♪♪ Laura: Hello and welcome to Carolina classrooms.

I'm Laura Ybarra.

On this episode, we will explore workforce development programs in South Carolina.

John: Your match is on the line, you have match point, and you have to win it to send your team at stake.

There's a lot of pressure.

Having experiences with pressure and leadership from my C T E classes have helped me excel in tennis.

I've always had some sort of passion for business.

I like managing people, I love talking to people presenting things.

The C T E classes are different than regular classes, you get to do more hands on in real life experiences that connect yourself to the real world, every class that you take.

Supply chain management is getting a product or service the most cost effective, best, fastest way possible to the customer.

There's different products out there that have to meet demands.

If you mess up in your supply chain just barely that can affect so much.

You have to be focused on every task you do.

When the whole process works out really well.

It's extremely satisfying.

The Port of Charleston definitely inspired me and surprised me at the same time.

To make sure a port goes that smoothly takes a lot of guts and a lot of intelligence and it takes someone that can be able to manage all of that.

I have a lot of respect for everybody that works there.

My goal is to do something in business whether it's supply chain management, work at the port, be a port manager, and later on make foundation so that people can also find what they're really passionate about, and explore their career options.

Narration: Students can learn more about C T E programs on our website, on our social media platforms, or most importantly, asking your school counselor.

Laura: Manufacturing is a top industry in South Carolina with companies building and shipping cars, tools, tires and more.

The Southeastern Institute of Manufacturing and Technology at Florence Darlington Technical College train students to keep up with the demand for skilled workers.

Tressa: The S I M T opened in the fall of 2007.

And we were built to support industry education and economic development.

We have four business units that run out of this building as well as the gold business incubator which is next door and those four business units.

Are advanced machining, added to manufacturing, which is also known as 3d printing, the social media listing Center and the facility itself.

And our job is to make money to support the college and our students.

In addition, we house the college's two year Machine Tool Technology degree.

So anytime you hear somebody talk about skilled workers, machinist tool and die, that's the program they're referencing.

We also have industrial maintenance technology.

They learn about pretty much every kind of machine.

They're the ones that make the machines run in a facility in a manufacturing facility.

And then we have all of the two year engineering programs at the college which is Civil Engineering Technology, Mechanical Engineering Technology, and electronics engineering technology.

And we have a 96 or 98% placement rate for graduates of the programs that we house back here.

Heather: I'm a graduate of Florence Arlington Technical College.

I graduated in 2020.

With a degree in Mechanical Engineering Technology, mechanical engineers, we design things machine design, tooling design, there's even some structural things in there.

I'm now with Sonoco and I have been there for about a year and a half.

I'm a design engineer at Sonoco.

So we design prototype tooling.

We have two 3d printers as well.

So we also control documents, so machines, plant layouts, machine designs, parts, tooling, even customer specs, we control the drawings for it.

So I use 3d CAD software to design and manipulate parts for manufacturing.

By graduating from a degree program here at Tech, I was able to get placed with a job with a very competitive wage for for my age range and my experience level.

It's funny because Sonoco actually pairs better with what I learned here at Tech because they like my group.

We run to 3d printers.

So it pairs very well with what the S I M T building also offers.

So I use the 3d program that that I learned here in school and I also get to play around with all the things that I love to do in school I get paid to do now.

So it's I just I love my job.

Steven: I came to school here and 2006 2008 I I actually worked second shift at a manufacturing facility in Florence.

And I was able to go to school during the day and go to work at nighttime for two years, straight.

A lot of the industries around here, they have internship programs for the students, most of the time before the students are even out of school, they already have jobs.

I was in the Machine Tool Technology program.

Machine Tool Technology program teaches you how to do 2d drawings, 3d models, it also teaches you how to do different CNC programming, but they teach how to make tools and how to make products from tools fixturing and everything to for manufacturing ability.

Dexter: I went to Francis Marion to get my electrical engineering technology bachelor's degree.

But for me to finish it, I had a transfer here, my primary focus was just on the electrical engineering technology.

Because of how the program was set up, I went there for a majority of my courses transfered here tech to finish up with my own hands on learning with more of the electrical knowledge, getting hands on to build circuits, seeing how circuits work, hands on level.

The main thing I noticed is with the theory base, you basically learn how this is how it's supposed to work.

These are the formulas you're supposed to use, versus when you get hands on actually see it at work.

So now you can actually get a better understanding of the bases that you learned beforehand.

While I was here, I actually got an internship at Otis Elevator right down the road.

Because of how I only had a couple more semesters left, I ended up being there for almost a year.

And when I finished actually offered me a job there.

I've been there all there, I'll be 10 years next year, I've been at Otis, it's a learning opportunity.

There's a lot of growth there.

There's a lot of different challenges from day to day.

So getting exposed to a lot.

The education I received here prepared me for my current role by exposing me to a lot of the materials that we use, like multimeters, reading schematics, understanding different symbols, and trying to think outside the box with troubleshooting.

So we exposed the different circuits here and had to kind of figure out what was wrong and what we needed to do to fix it.

Which benefited me a lot in my current job right now.

It makes it easy to get the experience that you need moving forward, because I know that's like the hardest thing is getting experience on your belt because a lot of companies now I want for you to have a few years experience.

So it made it easier for me to get the experience I learn a lot at the same time.

Tressa: We educate students but then we also train workforce.

We have forklift programs.

Here, we have a program called manufacturing skills.

And it is a one week program at the end of which you have a forklift certification and OSHA 10 certificate and yellow belt in manufacturing.

And on Friday, we have manufacturers come in and hire you.

And so we'll have them come in interview and hire people who've just done this one week of training.

It's really important for the S I M T to exist in this region of South Carolina.

But for the state.

As I said we do 3d printing for additive manufacturing for lots of companies.

We've done work for BMW and and you know every size manufacturer we have very strong apprenticeship programs and internship programs for our students.

Really we're here to help grow everybody's workforce.

Laura: The S I M T resources can be used by corporations and the public for events, training and business needs.

For more information check their website.

Many of these products are carried to their destination and semi trucks operating these vehicles requires a commercial driver's license.

Orangeburg Calhoun Technical College offers a 16 week program to prepare new drivers for the journey.

Cynthia: They have 180 hours of training in order to get their license so they have to have 16 hours of driving time.

They have to have O B S time they have to have 50 hours of class time.

50 hours of yard time.

O B S is observing that's when one students observing another student driving and listening to the instructor as to the instructions.

I teach them how to shift.

I teach them how to drive in the city drive on the interstate.

We also teach them or I teach them how to back you know do their skills, how to do an inspection, which is the parts on the truck.

The most important skills is the backing.

Knowing where your trailers at all times.

The backing process is always the hardest.

Mariquetta: When backing 18 Wheeler, if I turn right, it makes my trailer pivot to go to the left you If I turn left, it makes my trailer pivot that go to the right.

The difference in between an 18 Wheeler and a car, we don't have that back mirror to say, well, I can look in that mirror, we have to use our side mirrors, because it helps us see the whole side of our trailer while we're backing.

Because we have a blind spot.

Lamont: The cost of the program is approximately around four to $4700.

Depending on weather you're in county or out of county.

We teach the basic, for is like our students and most truck driver schools.

At this early stage, a student is not really having any weight on the actual tractor, they can't have like dummy weight.

So we teach them the basics.

On a simulator we can simulate some things on the simulator with bad weather, you know, snow, things like that we don't do ice, but we can do snow and high winds and things like that, Cynthia: we use the simulator a good bit that helps them to learn the coordination of how to double clutch and shift thier gears before we put them in the truck.

The simulator is a very special part and very important part of our learning process.

Any student, the simulator helps we have a lot of them that do not even know how to drive a standard.

So the simulator kind of helps them prepare for what they're gonna be doing in trucks.

Lamont: Mainly, they're come here to get the basics.

And once they finish our program, we try to align them with a company that's actually going to finish their training.

All right, and from there, they'll learn how to drive in different situations, real time situations with a load dealing with customers.

And of course with that night driving, because night driving is no longer federally required.

But we do have night classes.

So they get that once they get their job with actual company.

Cynthia: They will be prepared for over the road driving, they will be prepared for in house driving, which is what we call state driving is intrastate, which means they cannot go across state line.

If they're 18, they had to be 21.

To go across state lines to ensure that over rode drivers has to be 21.

But they will be prepared for any driving job out there.

Laura: High school students at the Cope Career Center and the Dorchester Technology Center start with the basics behind the wheel.

Tyre: I go to Cope for my CDL Class and I just go there from eight to 11.

And we used to just drive and learn.

John: We started five years ago.

And it's just for high school students.

I don't teach anybody that has already been through school or, or this just my seniors that come they have to be 18 years old, have to be able to get their license or get their permit.

By the time they leave me in June.

So I give them all their classroom time is done with me they do 120 hours of what they call TDR 101, which is basically the basics of truck driving.

And then TDR 105, which is the regulations and demands that is going on right now that you know that has changed here just recently.

That's what they're getting with me and then leave me after 18 weeks and come straight to tech and finish up with their behind the wheel time.

I've got actually two students that are over here right now that actually have their CDL before they have their diploma.

Thomas: I want to go I wanted to drive trucks for the military, go to the military and drive trucks.

I want to experience the world.

So.

Tyreak: Because when I get older, I'm want to drive trucks.

I like driving just I like traveling .

Emeril: Truck driving, since I was a little boy, my daddy been driving truck so I like a passion for driving trucks.

So first time at Cope to get my permit, and then I transfer over here to get my license.

But then I plan on driving with him.

And then we go yeah, be like that.

John: They'll get out at 18 have CDL the downside I guess of it is that they will only be able to drive in the state of South Carolina until they turn 21.

But they're employable.

You know and with the trucking industry being where it is right now and the demand and the lack of drivers.

You know, we got companies that are waiting for them.

Lamont: It's what you make of it any job.

And I try to teach students that come in because I hear the same thing.

A lot of students want to get into truck driving because they hear stories about the money, but they don't hear the cons.

Okay?

It's a lot of money to make in the trucking industry, but you gotta sacrifice a lot of home time, family time, is a lot of things that you can sacrifice to make that money.

So I teII students to find a balance.

We have recruiters that come in, and they talk to students, and they might have something that a student like want to hear, you have to find that balance, if home time is important to me, I want to go with a company that's gonna provide home time for me, so I can be with my family.

If benefits is one of your main things, you know, I'm saying, so don't just come out and just want to chase the money because a new driver, in reality, you really don't start seeing the money till, you actually are no longer considered entry level driver.

So once a student leaves here, for another year, they're still considered an entry level driver.

So it's this time in and getting to know the industry and getting in getting into what's comfortable for you to be successful in this industry.

But I try to steer students away from making a lot of money, you know, in the industry, because if you come in industry, wanting that you find yourself burned out really quickly.

Cynthia: My much, my kids, what they say or students, I don't like calling them that because most of them are adults, even though they're 18.

They're young adults.

Everyone that I train, is my legacy.

So when I leave, my legacy the legacy is gonna move on, is gonna move on through them.

And I hope that they give them the same patience and help that I did with them and teach them to be safer drivers on the road, just safety, safety, safety, you know, because that's what it's all about.

It's not only being a driver, but it's being a safe driver that counts.

(truck noises and air horn) Laura: One of the first video game competitions took place at Stanford University in 1972, competitors played the game Space War, competing for the grand prize, a year subscription to Rolling Stone magazine.

Since then, video games have grown in popularity and become more sophisticated.

With more elaborate graphics and streaming options.

It's possible to compete with players around the world.

The E-sports program at Benedict College prepares students for the world of competitive gaming and other associated careers.

Cornell: E-sports is electronic sports, and it is a competition, competitive, organized competition among students in a particular game.

Elijah: It's just a competition between either one individual and another individual or a whole group of people versus another group of people.

Kenneth: This competitive gaming, it's gaming.

On a pro level scale, or amateur level scale, you just playing together you playing against organized teams from any of which where.

Mitch: E-Sports.

I mean, E-sports has always been a thing.

I think that people are just finally starting to realize that how entertaining it is especially like at events.

Just seeing it like firsthand, it's absolutely entertained just as entertainer... entertaining is watching a sporting event.

And some people may find that hard to believe but someone that plays sports, I can truly attest to it.

And then I think that COVID was like something that may have sparked under like E-sports because everybody was inside.

So the only entertainment they got was online and on the internet.

Douglas: We talked about traditional sports is now you know, probably the ESPN, which is the biggest engine of you know, broadcasting sports and athletics, they now have a segment for it.

They sponsor it some of these terms are rented and played at big stadiums, you know, people pack them out to come and watch people play.

There're kids who you know who game and are on YouTube and have a social media presence who you know, make vast amount of money because it's you know, they're so talented at playing the game and there's there's a large group that wants to you know, kind of follow in their footsteps.

Student: I've actually played in a mountain dew real change challenge tournament and that's the one ago.

It was a $500,000 tournament.

And it was the first time I was representing the school so that was a pretty big thing for me.

The experience was, it was wonderful.

It was an amazing experience.

Jeremiah: We just got back from a tournament in Atlanta playing Call of Duty.

That's why we're in the Highlanders.

Hoodie.

So yeah, I came back from there.

And it was a fun experience overall in Atlanta, being able to play with my teammates, all of them did the best they could.

And you know, I'm happy about their performance.

I mean, even though we ended up losing, I mean, it was still a great experience and be able to make those connections were amazing.

It helps us out just because it gets our name out there.

Because even if we don't take home the win, it's still showing people that we at least made it that far, the fact that we made it to regionals.

And the fact that we made it through at land tournament, it's definitely a big it's a big deal.

And to be able to, you know, make it that far, and to show people that we have the resilience to at least not be one of those teams that could not get knocked out the first round.

It's definitely just showing people how serious we are about playing.

You know, it's just, you know, it gets our name out there, and people get to see that, or we get to at least put our school on the map and show them that, you know, we're here to play.

Caleb: Recently, I've once I've gone to the ballerina tournament in Atlanta, our group went drove down there had a great time.

I also went to a NASCAR event, which was a first for me, I had never seen a NASCAR race live.

And that was It was loud.

It was fun.

There was a tournament in a game called Rocket League.

And so before the game before the race started, we were outside the stadium, playing the game with a bunch of different other colleges.

And I got to meet them got to meet the people who were in charge, and I got to play and then we went to the event.

Elijah: But if E-sports is not just about gaming, there's so much more, there's so much more into it.

Mitch: There's so many opportunities and jobs out there in the E-sports field.

And the fact that they were able to make it like a major and a minor here is huge.

Dr. Paula: Well, it all started from our president, Dr. Roslyn Clark Artis, and we were in a faculty meeting one day, and COVID had hit, of course, the world.

And she has stated to all of us, she said, You know what, we're going to have to have sports, even if it's just E-sports that have been following E-sports for a couple of years.

So I made another call to her office and said, okay, all right, I keep hearing the word E-sports.

What can I do to be a part?

So she connected myself with our athletic director, and myself and Coach Washington, we began to come up with the plan to be able to start E-sports on the campus.

And we had to educate people about E-sports and the career opportunities and things that our students could actually do with E-sports.

Now a lot of people, they they think, well, you just playing games is more than just playing games, we have a lot of students, they work here in the game room.

And they're not gamers, but they know how to operate the game room.

They know how to act as our IT specialists, they know how to host the tournaments.

So it's just more than I'm just sitting here playing video games.

Sinia: My major is sports management.

My minor is psychology.

So what I do is I intern with Dr. Shelby and what we do together and as a whole, when I'm with her, we kind of maneuver through the eSports room and just double checks with the game unit.

And when that comes into here, that just wants to play E-sports.

Kylah: I'm a studio art major with a minor in history.

And right now I'm taking a digital art class.

And I basically make any kind of piece of paper that the E-sports team needs whether Dr. Shelby needs a contract drawn up and designed on our letterhead, or if she just needs a new design for whatever tournaments we might be in.

Kenneth: There's actually a lot of different pathways and careers that go into E-sports.

Douglas: And we talk about it all the time in class not and not just in our esports classes, we talk about it and as far as traditional sports management courses as well.

And then there are places for artists, musicians, writers, editors, in their positions for technicians.

You know, for producers, I mean, it could possibly be endless, Cornell: Because you could be a coach, you can be an administrator, you could do marketing, you could do broadcasting, you could do lights, it is really limitless.

Everything that you think about in terms of physical sports, there is an avenue for E-sports.

Jeremiah: My major is E-sports administration and management and my A-plan for the future is hopefully to go pro and Call of Duty just because that's the game that I am currently playing right now.

And it's again that I have a passion for so definitely, that's my plan.

My backup is trying to make it on an Esports company or trying to make it into some sort of area of E-sports either in like game development or even just working with advertisement with gaming just in general.

Caleb: Right now that since there's so many opportunities in the sports industry, I'm still looking like broadening my horizon and asking people around because So many jobs that I just didn't know that existed.

So I'm, I'm still looking out for that specific job that I like.

Elijah: I want to have my own organization connected with the low income community in schools, I want to give kids that, you know, grew up like me, you know, in South Central LA, you know, didn't have much at times, you know, give them an opportunity to experience the same thing I did with, you know, when it comes to this room and whatnot, you know, I want to just show him that you don't just need to play those typical or traditional physical sports, you know, you can play games, which, you know, so many kids in my area, love to do, and they can get good at it.

But if you're not good at games, there's a plethora of things that it's going to the E-sports industry is always growing.

There's always a job for you in the E-sports industry.

Kenneth: So I learned teamwork, leadership, cohesion, you knows, it improves, it helps me learn that there's a lot of diversity within us.

So you know, it helps me learn to how to work together and you know, critical thinking problem solving all of the above really.

Caleb: There's a load not just about playing games, but team managing.

So that's that's another thing.

I do event coordinating, talking to other schools, colleges.

You really gain confidence and just little skills you never knew you could get or gain.

And it's it's been a game changer.

Laura: Thanks for joining us.

Join us for our next episode: (Captioned by: SECTV) ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪