LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A group of high school and college-age students are getting valuable job training this summer through Louisville’s SummerWorks program.
They started on the ground, and before you know it, they were 30 feet in the air.
“Like this one can go all the way to the top and this one can go half-wayish,” 19-year-old Kennedy Tandy told Spectrum News 1 as she inspected two hydraulic lifts.
This summer Tandy is getting a feel for the finishing trades, “union painters” is another way to say it.
It’s one of the many SummerWorks career experiences offered. Tandy is a theatre major at Bellarmine, which has a close relationship to stagecraft and its corresponding unions.
“So my grandfather on my mom’s side was actually in the trades. He did painting for different schools and everything like that back in California. And my grandfather on my dad’s side he actually builds houses and does all this stuff, so I have it on both sides,” Tandy explained.
Tandy and her cohorts spent the morning getting to know two hydraulic lifts, one capable of stretching over 30 feet above ground. In the painter’s trade, a lift is as popular as a paintbrush.
“And we come here every single day and we just work in the trade and get familiarized with the different things we can use to then go onto an apprenticeship,” Tandy said.
The Painters Local Union number 118 in Louisville host this training. SummerWorks partners with businesses small and large, union and non for their work experiences.
“Today is one of the happiest days of my 25 years in the union to see such a program implemented because it gives them a chance,” Donald Ward said. Ward is the Local. No. 118 president, and he’s thrilled to have a young group of students interested in his craft.
Ward says SummerWorks gives participants a chance at knowing more about union careers, and their own potential. By the end of their course work, Tandy and her SummerWorks colleagues will be trained and certified to use these aerial lifts.
“I’ve been up in one when I was at Bellarmine. I had to hang some lights, but I’ve never done one as big as the ones were doing today,” Tandy explained. Consider this a preamble to all the things Tandy and her classmates achieve.
The SummerWorks program serves young adults between the ages 16 and 21 years old living in Jefferson County. The program also assists in the recruitment and hiring process for members ready for full-time employment.