NORTHUMBERLAND, Pa. — Cranes were set up outside Zartman Construction near Northumberland on Wednesday. Students from the Columbia-Montour Area Vocational Technical School could not wait to get a closer look.
"I think it's good. I personally like it because I'll be able to get hands-on with it," sophomore Zackary Stout said.
The vo-tech has a partnership with Zartman Construction, one of the larger construction companies in Northumberland County.
"They teach a rigging course up there, and they asked if we could show them a real-world demonstration," said Tim Clark, vice president of operations for Zartman Construction.
Clark and his team spoke to the students about rigging techniques and then demonstrated.
"Rather than just hearing about it or holding it in a classroom, you get to actually hook it up to a crane. You get to signal a crane and mentally apply it to real life," Clark said.
Students enjoyed the demonstration, as they recently studied rigging techniques in class.
"It gives me another career option other than electrical if that doesn't really pan out. It gives us another option for what we want to do," Nevin Keefer said.
Zartman Construction has a history of hiring graduates from Columbia Montour AVTS, so Clark says programs like this are very important.
"That's the name of the game. We try and get them young and get them excited about construction," Clark said.
The students say programs like this get them excited to enter the workforce.