CTE Engineering Technology Trade MC3 Program
Construction Industry Education Foundation Trades Day Event
On October 9, 2025, 44 students from Aragon High School, along with their Trade MC3 Program teacher Arron Apperson, Counseling Advisor Angela Castillo, Family Engagement Coordinator Edwin Martinez, and Career & CTE Coordinator Queenie Hua, attended the Trade Day Event at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium hosted by the Construction Industry Education Foundation (CIEF).
The event featured over 30 industry booths with hands-on activities, giving students the chance to explore construction and trade careers, learn about job, internship, and education opportunities, and connect with local professionals. Students also engaged directly with vendors and employers, gaining valuable insight and making meaningful industry connections.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Visits Aragon Engineering Class
April 30, 2025 was National Apprenticeship Day and Aragon, amongst a few other schools, was mentioned as a model high school by the California Department of Education (CDE) Apprenticeship Office for its CTE Engineering Technology Trade MC3 Program, a hand-on training program that prepares students to join a construction apprenticeship program when they graduate high school.
The morning of April 30, the District got word that State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond would be visiting Aragon to learn more about the program, which is a first of its kind program in a San Mateo County high school.
SMUHSD Board Trustee Jennifer Jacobson, Superintendent Randall Booker, the Aragon Administrative Team, Career Coordinator Queenie Hua, and San Mateo County Building & Construction Trades Council’s Bart Pantoja had the opportunity to meet Superintendent Thurmond and accompany him as he visited Engineering teacher Arron Apperson’s class and engaged with students about what they were learning and why the MC3 program is so important to them. Aragon Robotics student Adam Richter spoke about the various robots and competitions and was such an incredibly impressive spokesperson for Robotics at Aragon.
Superintendent Thurmond spoke to us about Assembly Bill 821 that he hopes he can get District/Aragon input on! 2025-26 Assembly Bill 821, first introduced on April 23, 2025, seeks to extend the requirement of CTE as a graduation requirement.
Aragon High School Launches First-Ever CTE Engineering Technology Trade MC3 Program
The San Mateo Union High School District is excited to announce that Aragon High School (San Mateo, CA) has launched a new program in the 2024-2025 school year - CTE Engineering Technology Trade MC3 Program - the only program of its kind in a San Mateo County High School!
The Multi-Craft Core Curriculum (MC3) is a comprehensive pre-apprenticeship training curriculum developed and approved by the Building Trades National Apprenticeship and Training Committee in 2008. The MC3 was created to provide high quality, apprentice-level content to young people interested in construction, to prepare them for careers in the industry. The goal is to prepare students to join the Building Trades and work among the safest working, most highly-skilled construction workers in the world. The MC3 has been certified by state education departments in a number of states across the country.
The MC3 connects two high-quality education systems: America’s secondary schools and the Building Trades registered apprenticeship programs. If a student completes the MC3 and joins a registered apprenticeship program (for example, San Mateo County Electricians Local 617, Sheet Metal Workers Local 104 , Painter and Drywall Finishers Local 913, etc.), they will join one of the largest privately-funded workforce development systems in the nation. Learn more about MC3.
The program provides students with hands-on instruction in tools, construction math, financial literacy, history of the labor movement, benefits and protections for trades people, and safe work practices. Students will earn an OSHA-10 card and First Aid/CPR certification in the class as well.
Upon completion of the course, students will also receive a certificate of completion of the MC3 class from Trades Futures, a national organization working to prepare students for a successful career in the trades.
SMUHSD is covered by a project stabilization agreement - this partnership with local trade unions and industry partners has been key to the authorization of this program.
The program at Aragon took over a year of collaborative contributions by Aragon Engineering Technology teacher Arron Apperson, the Aragon High School administration team, SMUHSD Director of Curriculum and Assessment Brian Simmons, District College and Career Readiness Coordinator Lisa Laux and AHS Career Coordinator Queenie Hua. This course is currently being offered onsite during 3rd period class at Aragon.
According to Bart Pantoja, Business Manager of the San Mateo County Business and Construction Trade Council, this is the first MC3 class authorized in a San Mateo County high school. Pantoja adds, “We hope this pilot program will pave the way for similar initiatives in other local schools, educating students on labor history and raising awareness of the many trades represented by North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU).”