WYTHEVILLE – This marks the first week back to work for more than a dozen students enrolled in Wytheville Community College's power line program.
This is a story WSLS10 first told you about back in May, when we caught up with the students for an early morning class. They climbed power poles on the college's campus and trained on how to replace the power lines in the dark.
Now, class is over and the first group of students to take part in the program graduated on Friday. With their new certifications, power companies and other businesses across the region have been reaching out to the recent grads.
"They feel like they're wanted again," says course instructor, Mike Morrison. "Companies are asking about them, wanting them to come work for them. It's great to know that you're wanted again after some company told you they don't need you anymore."
The first graduating class has students ranging from 20 to their mid-50s. At just 14 weeks long, the program is a relatively quick way for these workers to get trained for the highly-skilled positions.