Chicago Spotlights Trade Skills and Educational Opportunities During School Choice Week

Hands-On Workshops and Student Showcase to Explore Career Pathways

CHICAGO, Jan. 23, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- What is it like to work with your hands in construction, electrical work, culinary arts, or cosmetology for a living? A School Choice Week celebration in Chicago will connect teens and adults with answers to those questions on Saturday, Feb. 1.

Hosted by The Brown House Experience, Trade Day 2025 will take place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Richard T. Crane Medical Preparatory High School. The free event will provide information about local community colleges, businesses, and nonprofit organizations that provide resources to families, with a special focus on resources for students transitioning into or out of high school.

The heart of Trade Day will be hands-on workstations led by Chicago-based tradesmen and women, business owners, and entrepreneurs. Students ages 12 and up can choose up to three stations to engage in hands-on skill workshops at the event.

"This event is about showing our young people that success comes in many forms," said Tia Brown of The Brown House Experience. "By offering hands-on exposure to skilled trades and entrepreneurship, we're equipping students with the tools to find fulfilling careers, whether through traditional academic paths or alternative opportunities."

The Brown House Experience aims to foster the positive development of at-risk youth, providing access to opportunities for hands-on exposure to the arts, STEM, mental and physical wellness, skilled trades, and entrepreneurship—all with a purpose to enhance their academic, social and emotional growth.

The Feb. 1 event is open to the press, but attendee registrations are already at capacity. It is timed to coincide with National School Choice Week (NSCW), which will feature more than 27,000 school choice events across all 50 states to raise equal and positive awareness of the traditional public, public charter, public magnet, private, online, and home education options available for families. In Illinois, nearly 1,000 celebrations will take place.

The Richard T. Crane Medical Preparatory High School is located at 2245 W. Jackson Blvd. Trade Day will take place in the cafeteria as well as various classrooms.

Families can find information at http://www.chicagotbhe-tradeday.com/ or schoolchoiceweek.com/events/chicago-2025-dia-del-comercio/.

The National School Choice Awareness Foundation (NSCAF) raises broad and positive awareness of school choice through two charitable programs: organizing National School Choice Week each January and the research, development, and promotion of comprehensive and unbiased school navigation resources for parents via School Choice Week, Navigate School Choice, and Conoce tus Opciones Escolares. NSCAF does not advocate for or oppose legislation at any level of government and is steadfastly nonpartisan and nonpolitical.

SOURCE National School Choice Week