JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – Bigger Johnstown Significant College senior Cheyenne Penrod signed a entire-time work agreement with Thomas Automotive on Tuesday as the first region student to be awarded a scholarship via a method the company launched this year.
Penrod has labored for Thomas aspect-time as an automotive technician by way of her vocational co-op. Obtaining out she’d be supplied a complete-time job right after high college was thrilling for her.
“I was super-fired up,” she claimed. “I couldn’t hold out.”
The scholarship features a one particular-12 months apprenticeship at the organization that she has fulfilled by now, $1,000 in funds, $2,500 worth of tools and certain work.
There ended up four awards handed out in the Thomas marketplaces of Johnstown, Bedford and Cumberland, Maryland.
“It came out of the need to have for assistance experts,” Thomas Automotive expertise means Supervisor Keith Kuckenbrod reported of the software.
Kuckenbrod stated there are not quite a few people today pursuing the vocation, which is why the enterprise additional the incentive.
Penrod enrolled in the Bigger Johnstown University District automotive technological know-how vocational system her freshman 12 months and has worked diligently at any time due to the fact.
She credits her father, Kenny Penrod, and her uncle for her state-of-the-art skill in the trade. She reported she spent a ton of time in the garage with them expanding up, learning anything she could.
That, coupled with her curiosity in how mechanics perform, led her to the automotive tech system, exactly where instructor Thomas Mattis explained he could notify she was an adept learner and a good candidate for a co-op posture.
Cheyenne Penrod moved up through the software and sought out the Thomas position.
Mattis commended her mastery of the content and said she received the best rating on the NOCTI (National Occupational Competency Screening Institute) test that he’s viewed in his 16 decades at the school.
He joked that the “worst issue you can notify her is, ‘I really don’t assume you can do that,’ ” simply because Penrod then tends to make it her mission to complete the activity.
“She’s arrive a prolonged way,” Kenny Penrod stated, adding that she continues to impress him.
Cheyenne Penrod’s mom, Darlene Penrod, included that she imagined mechanics was a interest and did not count on her daughter to convert it into a job.
“I’m very happy of every thing she’s achieved,” Darlene Penrod mentioned.
Michael Dadey, large school principal, was thrilled about the achievement as very well. As the school’s principal and vocational director, he’s happy of Cheyenne Penrod’s achievements.
“This is a terrific chance, not only for Cheyenne, but for Thomas and our pupils,” Dadey claimed.
Joshua Byers is a reporter for The Tribune-Democrat. He can be achieved at 814-532-5054. Follow him on Twitter @Journo_Josh.
