Recently the American Welding Society predicted that the US is facing a shortage of over 300,000 skilled welding professionals by 2024. The current pandemic has exacerbated an already ongoing shortage of skilled healthcare workers as well. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that the need for trained culinary specialists will increase nearly 10% percent by 2024, and that the demand for trained cosmetologists will increase almost 20% by 2030.These and other statistics point to evergrowing need in the US and in Texas specifically for additional tradespeople and skilled workers.Our most important task at the high school is to prepare our ...