Young people from all over this area — and as far away as Craig and Unalaska — will participate in Alaska Construction Career Days at the fairgrounds on Tuesday.

It gives students a chance to look into careers in such fields as building, welding, electrical work, heavy-equipment operation, surveying, truck driving and many other occupations. There will be professionals in every field to answer questions and fit the participants with hard hats for the day.

That this program exists is a fine example of how labor unions and tradespeople can help get the message out that there are good jobs out there that don’t necessarily require a four-year degree from a university or college. And that’s a good thing. There are many students in the school system here, and across the nation, who aren’t meant to be scholars. That doesn’t mean they aren’t intelligent, it just means reading one more text book is more chore than interesting.

All any of us has to do is remember how much we paid a plumber to fix a leak in the house to understand that trade work can pay the bills just as easily as being an accountant or, god forbid, a journalist.

It looks like school districts, including this one, are grasping the concept that there are all kinds of things to learn in school and being a welder or a chef might be a better fit for some children than prepping them for college.

Learning to weld or make a cake still requires math and reading skills. So the basic curriculum is still relevant, as is the ability to communicate your thoughts in words whether spoken or on paper.

For that reason, most students can use the same information for several years into their education. But at some point, parents, teachers and advisers can start seeing which student might be more interested in building a better mouse trap than studying mice in a laboratory and start guiding the child in that direction.

Of course that’s a delicate dance because children’s interests can change with the seasons.

Still, it’s good that the hundreds of students who will attend the career days will get hands-on information that could lead them to a career they enjoy, rather than a job to endure.

And it just might keep them interested in school. If so, that would definitely improve the drop-out rates that all school administrators would like to see go down to zero.