Stanley Students Attend North Dakota T4 Summit, Gaining Hands-On Industry Experience
By Erika Littlefield,
Mountrail County Promoter Intern
This past Tuesday and Wednesday, Stanley junior and senior high school students participated in the North Dakota T4 (Tools, Trades, Torque, and Tech) summit at the Fair Building and South Complex. The two-day seminar, hosted by the T4 team, aimed to introduce students from grades 7-12 to a variety of career paths available in North Dakota through hands-on learning experiences led by industry experts.
The T4 team travels across North Dakota, holding summits to open students’ eyes to the workforce opportunities in the state. These events focus on equipping students with essential job skills, showcasing industry demands, and providing valuable networking opportunities. Topics covered during the summit included advanced manufacturing, robotics, artificial intelligence, agriculture, healthcare, cybersecurity, law enforcement, transportation, construction trades (such as HVAC, plumbing, and electrical), and energy operations, including petroleum and natural gas.
The event kicked off with two keynote speakers. Patrick Bertagnolli, executive director of Job Service North Dakota, shared his personal journey to his current role and highlighted the variety of job opportunities available across the state. Kent Ellis, director of T4, followed with an in-depth discussion about the mission of the T4 program and its growing success. He closed with advice for students, stating, “You shouldn’t confuse what you do with who you are,” emphasizing the importance of finding a career that aligns with one’s passions rather than simply settling for a job.
A total of nine schools participated in the North Dakota T4 Summit, bringing students from across the region together. The participating schools included Burke Central (Lignite), Berthold, Bowbells, North Shore Plaza, Stanley, Divide County (Crosby), Ray, Powers Lake, and Tioga.
Students were split into groups of 23 to attend four randomly assigned sessions. These hands-on sessions allowed students to try various trades and skills. The summit featured a wide variety of engaging sessions, including Wizard Electronics, Engineer Apparatus, Hydraulic Crusher, Virtual Reality, Why Do We Need Oil and Gas?, Stop the Bleed, Real-World Marketing, Operating Engineer, Jeopardy: Prepare for Your Future, We’ve Got Gas!, Pipe Fitting, Stuffing Box, Automation, Instrumentation and Control, Power Plant Puzzle, Civil Engineering and Surveying, Machining, Construction, Pipeline Construction, and How to Change a Tire: John Deere Technology and Mechanics. These 18 hands-on sessions were led by professors from North Dakota colleges, industry leaders, and job professionals, providing students with expert guidance and real-world insights into various fields.