DETROIT — On Thursday, October 15, 2026, more than 100 Detroit high school students stepped onto a $40 million project and spent the day working beside the tradespeople building it. Mayor Mary Sheffield told them why it matters.

“I believe that the future of Detroit is in the strength of our workforce, and you are the workforce of the future.” said Mayor Mary Sheffield, City of Detroit.

The event, held during Careers in Construction Month, was the latest in the Sachse Construction Academy series that began in 2016, run in partnership with Junior Achievement of Southeastern Michigan. This year, the program was hosted at the Fred and Barbara Erb Public Media Campus, the future home of Detroit PBS and a campus designed to serve as a community hub for the city.

For Detroit PBS, hosting the Academy also reflects the station’s cradle-to-career approach to education. Through its Michigan Learning Channel, Detroit PBS provides curriculum-based programming and learning resources that support students, families and teachers, from foundational skills to career exploration.

“Students need opportunities to discover what’s possible for their futures,” said Rich Homberg, President and CEO of Detroit PBS. “Today, they met the skilled professionals building our new campus and tried the work themselves. That’s the kind of connection we want the Erb Campus to make possible as a place where learning opens doors to opportunity.”

Ten years of the Sachse Construction Academy lead to an argument about the skilled-trades shortage that the numbers only begin to explain: the problem is usually framed as one of training, but it begins earlier, with students who never see the work and so never imagine doing it.

“There is no better classroom than an active job site. Every trade these students see today is a career, not just a job, and one that builds real things, pays well, is always in demand, and is AI-proof,” said Todd Sachse, CEO of Sachse Construction and founder of the Sachse Construction Academy.

The Gap, in Numbers

The scale of the shortage is not in dispute.

Every one of those statistics measures demand. None captures the moment a teenager first sees the work up close, which is the missing link in the pipeline. Counselors cannot recommend a career they have never seen, and students cannot choose one.

What a Decade of the Sachse Construction Academy Shows

Since 2016, the Academy has brought 7,500 Detroit students onto some of the city’s most prominent construction projects. Students surveyed afterward reported an average 25-percentage-point rise in interest in a construction trade career, according to Academy surveys.

“When I came to the Construction Academy, I saw hands-on careers like carpentry and electrical and I discovered this is what I want to do.” said Christian, a student at Randolph Career Technical Center.

Most students never get the look.

• 86% of Americans agree skilled trades are “overlooked in schools.” Harris Poll, 2025
• 58% of high schoolers have never had a meaningful conversation with a tradesperson. Stanley Black & Decker, 2021
• 59% of students agree trade options are “not explained well in school.” Ad Council Research Institute, 2026

What they are missing includes career pathways that provide “earn while you learn” models, including apprenticeships that pay as they complete technical instruction, according to the State of Michigan.

“This experience is about more than skills. It is about confidence, curiosity, and discovering a path that can lead to a lifelong career. Students can’t be what they can’t see,” said Jason Lee, President and CEO of Junior Achievement of Southeastern Michigan.

What We Believe

1. Exposure is the first step. Students cannot choose a path they have never seen.
2. Employers hold the key. Only they can open a jobsite classroom.
3. Counselors and families need to see it too. Adults cannot recommend what they have not seen.
4. Stories change perception. Seeing these careers on screen and in the news fades the stigma.
5. Access should not depend on grant writing. Site visits should be funded for every student.
6. Shop class should be available to all middle and high school students.

What We’re Doing

Sachse Construction will continue to host Academies for Detroit high school students across the city.

Detroit PBS will continue to provide career exploration through the Michigan Learning Channel series “The Career Center,” introducing students to professionals, workplace skills and pathways that include apprenticeships, technical training and college. When the Erb Public Media Campus opens, we will build on that work by bringing students, educators and employers together for hands-on experiences like the Academy.

Junior Achievement of Southeastern Michigan will bring career-readiness programming to 25,000 students in 2027.

JOIN US

• Employers: host a site day with the Academy in 2027. To build an apprenticeship program, start with the State of Michigan’s employer page.
• Educators and counselors: bring a class to the 2027 Academy.
• Students and families: explore paid apprenticeships at the State of Michigan’s career seeker page.
• Contact: Jill Brack, jbrack@sachse.net, 313-618-1656

LEARN MORE

• Sachse Construction Academy website
• The State of America’s Skilled Trades, Alliance for America’s Skilled Trades
• Download event photos

Past coverage

• Detroit Free Press: Detroit high school students get hands on with skilled trade activities
• CBS Detroit: Detroit students trading classrooms for hard hats