Old Colony students hear from workwear brands
Oct 9, 2022
Steve Douglas gave a presentation to Old Colony students about the importance of perseverance. Photos courtesy: Old Colony Vocational Technical High School
Three students got to take home a skateboard made by Douglas and his company.
Massachusetts-based workwear company Work’N Gear teamed up with FXD to teach students about staying in the trades.
ROCHESTER — Students at Old Colony Vocational Technical Highschool got a lesson in workplace safety, and some surprise gifts, during a presentation from workwear suppliers Work ‘N Gear and FXD.
On Sept. 22, junior and senior students were visited by representatives from Work‘N Gear, a Massachusetts-based company, who gave a short presentation about dressing safely in the workplace.
This presentation is a part of a campaign aimed toward vocational-technical students across the country, said Old Colony Vocational Coordinator Bethany Botelho. Old Colony was the first school that Work‘N Gear and FXD, an Australian workwear company, visited.
According to Botelho, the program was planned to coincide with the start of the school’s 12th grade co-op program, where students gain on-the-job experience.
“This was a fantastic kick-off to our cooperative education program,” said Botelho. “I was completely blown away by their generosity.”
Students heard from Steve Douglas, who works for FXD, about the value of perseverance in the trades.
“We do this program to convince you to finish your trade — don’t quit,” said Douglas, who explained that around half of trade students don’t finish their courses.
Douglas hopes that students finish their technical courses so that they can make good money without college debt and provide a valuable service to society.
He also joked that if they stay in the trades, they can buy his FXD products.
“See how good I look,” said Douglas, showing the students his FXD pants. “The reason I’m showing you how good I look is that everybody here will go home with their first pair of FXD [pants] at no charge.”
Along with a free pair of pants, students were given five pairs of socks, a backpack, pencils and other items by Work’N Gear.
And if that wasn’t enough, Douglas, who also manufactures skateboards, gave three students a board to take home with them. He told students that these giveaways were meant to make them remember the presentation.
“Hopefully this has moved you to think about your career,” said Douglas. “You can remember the guy with the cool accent who came to our school and said ‘don’t quit.’”
