Group of high school grads from Clayton County say student debt is not for them. Construction is WSB-TV Channel 2 [Video]

CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — Recent 17-year-old Clayton County graduate TayJianna Smith says she learned from one of the very best. 

“Well, I grew up fixing stuff with my dad,” Smith said.

She was part of the recent Clayton County Schools class of 2024, and a growing number of those grads will skip college and student debt to go into construction. 

“The trend is moving to students leaving high school and wanting to earn skills and trades so they can enter the workforce and start making money,” Perry Career Academy Principal Dr. Terry Young told Channel 2′s Berndt Petersen.

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They’re getting the skills at the academy, which has partnered with the nonprofit Construction Ready offering three weeks of hands-on training, with good jobs waiting.

“Once they get out there and get additional experience and get their feet wet, and maybe get an apprenticeship or earn …