A message from Justin MacDougall, Coordinator, Apprenticeship Programs:
The 2011 Apprenticeship Graduation hosted by the Builders Association of North Central Florida and Santa Fe College was a great success. The graduation took place recently in the new Fine Arts Hall. (Click the photo for a larger view.)
The 2011 class consisted of electrical, heating and air conditioning, plumbing and carpentry apprentices. As apprentices, these students have spent the past four years taking classes two nights a week while also working full-time (and more!) in the trade that they are studying in. This is a great accomplishment for these students and we are all very proud of them. These students will move on to further education, and move up the ladder in their career as journeyman and masters of their field, and they will also become an asset to not only the company they work for, but to all of us who like running water, homes that are air conditioned, and lights.
It takes a lot of people to make this program successful. From the generosity of Nancy Perry in the funding of our wonderful Charles R. Perry Construction Institute to the hard work our instructors put in every night, to the Master trades committee that oversees and makes sure the program has what it needs, to the contractors who employee our students and help motivate them along the way, to the speakers who share their experiences with the apprenticeship students in an effort to motivate them to do great things in their field, and to the staff at Santa Fe College.
Construction and Technical Programs Director Jane Parkin stated that we would especially like to thank this group of graduates and all the contractors who employ them as they gave back to the community of Gainesville by contributing countless hours and materials to the Habitat house that Santa Fe College built this year.
Special thanks to Ed Bonahue for conferring the certificates at the Apprenticeship graduation and to our new Fine Arts Hall manager Bob Fetterman for being a wonderful host. Thanks to Piesanos for the great food, and to Graybar for donating wonderful gifts to all the apprentices.
To find out more about Santa Fe’s Apprenticeship program please contact Justin MacDougall at 395-5251 or justin.a.macdougall@sfcollege.edu.