Can Trade Skills Keep Baltimore Co. Teens Out Of Trouble? Candidates Think So.

PERRY HALL, MD — A new program intended to boost educational opportunities and curb youth crimes in Baltimore County could soon become a permanent staple for residents after the November election.

The reform program is the brainchild of Yahu Blackwell and Glen Geelhaar, District 8 candidates looking to represent the community in the State Senate and House of Delegates, respectively.

The initiative is geared toward middle and high schools and gives teenagers the chance to learn a trade — HVAC, plumbing, electrical work or welding — that sets them up to be financially literate by the time graduation rolls around.

It effectively serves as a back-up plan for students uncertain about higher education, or for those wanting to learn a trade they could use to their advantage later in life.

"It's a game changer. Even for the ones that do decide to go to college, they will still have this trade in their back pocket," Blackwell told Patch.

Between 40 and 50 students have participated in the pilot program, learning skills that put them on a path to earning tens of thousands of dollars.

See videos from the pilot program.

Blackwell told Patch that the program not only provides students with foundational skills, but it works in step with reducing juvenile crime rates by instilling the importance of an education.

"If you don't give these kids infrastructural change, if you don't give them an income, if you don't connect money and school together, they will continue to develop a disinterest in school," Blackwell said.

"I truly believe that's why the school system is failing a lot of kids."

See photos from the pilot program.

Since launching the program, driver's education, home economics and lessons on business startups were added and offered to students for free.

If the November election goes in Blackwell and Geelhaar's favor, the pair intend to earmark budget funds so the program can be implemented across the district at no cost to Baltimore County families.

Blackwell told Patch that he envisions the pilot being turned into a magnet program where students split their days between studies and learning skills at a trade facility.

See video from the pilot program.

"I see no downside of it, you know? Like, we're gonna be saving a lot of kids' lives, maybe some kids that might have been headed down the wrong path, and probably would have ended up going to prison," Blackwell said.

"It's just gonna be a life and game changer for the community."

Residents wanting to get involved with the program can contact Blackwell via email.