Abbeville, La (KADN) - "It's good to learn new things. New opportunities, new skills you learn."
The Jumpstart Summer Program is limited to ten students each year between all the high schools in Vermillion Parish. If you get this opportunity, you get to learn crucial job skills.
Career campus instructor Keith Sherman says they are finding more and more students want to be in the program. "What we are trying to do is get them job-ready, industry ready to where when they leave high school they can go to work with an industry-based certification."
This year focused on millwrighting, and students are actually learning how to take apart and repair equipment. This includes things like pumps, compressors, and even gas and steam turbines.
Sherman says each student earns an industry-based credential that can go towards their future once they finish high school. "You can go actually directly into the workforce, or you can continue your education at two years where you can grow more and be more sustainable in the industries."
For Edwin Ramirez, since joining the program, his favorite part of all has been drilling. "Taping into metal plates. The measurements, the drill bits. You got to find the drill bits, then you got to go to the taps and convert it. Then manually tap into the metal plate to get your thread out of it."
The program is funded through a grant from the Louisiana Department of Education. After completion, students will be awarded twelve hundred dollars.
Clay David Campisi says it wasn't about the money. It was a chance to explore new career opportunities, as he remembered growing up watching his brother work with tools. "I always wanted to try and help him do it all, drilling and tapping holes and making sure they were the right size. I learned a lot of measurement instruments and all that. I think I'll remember that for a long time."
Now Sherman says they hope this program can continue teaching students different life skills for years to come.
With the program ending next week, the students will have the chance to visit Intercoastal City to check out the omega plant. Sherman hopes the program will encourage his students to continue to pursue this career path.
