Finding his future, one trade at a time

The building is quiet when Coleton Bissoondial arrives.

It's an early summer morning before most of Union County Public Schools has started its day, and the rising Cuthbertson High School senior is already on a ladder beside one of his mentors, opening an HVAC unit and sliding out an air filter as part of the day's routine maintenance. Systems are running, maintenance is underway, and Coleton is beginning to understand how it all comes together.

For most students, it’s summer break. For Coleton, it’s something else entirely.

“This summer, I wanted to get hands-on experience and learn more about what the trades are really about,” he said.

Coleton's experience didn’t happen by accident. It grew from a collaboration between the Facilities, Human Resources and Career and Technical Education departments, designed to give students meaningful exposure to skilled trades while helping build a future workforce.

Work-Based Learning Coordinator Karen Adcock said the goal of UCPS internships is to help students explore career possibilities through meaningful experiences beyond the classroom.

“Students don’t always know what they want to do when they leave high school, but giving them opportunities to explore helps them find what fits,” Adcock said.

But Coleton didn’t enter the experience with a plan. He entered it with questions.

Like many students, he spent much of his high school experience trying to figure out what fits. He explored animal science. He took robotics. He worked through computer-based courses and once considered veterinary medicine.

None of those options fully felt right.

What did feel right was time spent in a garage working on dirt bikes and motorcycles—learning by taking things apart, fixing them and putting them back together again.

“I just don’t like sitting at a desk all day,” he said. “I like working with my hands.”

His interest grew when a counselor came to his classroom and spoke about the internship opportunity.

He applied, interviewed and was selected to spend his summer rotating through multiple skilled trades.

Each week, Coleton moves between HVAC, plumbing and electrical work, learning directly from experienced facilities staff who spend their careers keeping schools across the district operating safely and efficiently.

Among them is HVAC technician Harold Crowder, who has worked in the trades area for more than 30 years and now sees mentoring as a natural extension of his work.

“I love helping people,” Crowder said. “I’ve coached football for 30-something years, so mentoring is basically the same thing.”

For Crowder, experience matters most.

“The best way to learn is by doing,” he said. “You can explain it, but experience is what makes it stick.”

Even in the slower rhythm of summer, the work is constant.

Some days involve preventive maintenance tasks—checking systems, replacing filters, greasing equipment. Others involve observing larger projects or understanding how different systems connect across trades.

“HVAC sits right in the middle because you’ve got plumbing and electrical,” Crowder said. “Learning all of it makes you better at what you do.”

And even after decades in the field, Crowder says he is still learning, too.

Coleton is discovering something just as important—but less technical.

It shows up in small moments: how teams communicate, how problems are solved together and how attitude shapes the workday.

“The biggest thing I’ve learned is attitude and communication,” he said. “You don’t want to be someone who’s negative. Finding good people to work with makes a big difference.”

That collaboration continues to grow as UCPS expands opportunities for students to explore careers before graduation.

“We wanted to create an opportunity that not only helps students explore careers in the skilled trades but also builds a pipeline of future talent,” said Jessica Senger, operations human capital coordinator with UCPS Human Resources.

Across UCPS, students participate in internships in fields ranging from health care and veterinary medicine to engineering and skilled trades. Each pathway is different. The goal is the same: helping students explore before they decide.

For Coleton, what began as curiosity is becoming a career path.

After graduation, he plans to pursue trade school, earn his license and eventually build something of his own.

“I’d like to own a business one day,” he said. “But first I want to learn the field and get experience.”

He isn't looking for one defining moment. Instead, each day adds another piece to the picture of what comes next.

“I’d tell other students there’s no reason not to try an internship,” he said. “If you’re even a little interested, just go for it.”

Because sometimes summer isn’t just time away from school.

Sometimes it’s the moment when a future starts to take shape—quietly, steadily, through the work itself.

And for Coleton, the path forward is becoming clearer with every task, every lesson and every day spent learning the trade.