostered by our kids. Gen Z wasn’t born with the belief that the skilled trades are beneath them, or that they can't make six figures working with their hands. They had to be taught that nonsense, just as they had to be taught that an expensive four-year degree was the only way to live a prosperous life. The result? $1.6 trillion in student loans, millions open positions that don’t require a university credential, and a workforce that’s becoming smaller and less skilled with every passing year.

I know I’m a broken record on all this, but I only mention it now because this article reminded me that Dirty Jobs was, first and foremost, a love letter to American work ethic. I visited every state half a dozen times on that show, worked as an apprentice on hundreds of jobs, and listened to lots of small business owners talk about “the war on work,” and the widening skills gap, and the increasing difficulty of finding workers with an enthusiasm for the trades, or a willingness to work.

Back in 2005, a farmer in Indiana said, “Something is broken, Mike. Our country is encouraging all the wrong things. We’re making work the enemy.”

In Ohio, a 50-year-old foreman on a construction site pointed to his crew and said, “These guys are the best. Too bad they’re all older than me.” That was in 2006.
In 2007, I met a septic tank cleaner who was nearly 60, and worth several million dollars. When I asked him why he still worked six days a week, ten hours a day, he said, “Because I love to work, Mike. I just love it. Ain’t no other reason.”

Those comments, and hundreds of others like them, inspired me to launch a non-profit foundation whose purpose was to reinvigorate the skilled trades and elevate the American work ethic. That was the goal of mikeroweWORKS in 2008, and that’s our goal today. And so, before I thank our generous supporters for allowing me to award over $12 million in work ethic scholarships to over 2,000 recipients, I want to remind everyone, (myself included), that our scholarship program – now the largest of its kind - is not the main purpose of this foundation. Because the truth is, no matter how many people we assist, scholarships alone will not reinvigorate the trades on a national level.

Moving forward, mikeroweWORKS will continue to award work ethic scholarships to qualified applicants and help as many people as we can get the training we need. But now, I’m recommitting myself and this foundation to the business of sharing those stories with the largest audience possible. True stories of regular Americans who have prospered by foregoing a mountain of college debt, mastering a skill that’s in demand, and applying those skills with a work ethic that we simply must encourage and reward at every turn. That's how we reinvigorate the trades, and that's why mikeroweWORKS exists.

Ain't no other reason.

Having said all that, please join me in thanking this year's key donors.

@Ferguson
@DEWALTtough
Tom and Marilyn Moyer Foundation
J&K Trash Removal
@ckochfoundation
@StandTogether
@WilliamsUpdates
@americangiant
@moen
@SenoxCorp
Ron Kall and @GDBAProtects

I also want to thank the @DAVHQ American Veterans for helping us promote our scholarship program to veteran communities, and everyone on this page, who has supported us since 2008 in so many different ways. Including all those who purchased, (and enjoyed!) a bottle of Knobel Spirits Tennessee whiskey online. On behalf of everyone at mikeroweWORKS, and all the scholarship recipients, thanks very much.
https://t.co/xzxWa76nCu

[Route - Christian Homeschool Skills & Trade @RouteCHST]

Visit our website at https://t.co/NCpKA8jzDr for more information!

[Route - Christian Homeschool Skills & Trade @RouteCHST]

We had an amazing year with Route Construction and Route Automotive classes in 2023-24. Looking forward to great year ahead in 2024-25! #homeschooling #adifferentroute