Broken Arrow Students Enroll In Pioneering Plumbing Career Class

Two students in Broken Arrow are the first to enroll in a plumbing class that promises to pay off later in a career - and pays off now with training and class credit. Students are paid $10 an hour to take the part time training.

“Before this program, I never even thought of it” said Riley Pointer, one of the first two students to enroll. “Never even considered it,” he said.

Pointer and James Williams are training with Mullin Plumbing in the morning before they go to their other high school classes in the afternoon.

Williams said he wasn’t sure about a career until he enrolled.

“It seemed like a good opportunity and it’s kind of opened my mind up a little bit," he said.

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The opportunity is paid training and high school credit as an elective - plus a career path leading to a plumber’s license as soon as a year after graduation. The program started in January and the district hopes to expand it because there’s plenty of demand.

"With such a large group of workers retiring, we've got to do something to replace that and these jobs are not only honorable, they're lucrative and a great way to support a family," said Dr. Janet Dunlop, Broken Arrow Superintendent of Schools.

Rob Morris, the CEO of Mullin Plumbing said the program gives them more than a pipeline of employees.

“It’s our best scenario when we can bring someone in without previous experience and train them from the ground up," he said.