Taste of the Trades Gives Long Island Students a Hands-On Look at Their Futures

The third annual A Taste of the Trades Summer Youth Employment Program at Stony Brook University's Center of Excellence in Wireless and Information Technology (CEWIT) allowed local high school students to share what they learned during seven weeks of hands-on experiences. Photos by Cliff Chandler Jr.

For 40 Long Island high school students, a summer job meant a little more than earning a paycheck.

They welded metal, operated CNC machines, designed microgrids, explored power plants and learned how electricity moves from its source to the homes and buildings that depend on it. Along the way, some discovered careers they had never considered, while others found new connections between the work they were doing and futures they were already imagining.

The students celebrated the completion of the third annual A Taste of the Trades Summer Youth Employment Program at Stony Brook University's Center of Excellence in Wireless and Information Technology (CEWIT) on August 20, sharing what they learned during seven weeks of hands-on experiences focused on renewable energy, infrastructure and the skilled trades.

"This program was not a camp. It was not an internship or a club or a class. It was a job. It was work," said Derek O'Connor, senior manager, workforce development for Stony Brook University's Office for Research and Innovation. "These students got their hands dirty working with the welding and CNC machines. They tried on PPE at a power station and learned how to keep each other safe."

Now in its third year, the program has grown significantly. The original cohort of 20 students has doubled to 40, with the number of female students increasing from six last year to 21 this summer. Students from Brentwood participated for the first time this year, joining students from Longwood, Bellport and William Floyd high schools. The expansion was supported by a 2025 grant from the New York Power Authority (NYPA) to grow Stony Brook's energy workforce programming.

"There's been so much innovation in the electric utility industry, power industry, more than perhaps the last 50 years," said Kieran Kelly, workforce development program manager at NYPA. "There are so many opportunities, so many jobs that are being created every day."

As paid participants in the seven-week summer employment program, students experienced different pieces of the region's energy and infrastructure landscape. At Stony Brook, they learned about electricity and power systems, built battery-powered cars and worked on electric vehicle and microgrid proposals. At Brookhaven National Laboratory, they explored solar energy and advanced research facilities, while their time at Suffolk County Community College introduced them to advanced manufacturing, welding and CNC machining. Field trips brought those lessons into workplaces across Long Island, including National Grid, PSEG Long Island, Haugland Group and the National Offshore Wind Training Center.

For Joshua Felton, a rising senior at Brentwood High School, the experience challenged an opinion he had formed years earlier. "I was always open to going into the trades, but I was open to going into anything except electricity," said Felton, who had been turned off to the subject after taking a robotics class during his sophomore year. Taste of the Trades changed that. "It kind of opened my eyes to it a little bit more," he said. "It's something I'll consider in the future." Felton, who is interested in architecture, particularly enjoyed an activity using a map of New York State to simulate how electricity generated through hydropower, wind and solar sources travels through transmission lines to where it is needed.

Other students found ways to connect the summer's experiences with interests they already had. Kathryn Jiang, a rising senior at Longwood High School, especially enjoyed projects involving a microgrid proposal and electric vehicles, which gave her the chance to solve problems that felt real. "It allowed me to be a little more creative, allowed me to solve real-life problems," she said, adding that working with other students helped simulate "what a real job experience would be like."

Vice President for Equity & Inclusion and Chief Health Equity Officer Judith Brown Clarke.

Classmate Sara Mangels entered the program already interested in electrical engineering, particularly circuits and smaller digital components, but said the experience showed her how much broader the field could be. "It really opened my mind to the range of career paths in engineering," she said, from working with large-scale electrical systems to offshore wind. Jaeleen Cabrera enjoyed meeting professionals during the program's tours and hearing them talk about their work. The experience also reinforced Cabrera's interest in attending Stony Brook. "I was already sold on Stony Brook, so it just reaffirmed my desire to go to Stony Brook because of the tours they did," she said. "I realized it was more than just the campus."

The program's impact was also evident in someone who had been sitting in the students' seats just two years earlier. Nicole Alvarado-Diaz participated in the inaugural Taste of the Trades cohort in 2024 as a Bellport High School student. Now a rising sophomore at Stony Brook studying computer science, Alvarado-Diaz returned this summer to work with the new cohort. Her own experience in Taste of the Trades introduced her to cybersecurity challenges in the energy industry and helped lead her to Stony Brook's Energy CyberLearn program.

Alvarado-Diaz encouraged the graduates to take advantage of the relationships they had formed during the summer, noting that mentors she met through the program later wrote letters of recommendation that helped her pursue other opportunities at Stony Brook. "You've met so many people throughout the settings here who would really love to help you," she said. "Keep in touch with everyone."

Industry partners also encouraged students to build on the experiences and connections they made during the summer. Alyssa Turano, speaking on behalf of Ørsted, who funds the Longwood, William Floyd, and Bellport cohort, told graduates that renewable energy, construction, manufacturing, engineering and technological innovation all offer potential career paths close to home. "As you leave here today, I want you to remember that renewable energy and the industry surrounding it is being built in your backyard," she said. "We have this industry on Long Island. It's not always easy, but it is a very rewarding career path and it is here on Long Island for you to take that opportunity."

Sydney LeGuillow, government and community affairs coordinator at Haugland Group, told students that only six years earlier, she had been in their position, figuring out what she wanted to study and where her career might lead. She encouraged them to network, become comfortable putting themselves in unfamiliar situations and continue exploring the careers they encountered during the summer. "You've gotten to see the different pathways and the diversity of different careers you could have," she said. "So find what you're passionate about. Do it to the best that you can."

That range of possibilities is increasingly important as New York works toward ambitious energy and electrification goals that include the need for a new generation of workers with advanced technical skills. O'Connor told the graduates that the solution to that workforce challenge was sitting in front of him. Judith Brown Clarke, Stony Brook's vice president for health and inclusion and chief health equity officer, encouraged students to continue exploring what they love and what they are good at, noting that discovering what they do not want to pursue can be just as valuable.

"Energy is important. It is the new gold, it is the new oil," Brown Clarke said. "If you can find an aspect of that you love, you will be employed and you will be doing a job that every morning when you turn the alarm off when you wake up, it'll be more than just a paycheck, it'll be making a difference."

And when the challenges facing the next generation can seem daunting, Brown Clarke told the graduates that she knew where to look for those who might help solve them.

"Sometimes when we listen to the news and we wonder, who's going to solve these incredibly complex, wicked problems?" she said. "They are the students seated here."

- Beth Squire