schools offer construction training as well. β€’ https://www.thebalance.com/ best-trade-school-graduate- jobs-4125189: Top 10 Jobs for Trade School Graduates β€’ http://www.10besttrade.com/ schools/: 10 Best Trade Schools, which includes Centura College in Virginia and South Carolina that offers studies in tiling and floor- ing in the Building Maintenance and Repair program; and Stratford Career Institute in St. Albans, Vt., and Fortis Institute Erie in Erie, Pa., have study in Construction Management. β€’ https://www.trade-schools.net/ articles/trade-school-jobs.asp gives a listing of 43 Trade School Jobs Among the Highest Paying Trades, and includes a search engine for trade schools. β€’ http://www.abouttradeschools. com/overview/vocationalcareers/ provides a listing of trade schools in the U.S., Canada and the U.K., and a list of top 10 trade jobs, with construction jobs coming in at #6. There are other groups that have made it their mission to promote, educate and prepare young men and women for careers in trades and crafts, such as the Construction Education Foundation of Georgia (cefga.org) and its involvement with the SkillsUSA (skillsusa.org) competition – which NTCA has supported – and the National Center for Construction Education & Research (nccer.org). There is heartening news afoot. On its website, CEFGA notes that Georgia public schools have over 150 skilled trade construction and metals programs. The 2016 Annual Report on the SkillsUSA site reports that in 2016, 1,299 middle-school students were enrolled as mem- bers of SkillsUSA, and 385 new chapters were added in 2015-16. It counts 385,488 members in its 2016-2017 year, which includes 316,197 students, primarily high school members. What I DON’T see listed that often is tile installer training and programming. Masonry, contract- ing and construction management are popular curricula, but tile installer training still seems to be the purview of passed-on family knowledge, apprenticeships, man- ufacturer and association training and self-learning. This is one reason that NTCA University offers such an essen- tial value – courses that support positions as finishers/apprentices in our trade. Visit http://www.tile- assn.com/?page=NTCAU to check out the offerings in apprenticeship, business and continuing educa- tion. And maybe pass it on to a young person who’s contemplating their future. God bless, Lesley lesley@tile-assn.com EDITOR'S LETTER –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– 14 TileLetter | June 2017