Kent ISD — With requirements like working about 100 feet in the air, welding from a heavy-duty cage known as a “man basket” and wearing roughly 120 pounds of equipment, Megan Jaglowski admits heavy construction isn’t for everyone.
But for someone who enjoys working with her hands, like Jaglowski, it can be a perfect fit.
“Working with my hands started when I was young, as I would build things out of Lincoln Logs and LEGOs,” said the Kent Career Tech Center alumna. “I also built a deck with my dad.”
Jaglowski visited the Tech Center last spring for a career event to discuss her life in the world of construction. She is also a member of the Kent Career Tech Center Alumni Network.
While the Alumni Network’s goal is to bring together alumni from more than 50 years of Tech Center programs, it also serves as a pipeline for career talks and events, guest speakers and mentors, said Krista Harmon, a Kent ISD workforce development consultant who came up with the idea for the group.
The response from alumni has been positive, with several participating in Kent ISD’s “Your Dream Is Our Dream” podcasts to share how their Tech Center and career and technical education experiences influenced their career choices, Harmon said.
Connecting to Her Interest
The Tech Center certainly altered Jaglowski’s career trajectory, she said.
“When my parents or anybody asked me what I wanted to be at 16, I was like, ‘I don’t know. I just want to graduate,’” she said.
“I was the kid who sat on their phone, swiped around and was like, ‘Yeah, whatever.’ I was not good at school. I hated math. I hated English, and I hated sitting at a desk.”
During her junior year at Sparta High School, her counselor suggested that, because she was good with her hands, she should consider the Tech Center. Jaglowski figured she had “nothing better to do. Why not?”
For her first year, Jaglowski was accepted into the Applied Construction program, which “changed my life 100%.”
“I struggled in school (with) focusing, but this just clicked,” she said. “I had a low GPA standing, but after coming to KCTC, I had straight As. I could not understand the purpose of my classes until I came (to the Tech Center).”
In her second year at the Tech Center, she enrolled in the heating, ventilation and air conditioning, or HVAC, program.
Because of her Tech Center experience, Jaglowski said she decided construction was “something that I might want to actually do” after graduating.
Jaglowski graduated from Sparta Area Schools in 2021 and started her career in residential construction. She later joined the Northern Midwest Regional Council of Carpenters union and now works for Hardman Construction, building bridges and foundations.
She is now a fourth-year apprentice working toward her journeyman card, which will allow her to work anywhere in the United States.
‘Possibilities are absolutely endless’
Jaglowski has worked on a number of projects throughout Michigan, including Detroit’s Comerica Park and Little Caesars Arena, as well as the I-196 bridge leading to Zeeland.
“I drive on that bridge to Zeeland and my wife gets so annoyed because I’m like, ‘Hey, babe, do you know that I built this bridge?’ She’s like, ‘You tell me every time we drive over it,’” she said with a laugh.
The best part of the job, she said, is building connections with people from diverse backgrounds while working alongside different crews.
She also credited the Tech Center with helping her become a better communicator while giving her the technical skills needed for her career.
“When I joined KCTC, I couldn’t even order a bucket of popcorn at the movie theater,” Jaglowski said. “I hated talking to people and I wanted everybody to leave me alone, and now I spend my entire day making jokes with a whole bunch of different people and building giant buildings.”
Jaglowski acknowledged the field is still primarily male-dominated but said that is changing as more women enter the industry.
“I will say you have to work twice as hard all the time,” she said. “If you’re not willing to put in the work and grind, it isn’t for you.
“I have to consistently tell people, ‘I know what I’m doing. Don’t question me.’ That’s the harsh reality of it, but the second I hit the threshold and they do see that I know what I’m doing, it’s automatic respect, and I never lose it unless it is deserved.”
Now her goal is to raise interest among students about the construction field and the trades through presentations for the NMRCC and the KCTC Alumni Network.
“There’s so many different career paths — residential, union, nonunion, commercial or starting your own business. The possibilities are absolutely endless. The skilled trades are never going away.”
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• Welding opens doors for state-champion students
