Isaac Carter’s summer days started early. The 17-year-old from Dryden, Virginia, unloaded trailers, carried equipment up ladders to rooftops and pulled wires to connect solar panels.

It was hard but satisfying work, and it paid $17 an hour – a good wage for a young person in rural Southwest Virginia. He also earned college credit for it, has an internship experience to add to his resume and obtained an Occupational Safety and Health Administration certification, commonly known as an OSHA 10 card, that makes him more desirable to employers – all before he began his last year of high school.

Carter was part of the Solar Workforce Accelerator Program, a youth solar apprenticeship program in Southwest Virginia. The program operates as a partnership between Mountain Empire Community College, the Solar Workgroup of Southwest Virginia collaborative group, solar company Secure Solar Futures, Wise and Lee county public schools and the electric company Got Electric.

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Source: The Appalachian Voice

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