Today Northern Michigan youth are excited to get out and work hard, they just have to physically get to work first.
Driver’s education is no longer offered at public schools and the average cost to take a class is out of reach for some.
Now a new Wexford-Missaukee Career Technical Center scholarship is hoping to fill that cash void.
Cadillac employers are looking to hire this spring.
Their biggest problem?
How are their potential employees getting to work?
“It’s been a need for I think quite a while,” says past Cadillac Area Human Resource Association President, Brenda Goldammer.
“Many of these students come and they want to be part of an internship or maybe they just want to have a job shadow experience but they have a hard time doing that unless they have the transportation.”
Wexford-Missaukee Career Technical student, Jacob Roberts is one of those potential employees who says without a driver’s license, his transportation options are slim: “My parents are usually working all the time, my mom works second shift and my dad works first shift so like mornings are hard and then afternoons are kinda the same way.”
Last year the Wexford-Missaukee CTC found that 40% of local seniors had this same problem and graduated without their driver’s license.
The biggest reason being the price tag that comes with that certification.
“$400, that’d be a really big deal. I’m not much to ask for that,” informs Jacob.
Enter CTC’s driver’s education scholarship.
The program allows local businesses to sponsor students so they’re able to get that drivers license and start working; “I wanna do a co-op job with my father so I can go from his shop to school like after work, or I could do a shop at LeRoy Tool & Die.”
The options once Jacob gets on the road are endless, he’s just happy someone’s helped him put the key in the ignition, “I’m very glad they did that, my parents were glad and they thought it was a cool thing to do because I’m doing pretty well, but a scholarship that’s a good path to go on to start off.”
The benefactors that helped students this year are: Cadillac Area Manufacturers, Northern Precision Products Inc., Alpha Delta Kappa-Beta Pi Chapter, Rexair LLC, Cadillac Human Resource, and Kiwanis.
The CTC is now accepting donations for next year’s driving class.
If you’d like to help a student get behind the wheel, call (231) 876 – 4833 or make a check payable to Wexford-Missaukee Career Technical Center
© 2023 - 910 Media Group
