Recently, the Charlottesville Albemarle Technical Education Center (CATEC) graduated a class of hard workers, and our sister store in Charlottesville was on-site, handing out gift cards! You can read the whole story on the Red Wing Charlottesville blog… but suffice to say, we’re proud of our role in helping out the next generation of workers. See below for a quick overview!
News Coverage of the CATEC Graduation Event
Red Wing Shoes provided $150 gift certificates for work-certified shoes. Building and Electric trades students received toolbelts from Diamondback Toolbelts.
CATEC Director Stephanie Carter said it’s all part of the school’s mission to see students succeed when they leave the classroom.
“It’s our goal really to strengthen our students individual pipelines and preparing them so they leave us ready to go out and meet all their career goals,” she said.
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ALBEMARLE COUNTY, Va. (WVIR) – Students from the Charlottesville-Albemarle Technical Education Center had their very own “signing day” Thursday, May 20, but it had nothing to do with sports. Many of them are celebrating their new placement with full-time jobs.
“We’re celebrating their employment and the start of their career path into the world,” CATEC Director Stephanie Carter said.
Carter said students like William Gilbert and Daniel Snoddy, both of whom were part of Thursday’s celebration, are in high demand.
“One of the things that became really clear to us during the pandemic is really a place where we’re really training a lot of essential workers. As the economy reopens and everything starts moving forward in a more normal way, the students here are in really high demand for employment,” she said.
The two will work at Southern Air, an HVAC, plumbing, and electrical company as part of the school’s placement program.
“A lot of people lost their job during the pandemic, and for me to be 18, still in high school and have a full-time job, that’s pretty good,” Snoody said. “Definitely feel blessed and lucky to be a part of this.”
Employers like Southern Air say they’re ready for the job ahead.
“That’s where we get our best employees from. It’s just basically them graduating from the CTE programs and coming to work with us full time,” Sierria Phillips, who works for the company, said.
Gilbert said it’s his teacher who deserve the credit.
“Working with Mr. Trimmer and his class has taught me a lot about basic electrical and basic construction just overall. We learn a little bit of anything. He’s taught me a lot of the basics to get me an internship at Southern Air,” Gilbert said. “I’m super glad that I’ve gotten this opportunity.”
Contact Red Wing Richmond with any Questions!
Hooking up the future workers of Virginia with Red Wing Boots is something we were happy to do. We’re all about giving back to the folks that keep us in business.
If you have an event you think we’d be a good fit for, get in touch! Contact us online, call us at one of our locations, or message us on Facebook! As much as we might like to, we can’t sponsor every cause… but we’re happy to help when we can. Talk to you soon!
