RUTLEDGE, Tenn. — The METAL team joined more than 75 business and industry leaders at the Grainger County Schools Career and Technical Education World of Work (WoW) Fair on Tuesday, April 29, to showcase career opportunities to local students.

The event welcomed over 1,300 Grainger County students from grades 7-12 to explore interactive career fair booths and learn about careers in a wide range of industries. 

At the METAL booth, METAL Workforce Coordinator Greg Harrell and other IACMI facilitators led students through an interactive sand casting experience. Students packed their own sand molds and took them to a METAL facilitator to see aluminum pour into the molds (referred to as casting). The end result? An aluminum METAL keepsake to take home.  

While the aluminum cooled, METAL team members spoke with students about careers in the skilled trades and the pathways available through technical education and apprenticeships.

“Seeing them put the metal into the sand was really cool,” said Marley Hipshire, a senior at Grainger County High School. “They were showing us that this is a job you can do in the future that doesn’t take a lot of schooling like some other pathways.”

METAL focuses on equipping students with real-world skills and industry knowledge through structured learning and mentorship. METAL’s participation in the WoW Fair provided another outlet to spark curiosity and encourage students to consider high-demand, hands-on careers that contribute to the advanced manufacturing industry.

“There’s a gap in the workforce for metallurgical trades and skills out there,” said METAL Workforce Coordinator Greg Harrell. “Being in schools and exposing students to things like casting and forging that they would not ordinarily be exposed to ignites interest in this field and helps us build a pipeline.”

“Just making the cast parts and showing them how simple keepsakes like pendants and paperweights can be made demonstrates how things in the real world are made, whether that’s parts for vehicles, ships or submarines,” Harrell said.

For more information about METAL, visit www.METALforAmerica.org. To get started with a free, eight-hour course on casting, register for our online training. Bootcamps are also now open for registration at various locations