"I hear out there in the real world, they pay women 70 cents on the dollar they pay men. I’ve never personally had that experience," says Hope Harp, Outreach Specialist for the Central Midwest Regional Council of Carpenters (CMRCC). Speaking at the fourth annual Future Woman of Welding Competition, Harp’s message to the 90 young women in attendance was a call to a lucrative career path: in the skilled trades, your paycheck is defined by the quality of your bead, not your gender.

Ninety-seven young women from across the region gathered at the Local 502 Training Center on January 22nd and 23rd, 2026, to prove that the "man’s world" of industrial welding is officially a thing of the past.

When the blimp pans over Ford Field during Monday Night Football, thousands of fans see the iconic blue and white glow of the Detroit skyline. For most, it’s just a scenic transition. For Jeffersontown High School graduate Dominic DiSisto, it’s a moment of professional pride seven years in the making.

“Ford Field was my grand project for sure,” Dominic reflects. “We did the lighting for the outside... a program where it goes white to blue. When the blimp shows the building and you see those lights, those are my fingerprints all over that building.”

Now a successful electrician with CI Engineering Solutions, Dominic’s journey to the top of a professional stadium didn’t start with a high-voltage license; it started in the ninth grade in the Jeffersontown (J-Town) High School.

For many, the holidays are a season of gathering, but for the elderly in assisted living facilities, it can often be a time of isolation. This December, the students of Eastern High School’s Service and Design Academy are using their creative talents to build community connections, one handmade card at a time.

The holiday season is the time when the kitchen becomes the heart of the home and memories are made over shared meals. At Iroquois High School, students in the Culinary Arts Pathway are feeding off of that excitement, bridging the gap between family traditions and professional careers.

The Freshman Commitment to Graduate Ceremony establishes the foundation of a promise for every student in the Academies of Louisville. This pivotal event, held across all high schools implementing the Academy model, formally marks the start of a student’s career journey, serving as a public declaration of their commitment to high school graduation and the pursuit of a successful pathway beyond. The ceremonies at Eastern High School and Shawnee High School recently featured two compelling speakers whose personal stories connected commitment, perseverance, and identity directly to the path that lies ahead for these freshmen.

"We don’t have enough skilled trades people. We don’t have enough of the right people for the skills we need for the future," noted Ford Motor Company employee Ed Combs at the recent Ford-JCPS Sprint finale. In an era when industry leaders acknowledge the urgent skills gap, this three-month intensive challenge put Academies of Louisville engineering students in direct consultation with top Ford professionals, proving that the next generation of industrial problem-solvers is already here.

Lantech, a Louisville-based manufacturing company in Jeffersontown (J-Town), understands the core “why” of Academies partnerships: deep commitment to investment and talent development, not just hiring. Nine years after the partnership’s genesis, Lantech continues to see the dividends of its investment in a work-ready pipeline that is choosing to stay not just in Louisville but in Jeffersontown. 

In an era where the demand for skilled trades professionals continues to rise, Valley High School is building a solution. The school's innovative Building and Maintenance (BAM) Pathway offers a launchpad for students to acquire essential, hands-on skills that promise stable, debt-free careers.

For JCPS Superintendent Dr. A. Brian Yearwood, his initial path was clear: becoming a geologist in oil-rich Trinidad and Tobago after an impressive run as an international athlete. However, a profound personal connection fundamentally rerouted his future—a pivotal moment he recounted to Seneca High School's Teaching & Learning students on October 28th.

The Valley High Multiple Disabilities (MSD) Program is successfully bridging the gap between classroom learning and real-world experience, thanks to an innovative, student-run enterprise: the Coffee Cart. This powerful program is more than just a source for teachers' morning caffeine fix; it’s a vital engine for teaching life skills, professional readiness, and building confidence for the students who run it.

Scout Tarquinio’s path to a professional career began not just in a classroom, but in a real-world design studio. A graduate of Atherton High School’s Graphic Design pathway, Scout secured a competitive apprenticeship with Sign-a-Rama Downtown, the key business partner for the school’s pathway. Now attending the University of Kentucky, her journey perfectly exemplifies how the Academies of Louisville model connects passionate students with hands-on, career-defining experiences that bridge high school and college.