Philly students can get fast-track union jobs and be ‘blue-collar millionaires’

Ryan Boyer wants to create a corps of “blue-collar millionaires,” and he wants it to start at Strawberry Mansion High School.

Flanked by City Council President Darrell L. Clarke and Philadelphia Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr., Boyer — business manager of the city’s powerful Building Trades Council — stood in the library of the North Philadelphia high school Wednesday to tout a new program designed to propel any Mansion student with interest into the trades.

“We’re serious about training children,” said Boyer. “Our trades — we have a stronger demand than we have workforce.”

The Strawberry Mansion program, which began this month, is taught by building trades professionals. Once a week, 40 high school seniors learn the ins and outs of different trades and about OSHA compliance. They also absorb soft skills — financial literacy, job readiness, and more.

Union apprenticeships are coveted positions in Philadelphia. Boyer declined to say how many positions are open annually but promised that Mansion students who successfully completed the school’s program would have a clear path.

“Anybody from here that wants to come in, they’ll be in,” Boyer said.

Know this, Councilmember Isaiah Thomas told the students gathered in Mansion’s library: Once fully qualified, union tradespeople make anywhere from $72,000 to $140,000 annually.

“If you want to work hard, you have a career here,” said Thomas. “Guess what? Once you know a skill, you can open a business, and guess what your salary is then? Unlimited.”

Councilmember Katherine Gilmore Richardson, who once worked as a substitute teacher at Strawberry Mansion, urged the students to take advantage of the chances in front of them. Not every student will or should go to college — districtwide, 48% of students attend a two- or four-year university after graduation, and at Mansion, the figure was just 15% last year.

“A union job is your ticket to the middle class,” Gilmore Richardson said. “Your union job is your ticket to a better life and a better opportunity.”

Just ask Tylisa Williams, a building-trades apprentice who came to Mansion to share her experience with the students.

Cracking the building trades wasn’t easy, Williams said — at one point, she moved her family into a hotel in Chester County to make sure she wouldn’t be late for a mandatory weeklong program needed to become an apprentice.

“I stayed and I finished the program,” said Williams. “After finishing that program, I’ve been given opportunity after opportunity after opportunity.” She’s worked on demolition jobs, on jobs draining oil tanks and digging up streets. She’s able to take care of her children.

“I want y’all to know it’s possible,” Williams said.

Mansion senior Marissa Cooper nodded. Cooper has big dreams, and sees herself parlaying the building-trades class into an apprenticeship and a career.

“I want to be my own construction manager, in real estate,” said Cooper, 18. She wants to offer places to live for formerly incarcerated people and victims of gun violence. “I’m going to take advantage of every opportunity I come across.”

Clarke, who himself attended Strawberry Mansion as a youth, said he had been working for at least five years to bring such a partnership to bear.

“Back in the day, they had wood shop, they had metal shop, but somehow that all went away,” Clarke said. “Here we are years later, talking about bringing meaningful opportunities back — educational opportunities.”

The aim is to give students good jobs, but if successful and scaled, the program reaches well beyond that, with a potential to help calm the city’s public safety crisis.

“This is the way to go, a comprehensive approach to giving young people opportunities,” Clarke said. “It can’t just be about law enforcement.”

State Sen. Sharif Street (D., Philadelphia) agreed, pledging the state’s support.

“We change the economic conditions in these communities, we will change the violence, we will change everything,” Street said.

Watlington said the Mansion pilot was important, and he’ll be keeping tabs as he and his team develop the strategic plan that will guide the district over the next five years. Growing the program is a priority, he said, turning to Clarke and Boyer.

“We’ve got room here at Strawberry Mansion,” said Watlington.