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DREXEL HEIDEL: The state of Tennessee
has over 400 water and sewer utilities.
There's a lot of small utilities as far as water purveyors.
In our industry, just nationwide and locally, we're
experiencing a worker shortage.
CRISTINA CARBAJO: The state of Tennessee
has four levels of certifications for drinking
water and wastewater treatment operators,
and the exams are very difficult to pass.
DREXEL HEIDEL: Combined with the people that were retiring,
we were seeing low test scores.
The pass rate for the operators was right around 30%.
This test is very thorough, very rigorous.
You're talking about water quality.
You're talking about protecting receiving streams.
So the professionals-- you need to be
really talented and knowledgeable
in their industry.
CRISTINA CARBAJO: Industry actually
came to our community college and asked
us to create a new program to help
train qualified individuals.
CRISTINA CARBAJO: Recently, we're
able to purchase some jar testers with our ATE money.
DREXEL HEIDEL: Oh, great.
And so I'd like to use that--
KANE BARKER: And so the vision
was to craft this wonderfully interdisciplinary degree
program to try to cover technical skills, math,
chemistry, microbiology theory.
And all of that leads up to being
able to pass state certification exams.
KANE BARKER: Do you have any ideas
that we could write together as a partner
to see what we could add to the program in terms of technology
and equipment?
KANE BARKER: With the ATE grant,
we were able to develop curriculum and teaching
resources and then get approved as a totally new program.
NICHOLAS GALLOWAY: We had a family business
that was open for 38 years.
We grew nursery stock for a commercial nursery
that my dad ran.
So we would line up trees and set up irrigation.
And then once a year, we'd harvest them.
And then we would sell them to ourselves
at the commercial nursery.
We were all heartbroken when we found out my dad had cancer.
And then literally in the same month,
we found out the business was going
to have to shut down because the land was getting sold.
When the nursery shut down, I had
about a month worth of salary built up,
and I needed to find a career.
I found out about this program and enrolled in the school.
CRISTINA CARBAJO: Nick was in my first cohort of students that
started in the fall of 2019.
And he's an example of someone that
came in knowing nothing about the industry
and really achieving the highest level of success
that one of my students could achieve.
ATE funding has provided a lot of opportunities
for our students that they might not see elsewhere,
even if they are already employed in the industry.
We have been fortunate enough to purchase equipment
that has allowed students to see the newest technology available
for lab testing and for computer software and modeling,
so before students get out into the workforce and graduate,
they can simulate some emergency scenarios
on how they might react as an operator.
What would they do?
What would they change?
This allows them to experience that and prepare for that
before they get into the real situation.
NICHOLAS GALLOWAY: You would read a concept
in a book, and then you
were invited to go out in the field
and see in real life what was taking place.
CRISTINA CARBAJO: Every course
that the students take in the Water Quality Technology
Program includes site visits.
They'll spend time with certified operators,
and they'll get to do some hands-on learning experiences
while they're there.
DREXEL HEIDEL: We've hired four people
from the program, and they're all doing a great job.
They come to the plant.
They have the technical knowledge
to know how things work and laboratory procedures
and safety procedures.
And it really gives them just really a big leg up.
Without the grant, we would not have this program.
NICHOLAS GALLOWAY: As you come down through here,
you're inspecting with your eyes.
You're looking for foaming, which is a sign of bacteria
that you do not want in the plant.
CRISTINA CARBAJO: Nick received full-time employment
before graduation.
He passed his state certification exam
before graduation.
He has already been promoted internally
within his organization, and he's really
set up to take on leadership roles in the future.
NICHOLAS GALLOWAY: That was
one thing when I started the program,
I also want to be a role model for my kids
and kind of show them you can do anything
if you put your mind to it.
So when he got--
right before he got cancer, my father
called me into the office.
And he's like, hey, if this place isn't here,
do you have something that you can do to support yourself?
I think it was kind of his way of, like, hey, man,
you're going to have to do this, because I'm-- the whole thing
is going to come out from underneath you.
So I think he'd be really proud of me.
NICHOLAS GALLOWAY: I work 15 miles from my house,
so the water that I treat every night
can affect everybody from here all the way to Memphis
and ultimately all the way to the ocean.
This funding is providing training for future generations
to make sure that the precious resource of water
is protected for years to come.
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