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A "forklift rodeo" may sound like another offbeat spectator sport,
but there's a serious mission behind Wednesday's event at Woodrow Wilson Rehabilitation
Center (WWRC) in Fishersville. It's all about showcasing job skills.
NBC's 20 Ken Slack live with the details on that.
Hi Ken.
Well Hi there Sharon.
Woodrow Wilson
welcomes people from all over Virginia overcoming a disability caused
by accident or illness. The center's mission is to help
them build independence. Rehabilitation and adaptive technology help three-quarters of
their clients
return to the workforce.
Running an industrial forklift for hours on end
sounds like the dream job for Nick Allen.
"I wanted to stay out here and practice the whole entire day,
nonstop.
I really enjoy driving forklifts," said Allen.
Allen is among six competitors at the Wilson Rehab
Center's
Forklift Rodeo.
The orange and lemon teams put their skills to the test in a relay race. They move
pallets of product,
maneuver around cones and even drive backward to simulate a day in the workplace.
"We work with business and industry to find out
what they need to see on the job, and we bring that to the classroom. So we're
teaching
exactly what they need in order to go out and get an entry-level job as a forklift
operator," said Rick Sizemore, WWRC director. The forklift program gives the students
nine weeks of training,
so they are ready to be certified as soon as they graduate.
For Thurston Hickman of Front Royal, that's just a few weeks away.
"When I go home
sometime in May, I'm going to get a job. That's what I'm hoping for. My main goal is getting a job
and supporting myself."
WWRC had just one forklift - and a waiting list for clients wanting to train with it,
so Dominion Virginia Power donated a second one and believes that could make
a statewide impact.
"In training them on the skills and getting them OSHA-certified,then they're ready to go be employed
and get a skill. Then if they go back home anywhere in the Commonwealth of Virginia, they have
on their resume to be permanently employed," said Dominion Virginia Power representative Emmett Toms.
Dominion Virginia Power representative Emmett Toms. Toms also serves on the Woodrow Wilson Foundation.
He tells us forklift drivers are always in demand,
partly because of the sheer number of distribution centers in
the Shenandoah Valley and central Virginia.
It's amazing the kind of work that they do at that rehab center there.
Ken Slack live in our Augusta County newsroom. Good Night Ken. Thank you.