Illinois Automotive Program Provides Students with ‘Tools of the Trade’ Grant
A grant at Carl Sandburg College of Galesburg, Illinois, is providing students of its automotive technology program with the tools they need to succeed, reports Sunny 97.7 WMOI.
The college’s Tools of the Trade grant is currently in its second year, and is made possible by the Carl Sandburg College Foundation and the Edward Arthur Mellinger Educational Foundation.
It provides students in the program with a new tool cart, complete with all sorts of tools including standard and metric sockets and wrenches, an air impact wrench, a dead-blow hammer, a ball-peen hammer, screwdrivers, torx bits, hex bits, Allen wrenches, a multimeter, a test light, and more.
“It was like Christmas when we opened them up,” said Draven Leady, who graduated from the program in May. “I thought they were going to be hand-me-downs or something people threw in there, but they were brand new.”
Students who receive the tools and complete the program will keep the tools after graduation to prepare them for future career endeavors.
Eric Johnson, chief advancement officer for the Sandburg Foundation, said that the grant has already enabled many–who otherwise wouldn’t have–to enroll in and graduate from their automotive program.
“At the end of this last year, we had students telling us they may not have come to Sandburg or taken part in our automotive program if it wasn’t for the Tools of the Trade grant,” told Johnson. “This grant—just like all of the other grants and scholarships we have to support Sandburg students—is an investment in the success of students on our campus and people in our area.”
