Inside the Pace Construction field trip connecting Southeast Missouri students with real-world job opportunities

NewsMarch 5, 2026Inside the Pace Construction field trip connecting Southeast Missouri students with real-world job opportunitiesA PACE Construction initiative is giving Southeast Missouri students like Neelyville High School freshman Bradan White a hands-on look at asphalt, road building, and local trade careers that don't require a college degree. Prince WrightReporterNeelyville High School ninth-grader Bradan White attends the PACE Construction event. DAR Photos/ PRINCE WRIGHT Tristan Strohmeyer, Naylor High School sophomore, pictured during road tour. DAR Photos/ PRINCE WRIGHT Naylor High School sophomore, Shanine Watkins, attends the PACE Construction event. DAR Photos/ PRINCE WRIGHT DAR Reporter Prince wright poses with Naylor High School sophomore, Shanine Watkins, at the PACE Construction event. Photo ProvidedPACE Construction Senior Project Manager Ronnie Toth has made it his mission to find and lift the next generation of Missouri's workforce.PACE Construction, a company that specializes in heavy highway construction, partnered with the Association of General Contractors of Missouri, Build My Future, JAG-Missouri, and various other organizations and state leaders to host an educational plant and road tour for 63 students from around Southeast Missouri. Toth hopes to make this an ongoing project and is on a mission to get into every school in Missouri, starting here."The asphalt and trades industry is a great place to build a career without having to go to college...