The carpentry class talks to Byron Flipman about union apprenticeships via the library's videoconference system. /Credit: Annie Ropeik

For high school students in remote towns like Unalaska, figuring out what to do after graduation can pose a special challenge. Distance often makes it hard for colleges and other post-grad programs to connect with students in-person.

Now, Unalaska’s library is using technology to try and offer the next best thing. KUCB’s Annie Ropeik has the story.

Alan Haskins’ high school carpentry class trooped across the street to the Unalaska City Library last Monday morning to meet Byron Flipman. He’s the training coordinator for Anchorage-based Local 367 of the United Association Plumbers and Steamfitters Union.

Flipman was waiting for the class when they arrived -- on a big-screen TV in the library conference room.

Flipman: "How you guys doing today?"
Group: "Good, good..."
Flipman: "Great. My name is Byron Flipman..."

Flipman dialed in to the library’s videoconference system from Anchorage to tell the students about the union’s apprenticeship program. It’s a five-year training program to help budding skilled trades workers get certified and find jobs.

Flipman: "You don’t have to have any skills in construction, we train you how to be a plumber, pipefitter, welder or service technician..."

The carpentry class was the last of several vocational education classes that visited the library to meet with union reps. A few days before, the apprentice coordinator from the Alaska Operating Engineers Union Local 302 had conferenced in.

It was a first for Unalaska and, Flipman said, for the Steamfitters Union.

Flipman: "I go talk to young people like you at job fairs all over the state. This is the first time I’ve done a video conference, so it’s a new experience for me."

Unalaska’s library is widely known as the place to go for the fastest internet on the island. Library assistant Robi Harris says that’s because they participate in Online With Libraries. OWL is a state program that supports extra bandwidth and special technology at around 100 libraries in Alaska.

Right now, Harris says OWL’s big focus is on user-generated programming.

"This is one of those examples, is that we are going out and recruiting people and bringing them in to our libraries," he says.

Harris says the Unalaska library tries to offer whatever special programs they can to the local schools. Since they got their videoconference equipment two or three years ago, they’ve hosted a range of guest speakers on topics like Pearl Harbor and its impact on the Aleutians.

Harris says this is their first foray into something like career prep.

"The equipment is basically there so that we can connect with the outside world," he says. "We’re on an island, but this is a really unique way for us to be able to get out and see other things that we wouldn’t normally be able to see."

Kids in Unalaska grow up around the skilled trades, and there are plenty of union members working in town. But Harris says these videoconferences let students hear about specific options from someone off-island -- someone who’s actually doing recruiting all around the state.

He says students will be able to get back in touch with these reps directly if they want to apply for the apprenticeships.

"It’s just an opportunity for them to see, if they’re thinking about something other than college, that these are the programs that are offered," he says.

And it’s a good chance for the union to look for new apprentices. Flipman took questions after his presentation, like from senior Charity Haskins. She’s teacher Alan’s daughter and one of the few upperclassmen in the carpentry class.

Charity: "Do you have to specialize in one thing, or do you have to just be broad and have multiple things you can do?"
Flipman: "Uh, that’s a good question. Usually the first, second year it’s kind of just a broad spectrum of safety, all methods of joining pipe..."

Most of the students in this class were freshman, so it’s a little early for them to know what they want to do after high school at all.

But Alan Haskins says more and more of his students are going on to apply for programs like the union apprenticeships.

"Just getting them a lot of exposure is important," he says. "They can hear it from me, but when they hear it from people who are in the industry, it means a lot more to them."

And that’s also true for post-grad options besides the skilled trades. Robi Harris says next time, Unalaska’s library could use this technology to bring in folks like college representatives, who students might not get a chance to meet face-to-face otherwise.