Students Explore Technical Careers in Tulsa

Tulsa Public Schools students used simulators to train for skilled trades at a mobile workshop.

Updated on Oct. 27, 2026 in Internships

Students Explore Technical Careers in Tulsa

Live Poll

Do you trust corporate-sponsored career training programs to prepare students for the local job market?

Three hundred Tulsa Public Schools students attended a mobile workshop at Tulsa Tech's Lemley Memorial Campus to practice technical career skills. The event featured virtual reality stations and simulators designed to prepare participants for high-demand technical professions.

Why it matters

The program aims to address future labor gaps by introducing students to technical careers that require specialized training. It is part of a broader workforce development effort to meet a projected 1.7 million annual openings in technical fields through 2035.

Meta contributed $400,000 to local educational institutions in April 2026. The program expects to produce more than 200 graduates annually through cross-institutional training.

The players

Tulsa Public Schools

The primary public school district in the city of Tulsa that participated in the workforce development event.

Tulsa Tech

A vocational-technical education provider in Oklahoma that hosted the mobile workshop at its Lemley Memorial Campus.

The details

Students used a tractor-trailer equipped with interactive stations to gain hands-on experience in various trades. This initiative builds on existing partnerships between Tulsa Public Schools, Tulsa Tech, and Tulsa Community College to bolster local workforce readiness.

The Be Pro Be Proud program originated in Arkansas in 2016.
The partnership between Meta and the program began in 2023.
Meta donated $400,000 to local institutions in April 2026.
Construction on the Meta data center in east Tulsa began in April 2026.
Students visited the mobile workshop on October 27, 2026.

Market Landscape

This program aligns with the goals of the Perkins Career and Technical Education Act to improve vocational pathways for secondary students. It marks a shift toward private-sector integration into public technical education to fill critical industry labor shortages.

Students gain early access to trade training that could lead to career paths with high employment potential. The ongoing investment in local tech infrastructure may influence job availability for area residents in the coming years.

The takeaway

Early engagement with technical simulators can help students identify career paths in high-demand trades before graduating. Developing these skills now prepares youth to fill the millions of technical roles expected to open over the next decade.