Bryant Trades Program

Bryant and Lincoln Public Schools Partners In Education

The Bryant Trades Pilot Program is product of an idea brought to Lincoln Northeast (LNE) and Lincoln Public Schools (LPS) by Brian Kassebaum, Installations Supervisor at Bryant. As an LNE alum, with recent ties to the school through his children, Brian was familiar with the Industrial Technology course available at LNE. Kassebaum saw an opportunity to add heating and air conditioning, plumbing and potentially electrical to the list of trade experiences offered to students. “I grew up in the Havelock area, it was filled with ‘blue collar’ workers then, and I know that today it is very much the same. Many of the Northeast students choose ‘blue collar’ careers, and the number Northeast graduates employed at Bryant is an example of that,” explained Kassebaum.

Kassebaum’s idea, supported by others at Bryant, was presented to LNE Principle Kurt Glathar in April 2012. With a background as an Industrial Technologies teacher, Glathar took little time to see the positive attributes that Brian’s proposal offered LNE and LPS. “Anything that extends learning beyond the four walls of the high school and the classroom has an extreme value for the student,” Glathar explained. “Whether a student moves on to pursue a career in the trade or something different just having that experience is huge.”

The idea was also well received by Eric Knoll from the LPS district office, “work based learning is something LPS has been doing for years. This project offers three components into one learning experience.”

One trade’s program student’s experience