FRESNO, Calif. (FOX26) \u2014 <\/p>\n
The Regional Occupational Program (ROP) and CTE initiatives, operated by the Fresno County Superintendent of Schools, aim to equip high school students with real-world trade and technical skills. From welding to auto repair, these programs are reshaping the perception of trade careers \u2014 and preparing students for the workforce, or even entrepreneurship, right out of high school.<\/p>\n
A Clovis West High School senior is sparking success through the power of skilled trades. Kyle Anderson, a student in the school’s Career Technical Education (CTE) Auto-Diesel Program, recently earned third place at the 2025 Sawdust and Sparks competition \u2014 an event showcasing the skills of more than 300 students across Fresno County.<\/p>\n
Anderson says his interest in welding began at home. \u201cWhen I was younger, I got a small welder and started building go-karts and minibikes in my backyard,\u201d he said. \u201cSo I had a little bit of knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n
That hobby quickly evolved into a passion, which he\u2019s now turning into a business \u2014 making and selling jet ski parts no longer produced in the U.S., Anderson is mostly self-taught, learning many of his skills by watching YouTube videos.<\/p>\n
The Sawdust and Sparks competition, hosted in April, challenged students to build a trailer with only a blueprint and material. Anderson and his team of three other high school students placed third, beating out 23 other teams.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt shows how our skills can transfer to the real world,\u201d Anderson said. \u201cEspecially being in a diesel classroom, I wasn\u2019t around others welding every day. We were really curious to see how we stacked up against people who practice it all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n
His instructor, Ricky Jones, says Anderson\u2019s dedication stood out from the start. \u201cWords can\u2019t explain what ROP did this year,\u201d Jones said. \u201cGiving students the opportunity to compete at this level gives them the confidence to tackle anything life throws at them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anderson encourages other students to take the leap. \u201cDon\u2019t be afraid to invest in tools \u2014 and just take a chance. Go for it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FRESNO, Calif. (FOX26) \u2014 The Regional Occupational Program (ROP) and CTE initiatives, operated by the Fresno County Superintendent…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":77845,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3094],"tags":[51,1442,2266,3134,22793,15065,38141,16,15,38140],"class_list":{"0":"post-77844","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entrepreneurship","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-competition","10":"tag-education","11":"tag-entrepreneurship","12":"tag-skills","13":"tag-students","14":"tag-trades","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom","17":"tag-welding"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114458202265505053","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77844"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77844\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}