Have you heard about the shortage of tradespeople?

I am part of the shortage. To open MindGardens I reduced my hours for my small remodeling business. My previous clients would often report that they can find no one else to do the work I would do for them. The state of things seems to be this; There is a movement to make trades more respected, it’s not a career for people who couldn’t handle college, it’s a skilled niche that our society needs. What I fear happening is that trade schools will take an opportunistic approach and supply the industry with trained hands, while keeping an unethical amount of the profit. What I hope happens is that there are greenhouses (organizations that help a business form) for people with business and marketing skills to connect with the next generation of tradespeople to create small local businesses that keep profits within communities, providing a good salary to all involved and not funneling it to opportunists at the top.

I hope that MindGardens is a place where young people with the potential for success as builders and designers can realize their talents at an early age.

On another level entirely, I am finding that young people are no longer being presented with opportunities to work with their hands, not really. Think about it, every hands-on activity that you can purchase for your student is a kit, not a toolbox. When young people learn that they can build something good out of the things at hand, they not only have a confidence they can build, they also begin to feel they have the ability to change their situation for the better.