Crockett Schools Unveil New Forklift to Prepare Students for Real-World Jobs
By Greg Ritchie
Messenger Reporter
CROCKETT – Crockett Independent School District (CISD) unveiled its recently-acquired forklift at a ceremony held Thursday, Oct. 12 with attendees from the City of Crockett, Texas Workforce Solutions (TWS) and A&A Texas Capital, the new manufacturing facility soon to open in Crockett.
The 5,000 pound capacity Toyota forklift was the product of a recent CISD school board meeting and was made possible through assistance from both the city and TWS. CISD Superintendent John Emerich said some people had questioned the need for the school to acquire the forklift and allow students to become qualified forklift operators.
“We had a couple of people say, ‘Forklift, why would you need a forklift? There’s no need for forklifts in a place like Crockett.’ And the very next day, I was on the square and from the square back here, I passed six forklifts. Six forklifts just from the square to here!” Emerich said. “There are forklifts everywhere in this community and the fact that a student will be able to learn how to drive a forklift from here and walk away with that certification is going to make them employable right away.”
The forklift will also be used in the sheet metal working area to help the students lift some of the materials, apart from being used just for certification and training purposes. Many schools have recognized some students do not need to spend the money and time to attend a four-year university, when there are good paying jobs looking for qualified applicants in many fields which value real-world experience over a college degree.
The money for the forklift was part of the “High Demand Job Training” grant which helped provide not only the forklift, but funds for other programs the district can use get students certified and qualified for other important jobs.
Emerich spoke about the different programs now implemented at the district, including a phlebotomy program, all designed with the students’ future career prospects in mind. The idea is to get 50 students each year certified to operate the forklift in a partnership with Angelina College.
Crockett Mayor Dr. Ianthia Fisher noted she worked at CISD many years ago and although the city has the same population now as then, when the people and the resources work together, great things can be accomplished.
“I can’t tell you how important it is that people work together. Because really, at the end of the day, we change lives. And because we change lives, we change communities. Because we change communities, we change regions and we change the world,” Fisher said. “We’re making a full commitment – this is not the first step. This is one of many steps that will be taken as a collaborative effort to make sure our children are able to go into the future.”
Emerich spoke about how important the collaboration between city and school is to the greater community.
“Just last week, I had someone, ‘Why would you work with the city?’ Like that was a bad thing,” Emerich said. I really didn’t know what to say. Why wouldn’t we want to work with the city? The school district is the largest employer and I realize as the school district goes, so goes this community. We we work with the city all the time trying to do things and fortunately, most of the time, things that benefit the school district also benefit the city. There doesn’t need to be a conflict and I think this is a perfect example of it.”
Bryan Daniel, TWC Chairman and Commissioner for the Public, said the $30,000 contributed towards this project was a lot of money but a good investment for the state.
“This is an opportunity for us to help cities unlock their training dollars with a little bit of money from the state. Our board in Deep East Texas can come in, make an investment in a school and immediately start seeing some returns,” Daniel said. “The rest of the state has a wrong view of East Texas. We view it as kind of catching up; a place that’s trying to figure some things out. Really, that’s not happening. I’m seeing incredible economic growth through this particular part of East Texas. We are seeing absolutely phenomenal economic growth. None of that happens by accident. It doesn’t happen without your schools and without your community.”
The executives on hand from the new manufacturing facility in Crockett were also impressed with the project, telling The Messenger this is great news for them, knowing they will have an ever-expanding base of skilled, certified potential employees from which to draw.
Greg Ritchie can be reached at [email protected]
