Crown Equipment taps four students for new pre-apprenticeship program
Coleman Baker, a senior at Kinston High School, tries on a Crown cap after being informed that he was one of four LCPS students chosen for the new pre-apprenticeship program with Crown Equipment’s Kinston plant. From left are Rob Burgin and Ricky Jones of Crown; Todd Frideger, Kinston plant manager; Rose Mary Jones, the facility’s human resources manager; and Amy Jones, LCPS director of high school education and CTE. Submitted photo.
The future looks clear and bright for four high school seniors selected as the first students to participate in a first-ever pre-apprenticeship program in Lenoir County, a partnership between Crown Equipment’s Kinston plant and LCPS that creates a career pathway for students ready to go to work after graduation.
Surprised at their schools Thursday by a Crown Equipment team led by plant manager Todd Frideger, with LCPS administrators and TV and print reporters in tow, seniors Coleman Baker of Kinston High School, Trevor Davis of South Lenoir High School and Christopher “Shane” Baron and Ra’Shi Lynch of North Lenoir High School got the word they’ll start work as pre-apprentices with Crown in January.
Trevor Davis of South Lenoir High is congratulated on his selection to the Crown Equipment pre-apprenticeship program by Rose Mary Jones, human resources manager at Crown’s Kinston plant, and plant manager Todd Frideger.. Submitted photo.
And that is, literally, only the beginning.
As pre-apprentices, the students will work three or four hours a day, be paid a wage considerably above minimum, continue high school classes and move into coursework at Lenoir Community College through LCPS’s Career and College Promise program. The education is free and the pre-apprentices will earn class credits for working at Crown. They’ll have summer jobs at Crown and move into the apprentice program, when they can continue their education at LCC without cost.
“This is a game changer for students,” said Amy Jones, LCPS’s director of high school education and CTE, who worked with the Crown team for about a year to shape the partnership. “They have the chance to try on several careers at Crown Equipment and find out what sticks. By participating in this program, they are fast tracking their career decisions and trajectory. Students needed to show a willingness to engage in the work and, according to Crown, that shone through in the student interviews.”
The process that reached a milestone Thursday began when students, encouraged by their school counselors and CTE administrators like Jessica Shimer, the district’s career development coordinator, attended an introductory meeting at the Crown facility and toured the plant in October. From that group, Crown selected the students who would proceed to interviews.
“I went and tried my best and I think it paid off in the end,” Coleman Baker, the Kinston High selectee, said. “I’m really glad I have this opportunity.”
Crown sees the pre-apprenticeship experience as exploration, according to Rose Mary Jones, the Kinston facility’s human resources manager and a member of the team that structured the program.
Todd Frideger, manager of Crown Equipment’s Kinston plant, applauds after presenting North Lenoir High seniors Ra’Shi Lynch, left, and Christopher “Shane” Baron with certificates recognizing them as two of the four LCPS students chosen for Crown’s new pre-apprenticeship program. Submitted photo.
“We’re going to introduce them to all the aspects of manufacturing while they’re there,” she said. “Some might think they want to go into maintenance but after shadowing that they’ll say I’d rather be a machinist or something of that nature. We’re going to rotate them into various opportunities in the company.”
Crown Equipment Corp. is the fourth largest electric lift truck company in the world with nearly 17,000 employees, 19 manufacturing facilities and sales and service centers worldwide. Crown Kinston, established in 1987, manufactures eight unique industrial electric lift trucks and employs 375 workers.
All four young men have been taken classes that touched on skills useful in the modern manufacturing process as students in the district’s CTE (Career and Technical Education) program – engineering and computer technology for Coleman and ag mechanics for the South Lenoir and North Lenoir selectees, classes that teach a range of skills from welding to carpentry to masonry.
“I’m very interested in welding but actually all of it looked really nice, very organized and clean,” South Lenoir’s Trevor Davis said, remembering his tour of the Crown plant, “so this should be a good opportunity for me.”
Ra’Shi Lynch, of North Lenoir, said it felt prepared for the pre-apprenticeship. “After taking ag mechanics, I’m excited about actually doing some of the things that I learned. I feel excited going into the program.”
His classmate, Christopher Baron, got his first look at Crown during a CTE job shadowing experience before the pre-apprenticeship program was born. “As soon as I saw what they were doing there I thought maybe I should try this out,” he said. “Then I got a chance to interview. I made sure my grades were good and my attendance was good, so I could get into this and say I did something.”
The students have done something and so have the partners in the program, according to its architects.
“It is very rewarding to see how a year’s worth of preparation and working with an incredible industry partner in Crown and our Lenoir Community College partnership has brought this vision to fruition,” said LCPS’s Jones. “We hope that this can be replicated with other business and industry partners in our community as well.”
Crown’s Frideger agreed. “It’s a big deal. It’s a huge opportunity,” the plant manager said. “And I think we’re going to make a difference in the community and I’m really looking forward to hopefully influencing other companies in this community to jump on board and maybe someday instead of four scholarships it’s 100.”
