WHEELING — Project BEST figures there are better ways to learn about the trade industries than sitting in a room and being told about them.

So the organization had the hundreds of high school students who attended its job fair Wednesday grab a trowel, hop in a tractor trailer cab, grab the controls of a crane or perform several other tasks. Those students appreciated that hands-on experience as they tried to learn more about the trades and whether they might be interested in joining them.

Schools from far and wide traveled to Wheeling Park to participate, coming in from Pennsylvania, Wellsville, Ohio, and St. Marys.

“We’ve covered about an hour-and-a-half radius,” said Project BEST Executive Director Nathan Butts. “This is going to be the highest concentration of trade-oriented kids you could hope for in one room. And with all the hands-on stuff, that really makes it different than your typical career fair.”

Butts estimated around 900 students from 35 regional high schools took part – and an active part, at that – in the fair. While dozens of trade organizations had booths set up around Wheeling Park’s ice rink, there were several stations in the White Palace parking lot for students to try out some of the tasks for themselves.

In one section, students were able to smooth out concrete using different methods. Wellsville High student Mawce Plant was one of those students at that station.

Plant aspires to study theater in college and many of the concepts of set building were found in the stations at Wednesday’s fair.

It’s common for those in theater careers to move around into different jobs, Plant said, and getting experience in the backstage and set building aspects is important.

“I think the hands-on learning is good,” she said. “So many people learn in so many different ways. It’s nice having all the different examples of different kinds of stuff.”

Wheeling Park High School student Garrett Haggerty was trying his hand at working with rebar. Haggerty is in the carpentry program at WPHS, and while a job in the trades isn’t a guarantee for his future, he liked being able to learn more about the industry.

“I’ve been thinking about jobs that kind of apply to carpentry, like engineering or architecture,” he said. “I think it’s very useful to get this type of information that’s available.”

The fair was just as useful for the trade industries as a way to scout for future workers. Eran Molz was representing the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 132. He’s also the president of the Upper Ohio Valley Building and Construction Trades Council.

Molz was showing students how to operate a crane and the finesse involved in moving it through tight spaces. The fair was a way not just to show students how rewarding those jobs can be, but also the level of skill involved in doing them.

“We want to show the valley what we have to offer,” he said. “If a kid doesn’t want to go to college, that’s fine. They shouldn’t be shunned. There are other places they could thrive and have great careers.”