Construction trainees are ready for work, thanks to a grueling 380-hour program that provides skills and safety training to adults in King County—many of whom have overcome adversity.

“It’s 11 weeks for the rest of your life,” says Jenaye Simpson, a single mother who graduated from the Pre-Apprenticeship Construction Education (PACE) program this year.

The UW School of Public Health helps ensure that students like Simpson have “safer, longer careers in a construction trade,” says Butch de Castro from the School’s Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Services. He oversees the Worker Training Program, which provides health and safety education to PACE students. 

In an industry that is rife with job hazards, the School is “committed to reducing work-related injuries among underserved worker populations through education,” says de Castro.

PACE, sponsored by the Washington State Building and Construction Trades Council, satisfies the need for skilled workers, while giving people an opportunity to make steady paychecks and pay their bills.

PACE helps students “get back on their feet and break the cycle,” said Michael Dunn, who helps manage the Worker Training Program. Many students are minorities, from low-income groups. Some don’t have a college diploma or a GED. And a couple have served time in prison.

“As long as you show up … and you want to learn, [the instructors] are going to set you up to fly,” Simpson says.