Graduating Friday, Working Monday: The Fast Track to High-Paying Trades at Moriarty High

MORIARTY, N.M. — In a ceremony traditionally reserved for star quarterbacks and point guards, Moriarty High School celebrated a different kind of professional prospect Tuesday: the blue-collar worker.

For the fourth consecutive year, school officials and industry leaders gathered to host a “college-style” signing ceremony for students entering the trades. The event, designed to mirror athletic “Letter of Intent” signings, saw two Pintos commit to high-paying apprenticeships in the construction and mechanical industries.

Abraham Sloan and Nicholas Kamplain each signed commitment forms to join Local Union 412 in Albuquerque. Sloan, a former linebacker for the Pintos football team, will enter the welding union, while Kamplain, a standout on the baseball diamond, is set to begin a career in HVAC and plumbing.

“Athletic signings have always been treated with a ‘hurrah, they’re going to college,’” said Moriarty High School Principal Natalie Romero. “But this is pretty important work in supporting the trades and blue-collar workers of America. We want our students choosing that pathway to feel as celebrated as kids going to a four-year college”.

The catalyst for the program was a partnership between Moriarty agriculture teacher Cole Andes and James Magoffe, the Director of Safety and Manpower for Yearout. Magoffe, a former coach in the district, said he wanted to change the perception that trades are a “bottom of the barrel” alternative to university life.

“For years, it seemed like the trade was the alternative to, instead of running parallel with [college],” Magoffe said. “I wanted people to recognize the value. Eighty percent of [athletes] don’t even graduate with a degree. Why weren’t we doing this for the trades?”.

The financial benefits of the path were a major draw for the signees. Sloan noted that his plan was always to enter the workforce to avoid the “massive amount of debt” often associated with higher education.

“I never really wanted to go to college because I didn’t want to be in debt,” Sloan said. “It’s kind of nice to get out and just make a bunch of money instead”.

Andes, who is finishing his ninth and final year at Moriarty before moving to Colorado, recalled a friend from his own high school days in Clovis who chose trade school over university. By the time Andes graduated with a teaching degree, his friend had already paid off a house and a rig.

“A man with a trade will always have a job,” Andes said. “There will come a day when a doctor or a lawyer makes as much as the man with the trade. That day is today”.

For Kamplain, the decision came after realizing a four-year degree might go unused. After Andes reached out with an opportunity through Yearout—a program that provides on-the-job experience and union support—Kamplain decided to trade his baseball spikes for a professional tool belt.

“I decided it was the right choice for me,” Kamplain said.

Both students expressed long-term goals of eventually owning their own private businesses. As for the immediate future, the transition is swift: Romero noted that in previous years, students have graduated on a Friday and reported to their first job site the following Monday morning.