Thanks to the generosity of The Gene Haas Foundation, the Pre-Engineering program at Eastland Career Center will be able to outfit students with basic tooling needs next fall. A $20,000 scholarship was awarded to the program and will be used to benefit students in the classes of 2022, 2023, and 2024.
The Gene Haas Foundation was established in 1999, by Gene Haas, founder and owner of Haas Automation, Inc., to support the needs of the local community. Seeing a growing need for skilled manufacturing employees industry-wide, the Gene Haas Foundation expanded its mission to include support for manufacturing training programs throughout North America and beyond.
Program instructor, Mr. Ken Miller, said that the scholarship provided by the foundation is meant to support students interested in a manufacturing-based career and must be used toward individual students, not the program itself. With the gift that the program has received, each of the 52 Pre-Engineering students will receive two pieces of standing measuring equipment and a machinist reference book, which Miller states are useful for anyone getting started in a manufacturing and engineering career path.
“It is a great opportunity for our kids to get something that they use every day but now they have something they are responsible and accountable for,” said Miller. “Those tools can last a lifetime.”
Mr. Miller said that these tools and books will be provided to incoming juniors and returning seniors of the program next fall and that any student that completes the Pre-Engineering program is welcome to keep these items.
Students from the Class of 2022 may benefit, as well. Mr. Miller said that all remaining funds will be repacked in smaller scholarships and that any Eastland-Fairfield Pre-Engineering graduate that attends college and completes their first semester of school with a 3.25 grade-point average or better may apply for a scholarship to be used toward their schooling. Mr. Miller said that 21 of his graduating seniors may be eligible for this opportunity.
This is the first time the Pre-Engineering program has received a scholarship opportunity from The Gene Haas Foundation, but with the impact that it will make on its students, Mr. Miller says it is the perfect motivation for students to keep working hard and earn opportunities like this in the future.
For more information about Eastland-Fairfield Career & Technical Schools and the Pre-Engineering program at Eastland Career Center, please visit EastlandFairfield.com.