Alabama Political Reporter featured Be Pro Be Proud’s 10th Anniversary Tour visit to the Alabama National Fair in Montgomery, where students and families explored technical careers together. Inside a mobile workshop, VR simulators and interactive stations introduced visitors to welding, HVAC, electrical work, heavy equipment and advanced manufacturing.
The visit paired career exploration with the fair’s First Responders Day, with support from the Meta Montgomery Data Center. The article also highlighted the value of introducing students and parents to the same professions, giving families a shared starting point for conversations about training, education and employment.
Groove Jones has supported Be Pro Be Proud’s mission by creating custom VR experiences built around gamification. Our team worked with the organization’s leadership and state sponsors to turn skilled-trade tasks into interactive challenges that students can try for themselves.
In the original skilled-trades VR program, students explore plumbing, HVAC, electrical work, carpentry and pest control. The experiences connect job tasks with performance scores, trade rankings and potential earnings. Students receive feedback based on speed and accuracy, helping explain how the work they complete relates to the value of a skilled profession.
The plumbing experience places students in a bathroom with a broken pipe. They remove drywall, identify the damaged pipe and replace it while avoiding a flood. In the carpentry challenge, students remove old lockers, address termite damage, replace a wall stud and install new lockers. Each scenario gives a specific job a sequence of actions to follow.
Our Water Works VR SIM introduces water utility work through a broken water main repair. Students shut off the supply, remove the damaged pipe, secure its replacement and restore water pressure, following visual prompts and spoken guidance through the process.
Truck Tech explores another career path: diesel technology repair. Students enter a virtual truck repair facility to perform diagnostic tasks, including a voltmeter test and inspections of sensor connectors. A final scoreboard connects their performance with simulated earnings and career information.
The Montgomery coverage shows how Be Pro Be Proud brings career exploration into community settings where students and parents can participate together.
Read the full story from Alabama Political Reporter.
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