Middleburgh Teen Taps into New Career at BOCES

ALBANY – Middleburgh High School Class of 2025 graduate Connor Prokup’s future is flush with opportunity thanks to Capital Region BOCES.

Prokup joined the UA Local 7, Plumbers and Steamfitters union after graduating from high school and the Career and Technical Education Center – Schoharie Campus in June.

“I had thought here and there about plumbing, but BOCES is the reason I learned more about it and why I am going to the union,” he said during a recent break from working on a tiny home.

Prokup is completing his second year of the Building Trades program at Capital Region BOCES. As part of his studies, Prokup and other students learned the basics of plumbing during sessions taught by members of the union.

“It was great. It helped me learn a lot and really made me decide to go into plumbing,” he said.

Because he is graduating from the BOCES in a construction-related trade, Prokup will qualify to enter the union as a third-year apprentice, giving him a good head start on the five-year apprenticeship required to become a journeyman plumber.

Students on the Career & Technical Education Center – Schoharie and Albany campuses have benefitted for several years from lessons led by the Plumbers and Steamfitters union.

During the lessons, students learn the basics of plumbing, including PVC draining/vent fittings, basic plumbing code, plumbing math, jobsite safety and how to install a sink.

Union representative Seth Madden said the goal is to “teach the students that working with your hands, getting them dirty isn’t something to be embarrassed about. There are great jobs in the trades, and I think, of course, that plumbing is the best job.”

Fellow union member Scott Nadeau added that “Plumbing is a career that can’t be replaced by AI.” 

Capital Region BOCES Managing Program Coordinator-Business & Community Partnerships Nancy Liddle said the partnership with the plumbing union had outfitted hundreds of students with the skills necessary to get a start in the plumbing industry or offer those services as a side business.

As a result of the strong interest among students and demand for workers in the industry, BOCES will launch its own full-time Plumbing Technology program for high school students starting in the fall of 2025.

The one-year program will be a comprehensive, hands-on program designed to prepare students for entry-level positions in the plumbing industry. 

Students will learn essential skills, including safety protocols, plumbing math and blueprint reading, while working with various piping materials such as plastic and copper. 

The course covers key plumbing systems such as drain, waste, and vent (DWV) systems, water distribution, and much more. 

Prokup was blunt, but effusive with his praise for BOCES and the opportunities it gives students.

“BOCES is the reason everyone here is getting a job,” he said.