It was another exciting week with our Sherwin Williams Instructor Team of Ron Baumberger & Bill Allman. Our students worked alongside these Sherwin Williams Retirees, and utilized their years of experience, to knock out painting the majority of the RFK Dormitory in about 6 days. The time and effort that was put into the prep work paid off in the final product; a dorm that was refreshed and revived be a fresh coat of paint. If you recall from last week, Sherwin Williams has a clientele of contractors and painting company’s that look for individuals with good work ethic and can paint at a high standard, but they struggle to find good staff. Sherwin Williams teamed up with Atterbury Job Corps to create that workforce. They supplied the training and experience, and we supplied the trainees. It was a great enhancement and connection to employers for our already skilled Union Pre-Apprentice Painting program, and provided another certification to our Carpentry and HBI Facility Maintenance students. After the RFK paint job was complete, it was back to the class room to review the work, and to prepare to meet the painting Contractors that would soon interview them, to learn about their companies, and work on job interview skills! The next day the Contractors came back to center, but this time with the specific purpose to interview the “Pro Painter” graduates. Our students reviewed their resume, thought about their answers, then took a deep breath and went into the Human Resources interview room to hopefully score themselves a employment opportunity. So in two weeks, (3 classroom days and 7 hands on painting days in the RFK Dorm), twenty of our Atterbury students from three trades, Carpentry, Painting, and HBI Facility Maintenance, learned about Sherwin Williams painting standards, products, heard testimonials from retiree Sherwin Williams employees, Painting Contractors, did several hands on demonstrations with various products and materials, used stains, had some classroom book work, then finally had face-to-face interviews with local painting contractors! These twenty students are now Sherwin Williams Certified “Pro Painters”. They will be entered in the Sherwin Williams network, and even if they don’t want to be painters right now, they can seek a job in the paining industry in the future, and have a certification to prove their skill. We anxiously await to find out who will be hired, and can’t thank enough, our ABC Partner, Gretchen Meitzler for making the connection, for the Sherwin Williams instructors Ron Baumberger & Bill Allman., and staff, Andrea Cunin, Kevin Downey , Matthew Meriwether, Jeremy Fow , Amy Greiner, Francesca Ionta, and the Paining Contractors who gave our students a job opportunity; Brian from ShepCo, and Larry and Sean from InLine Painting. This Pilot program has taken off and we are excited to be a part of it, and for the opportunity it can provide to creating a successful career path for our students.