NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Some Newport News Shipbuilding apprentice school students are getting a special visit.
Current apprentice school students showed off their skills Friday for U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon as she toured the school. The tour came as she was preparing to speak at the school's graduation ceremony.
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"As part of my touring of bringing education back to the states, one of the things I want to make sure I do is look at all of the different aspects of education," McMahon said.
Her tour Friday was her first visit to the school, but it’s not the first time the school has been in the spotlight. News 3 was there in 2024 when the then-secretary of the Navy and the then-acting secretary of labor toured the school.
“This program has particular interest to me because we have such a demand for manufacturing. As we’re putting more and more of our emphasis on defense, I wanted to see exactly how this is done," said McMahon.
Watch: Secretary of Navy, Labor promote maritime industry during visit to Newport News
A sentiment shared by Virginia Congresswoman Jen Kiggans, who was also on the tour.
“We do a Lot of talk about shipbuilding and ship repair and the workforce challenges. We know that we need the ships, right? We know the United States Navy needs the ships, on the commercial side as well. So, this is the place that makes the ships and we want to do everything we can to let people know about the good jobs that are available," igexplained.
Aside from the school tour, News 3 asked McMahon about her thoughts on school security. As of Friday, multiple Hampton Roads school districts were considering making adjustments for the April 21 special election in Virginia because of security concerns given some schools will be used as polling places.
Watch: VB schools discuss security concerns ahead of April 21 special election
The issue of security could also come up again in November when schools will be used as polling places for the general election. While students usually get the day off, teachers usually get the option of using the day as a work day and could be there.
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“I think you have to look at that on an individual school basis. But the important thing is that there’s training; there’s training relative to security,“ said McMahon.
After the school tour, McMahon and Kiggans toured the Newport News Shipbuilding shipyard and held a workforce roundtable discussion. McMahon was scheduled to round out her visit with the commencement speech at the apprentice school graduation on Saturday.
