Crossposted from DES Express

The annual Women in Trades Fair is an opportunity for middle and high school students and others around the region to learn more about high-paying, skilled careers in the trades, from electrician and plumber to meat packer and security guard. There are hands-on demonstrations and tables with information. Lines formed to make a desk organizer with the King County Facilities Management Division (FMD), for which FMD won a second-place ribbon this year. Folks also stood in line to “shoot the (rubber) ducks” with a water sprayer and get a free spring flower at other booths.

It’s also a time for colleagues to catch up with one another in person.

“Hey, you helped me the other day,” said a bubbly woman to Laura Franklin, a security officer in the Facilities Management Division of the Department of Executive Services (DES) at Fisher Pavilion at the Seattle Center.

“I like helping people,” Franklin said with a smile. Read more.