Headwaters, RCHS support vocational opportunities
Two grads ‘love’ new jobs
In the midst of a pandemic that has shrunk the job market overnight and left much of the workforce unemployed, two Rappahannock High School graduates are forging lucrative new careers in construction.
After finishing at RCHS in June of this year, 18-year-olds Logan Butler and Richard Jenkins enrolled in a Heavy Equipment Operator (HEO) class at Lord Fairfax Community College right away. Then, as soon as the class ended in August, both young men were offered full-time positions with S.W. Rodgers, a development contracting company based in Northern Virginia.
“I love it,” said Jenkins, who spoke with the Rappahannock News by phone on his way home from a job site in Warrenton. Though Jenkins said he mowed lawns and worked odd jobs in high school, he said his first “real job” working for S.W. Rodgers “beats that by a long shot.”
Butler enjoys the work, too. “I’ve been running equipment for a long time because that’s what my dad does,” Butler said. As early as 10, Butler was helping his dad; now he runs an excavator at a site in Haymarket.
The young men found out about the HEO class at Lord Fairfax from RCHS School Counselor Dani Pond and College Counselor Lisa Heiser, who had been in contact with LFCC Workforce Solutions and Economic Development Director Donna Comer.
Workforce Solutions, the continuing education department at LFCC which specializes in workplace skills, is committed to helping trades-minded students pursue successful careers. Workforce Solutions paired with the Heavy Construction Contractors Association of Northern Virginia in 2017 to offer programs like the HEO class Butler and Jenkins took.
Comer, who happens to be a Rappahannock resident and member of the Headwaters Board, said that “within 24 hours, Dani and Lisa had identified two students who were perfect for the program.”
“We are small enough [at RCHS] that we can form relationships with our students and really get to know their strengths and their weaknesses,” Pond said.
“We work with them from eighth grade all the way until they graduate high school, so it’s very easy to learn their potential. … The reason why those boys [Butler and Jenkins] stood out to us is because they have a strong work ethic. We knew that they were hungry for a vocational path, they just weren’t sure what that path looked like.”
Jenkins recalls sitting down with Pond and Heiser and looking at the course options at LFCC. “I thought it looked interesting so I learned more about it,” he said. At the time, he was considering becoming a mechanic, “but this interested [him] more.”
Heiser then helped the young men apply for money from the Virginia Commonwealth’s FastForward program, which subsidizes students who want to pursue in-demand trade skills.
“They don’t have enough workers for the jobs that are out there right now, so the state of Virginia pays two thirds of the tuition for the training. … and then above and beyond that, Headwaters then contributed significantly to help pay their final third so I think the boys were each out of pocket $116 for a program that would normally be $2700 or $2800,” Heiser said.
The Headwaters Foundation, the local nonprofit that strives to support students’ educational goals, has been searching for innovative ways to help RCHS seniors transition to life after high school. “For years we’ve been wondering how we can support students who want to pursue non-traditional four-year degrees or two-year degrees in