Skilled and Educated: How David Urlaub is Connecting Career Preparation with Lifelong Learning

For 20 years, David Urlaub has helped students at the Bay-Arenac ISD Career Center imagine what life after high school could look like.

As a student counselor and the center’s lead SkillsUSA adviser, Urlaub works closely with 11th- and 12th-grade students as they explore careers, build technical skills, and consider the education they’ll need to reach their goals. His work is rooted in a simple belief: students shouldn’t have to choose between becoming skilled and becoming educated.

They can — and should — be both.

That belief shaped Urlaub’s approach to leadership at Bay-Arenac ISD, his participation in MCAN’s School Counselor Fellows Program and SkillsUSA Michigan, and his development of a statewide message aimed at helping skilled trades students reimagine postsecondary education.
 

Trying on Careers, Taking on Leadership

At the Bay-Arenac ISD Career Center, high school students can explore a field before committing to a path after graduation. Courses that provide hands-on, real-world experience help them discover their interests and understand the training and education needed to reach their career goals.

“Being an effective counselor in today’s work environment means helping skilled trades students understand that postsecondary and continuing education are embedded in many career paths,” Urlaub states.

SkillsUSA Michigan builds on that foundation by helping students develop personal, workplace, and technical skills grounded in academics through leadership opportunities and career-focused competitions. Success in those competitions can lead to job opportunities, industry-related prizes like welding kits or 3D printers, and college scholarships.

Support from the Bay-Arenac ISD school board ensures that students across all 14 eligible career and technical education programs are registered as SkillsUSA members, reaching about 600 students every year.

Urlaub has seen firsthand how these experiences change the way students view themselves and what they believe they can accomplish.
 

A New Way Forward

Urlaub’s participation in MCAN’s School Counselor Fellows Program expanded that impact.

The fellowship brings together a cohort of school counselors for advanced leadership and advocacy training focused on postsecondary practices. It also builds awareness of the counseling landscape in Michigan and nationwide.

“When I responded to the invitation to join the MCAN Counselor Fellowship, I had no idea that it would become one of the most rewarding professional experiences of my career,” he said.

Working alongside high-achieving counselors from across Michigan energized him. The experience propelled him to pursue ideas and achievements he hadn’t previously thought possible.

One of the most significant outcomes was “Skilled and Educated,” a mentality shaped through inspiring conversations with other MCAN fellows and students.

The outlook sprang from a question: How do skilled trades students understand the role education will play in their lives after high school?  

In 2024, data Urlaub collected through the fellowship showed that 20% of skilled trades students surveyed weren’t planning to continue their education after high school. They saw their future as “going to work only.”

Urlaub recognized an opportunity to shift that mindset by applying the new message.

“Skilled and Educated” puts a fresh spin on lifelong learning. It reminds students that entering the workforce doesn’t mean their educational journey has reached a dead end.

The ideology challenges the idea that college and the skilled trades sit on opposite sides of career success. Postsecondary education encompasses a wide range of opportunities beyond a traditional four-year degree, including apprenticeships, certificates, community college programs, and industry training.

In every case, postsecondary education remains part of the path.

For Urlaub, helping students understand those connections gives them more freedom to adapt, advance, and respond to change throughout their careers.

From a Local Message to Statewide Momentum

Urlaub first introduced “Skilled and Educated” to SkillsUSA students at the Bay-Arenac ISD Career Center in fall 2024.

As coordinator of  44 regional events in SkillsUSA Region Three, he brought the mindset to the greater Mid-Michigan area in 2025 and 2026. It later reached an even larger audience when SkillsUSA Michigan incorporated the message into the 2026 State Leadership and Skills Conference.

And the shift is making a noticeable difference.

Data collected from Bay-Arenac ISD Career Center seniors in 2026 showed that 9.5% believed postsecondary education wouldn’t be part of their careers, down more than half from the 20% Urlaub measured in 2024.

“In the future, as the ‘Skilled and Educated’ messaging continues to be delivered within the SkillsUSA organization, more skilled trades students will see themselves as consumers of postsecondary education,” he said.

He envisions thousands of SkillsUSA alumni entering the workforce each year and describing themselves as both skilled and educated.

In 2026, Urlaub was also named SkillsUSA Michigan Advisor of the Year, in recognition of his 20 years of service and leadership at Bay-Arenac ISD and SkillsUSA Michigan.

Urlaub credits Bay-Arenac ISD with giving him the support to test new ideas and participate in opportunities like MCAN’s Counselor Fellows Program.

“Receiving the SkillsUSA Michigan Advisor of the Year award means that people in my profession are validating what I’m doing professionally,” he said. “However, at the end of the day, doing what is best for students is what matters most.”
 

Where Progress Leads

As MCAN celebrates 15 years of college access and attainment work, Urlaub sees progress in the many ways Michigan now reaches students and prepares them for postsecondary success.

“Developing partnerships with MCAN and other systems such as employers, community colleges, and schools allows students to seamlessly transition between the workforce and postsecondary education at any point in their career,” he said.

Students can earn diplomas through more flexible pathways, such as Early Middle Colleges, that reflect different needs and circumstances. Across the state, educators and partners are working to meet students where they are and expand access to education beyond high school.

Urlaub believes MCAN remains well-positioned to lead those conversations and help Michigan move toward its Sixty by 30 goal.

He also offers students a message that reflects the optimism at the center of his work:

“Everything can be figured out.”

That mindset, he believes, will help students enter an evolving workforce with confidence. It will require them to use their problem-solving skills, remain open to learning, and recognize that education isn’t separate from career growth.

For the adults supporting them, the responsibility is equally clear: create opportunities for students to practice those skills, explore possibilities, and see themselves as capable of adapting.

“I believe that when there is change, there is opportunity,” he said.

Across Michigan, thousands of people are working every day to expand postsecondary access and equity. Through partnerships, leadership, and an ideology that brings career preparation and education together, David Urlaub is helping more students recognize the full range of possibilities ahead.

They’re preparing to become skilled professionals. They’re continuing to become educated. And they don’t have to choose between the two.