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Success Stories

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Caleb Elliott

Caleb Elliott will graduate in May 2022 from Haralson County High School, where he was involved in the automotive technology pathway and the manufacturing pathway. Not only has Caleb gained valuable knowledge through CTAE courses, but he has successfully secured employment post-graduation at his work-based learning site, Southwire. Since 2007, the Carroll County School System and Southwire have partnered for the 12 to Life program, which combines classroom instruction with hand-on job training on-site. Caleb participated in 12 for Life until it was halted by COVID-19, when he was forced to turn to alternative training to continue building his manufacturing skills. He obtained a Certified Manufacturing Associate credential, completed OSHA 10 training, and enrolled in West Georgia Technical College to obtain a forklift certificate. Caleb plans to continue working for Southwire as part of their Safety Management Team while attending West Georgia Tech to obtain a maintenance degree. 

“The program has helped me prepare for future career success by allowing me to be fully employed and understand what is expected of me as an employee, but also by providing me opportunities to obtain additional certifications that will set me apart from others. I have obtained soft skills, manufacturing skills, and leadership skills that I had never imagined I would be able to acquire as a part of this program.”

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Courtney Moser

Courtney Moser started as a student in CTAE and is now working to educate the next generation of students through her welding courses. Courtney is a 2016 graduate of Grayson High School and took welding at Maxwell High School of Technology as a senior because it satisfied her required math credit. While she was not planning on welding as a career prior to this class, her passion grew throughout the course and led to her competing at Skills USA for welding sculptures. After designing a sculpture and working on it daily, Courtney placed first at the state competition and earned a full-tuition scholarship to Tulsa Welding School in Jacksonville, Florida. After working in the welding industry for two years, she was offered her current position, a high school welding teacher, at Thomson High School.

“I went from a senior in high school, not knowing what I wanted to do upon graduation, to having a full tuition scholarship to one of the best welding schools in the country. If it wasn’t for the amazing CTAE welding program at Maxwell High School, I would not be where I am today. It has helped me to mold the program I am currently teaching. I know what it takes to have a successful program because I came through one in high school.​​”

 

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Seth Peavy

Seth Peavy completed the agriculture pathway while attending Bleckley County High School, where he graduated in 2008. Seth was heavily involved in his school’s FFA program as a competitor and eventually became an officer for his local chapter. After high school, he attended the University of Georgia to study agricultural engineering, then obtained a master’s in systems engineering. The technical and leadership skills Seth acquired through his involvement in CTAE and FFA have been critical in his professional career as a product design engineer for John Deere. He credits his agricultural mechanics teacher, Mr. Jump, for sparking his interest in agricultural engineering, as those courses allowed him to problem solve and learn how machines operate. His interest in the field and dedication to the FFA organization led him to his dream job at John Deere, partially in thanks to the working professionals he was able to network with at the state FFA convention.

The CTAE curriculum did a fantastic job of providing the technical knowledge I needed for my professional career in the agriculture field. The team projects and competitions also enabled me to learn leadership skills in high school that easily transfer to the professional field today. My leadership skills learned through FFA in high school and college still impact the way I lead teams at Deere today.”

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Logan Times

Logan Times graduated from Whitewater High School in 2018 and has since used his CTAE and work-based learning experiences to further his career in health care. Logan was involved in the Health Science Career Cluster at his school, which led to him obtaining certificates as a phlebotomy technician and certified nursing assistant as a high school graduate. Currently, he is working as a registered nurse at Piedmont Fayette Hospital, working on the ICU floor during the height of the pandemic and beyond. Logan was able to hone his patient skills starting his junior year of high school while working rotations in nursing homes through dual enrollment as part of his coursework. His employment at Piedmont Fayette began right after high school, utilizing his certifications to be a patient care technician, and continued while he was working on his bachelor’s in nursing.

“The main takeaway that I got from CTAE was the ability to effectively communicate with patients. I do not feel nervous or anxious when I am talking to the patients; I feel I am able to communicate to the patient in a way that relaxes them and allows them to feel as though they can trust me