TENNILLE, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – The demand for skilled labor in Middle Georgia and across the state continues to grow. That’s why for the past two years, Washington County High School’s Heavy Equipment Operator (HEO) program has been preparing students to enter the workforce straight out of high school.

Jon Walraven, the HEO teacher at Washington County High, says practicing on video game-like Cat Simulators throughout the year helps students for their capstone exam, which involved operating the real machinery on Tuesday.

“They go through different modules,” Walraven said. “Loading trucks, doing trenching, different activities they would do in an excavator.” 

Students that pass their exams earn excavator operator certificates while being evaluated by employers like GDOT, Pittman Construction, Reeves Construction, Yancey Brothers and Howard Sheppard; companies that, if impressed, will hire on the spot.

“They can market themselves and be employed with the skills that they learned from high school,” Walraven said. 

Caleb Lord, the District Manager of GDOT’s District 2 facility in Tennille, says GDOT makes in-class visits to the students and invites them to the district office throughout the year.

“I mean, they are the future,” Lord said. “Without them, what happens, right? That’s the approach I take. And I really just want to invest back into the youth.” 

Lord says he’d love for the students to follow in his footsteps at GDOT but is happy to see the skills they learn in the program help them find success wherever they end up.

“If I see you out there on the road with a contractor, whether it be Reeves Construction, Pittman Construction, or even in a mine with Howard Sheppard, I feel good,” Lord said. “It makes me feel good to know I had a hand in it. And I know that they are supposed to know what they’re doing.” 

Walraven says more of his students are interested in going straight to the workforce out of high school than ever before. He hopes to keep as many skilled workers close to Washington County as possible.

“They can stay here, eventually start a family, invest in our community and help our community grow,” Walraven said. 

According to GDOT, all 18 students in the program that completed their capstone exams Tuesday passed and earned their certificates.