Shaler Area Alumni Build Proud Careers in Local Trade Unions
Shaler Area Alumni Build Proud Careers in Local Trade Unions
Shaler Area students attend BUILD ON, the annual expo hosted by the Builders Guild of Western Pennsylvania, in October 2025
When Shaler Area High School shop teacher Craig Wells first started working in the district in 2002, Shaler Area had very few connections with local trade unions. But due to the rapidly growing need for new talent in fields like electricians, pipefitters, carpenters over the past two decades, Wells and his fellow district leaders have been actively developing strong relationships between the district and local trade unions. As a result, many Shaler Area graduates are discovering and enjoying highly rewarding careers in the skilled trades that they may otherwise have overlooked.
One of those grads is 2013 Shaler Area alumnus Luke Rihn, who has been employed in the carpentry field since he graduated. Today Rihn is proud to work as a cabinetmaker at Giffin Interior in Bridgeville, where he creates cabinets for clients like Point Park and Chatham by programming their specs into a CNC( computer numerical control) wood-cutting machine.“ What I was doing in the back half of my time in school is what I get to do now full-time,” said Rihn.
Rihn is one of many Shaler Area graduates who built their apprenticeships at local trade unions into long-term careers. According to Jesse DeMino, Council Representative for Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters( EASRCC), about 30 Shaler Area grads have entered the carpentry field in just the past three years thanks to their union apprenticeships.
“ Shaler Area is a working-class school district filled with hardworking multigenerational families, and the great relationships we’ re building here are the result of the teachers, union, and students all working together,” said DeMino. While the EASRCC collaborates with the majority of districts in Pittsburgh, DeMino says their relationship with SASD starts earlier than in many other districts, with union carpenters engaging Shaler Area students as early as 8th grade to help them learn about carpentry as a career path. But getting an apprenticeship opportunity isn’ t always easy.
“ There are three requirements for earning an apprenticeship with a local trade union,” explains SASD’ s Wells.“ You need to have a driver’ s license, you need to be drug free, and you need a solid work ethic. That last part is crucial, because if we start sending them kids who lack that work ethic, it hurts our standing with the unions.”
Wells and his fellow instructors help Shaler Area’ s aspiring trade workers by training them on the specifics of the tests they’ ll need to pass in order to prepare for their apprenticeships. Once a student becomes an apprentice, they can spend up to five years completing their apprenticeship requirements, which include a mix of on-the-job training and in-class education. But as Wells notes, every step of the apprentice journey involves paid work, including the in-class time which provides standard pay via unemployment benefits.
“ Most apprenticeships in the skilled trades start around $ 25 to $ 35 dollars an hour, but once they complete their apprenticeship and become journeymen, their pay can go up to $ 50 even without counting overtime,” explains Wells.“ This means Shaler Area graduates who go into the skilled trades often have the opportunity to earn over $ 100,000 a year by the time they’ re 21, depending on which field they enter.”
Wells estimates that hundreds of Shaler Area grads have gone through the apprenticeship process over the past 24 years, including 45 grads just in the local sheet metal union and another 40-60 members in carpentry. Plus, becoming a journeyman means trade workers don’ t need to stay local.“ Once they’ re journeymen, that’ s transferrable,” notes Wells.“ Then if you or your significant other get a job opportunity outside the state, you can go to the local union hall in your new home and get your credentials verified. Depending on what aspect of the union you’ re in, you can often get to work immediately at a local pay-rate that’ s equivalent to your union level.”
From the benefit of strong job security to the satisfaction of solving complex problems by hand, many Shaler Area grads are grateful to find fulfilling opportunities doing work they love in the skilled trades.
“ When my phone rings and it’ s someone from Shaler Area, I’ m excited because I know there’ s a lot of value in these fields for someone who’ s dedicated to doing the work,” said DeMino.“ Seeing these young men and women succeed is just phenomenal.”
SHALER AREA ❘ SPRING 2026 25 haler area school district SHALER AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT NEWS