We’re proud to share that one of our recent CTEC Carpentry graduates has officially joined the Carpenter’s Local Union! As an apprentice, he’s now earning while learning—a true testament to the value of hands-on career and technical education. To celebrate this milestone, representatives from the Union visited CTEC on Wednesday, June 4th, to interview both the student and his instructor, Mr. Ed Gautreaux.

Summer is in full swing with exciting workforce development opportunities! Our team has partnered with seven EBR sites to offer summer enrichment programs for students across East Baton Rouge Parish. Participants are gaining valuable experience while earning high school credits, industry-based credentials, and stipends in areas such as Emergency Medical Responder (EMR), CIW Website Development, and Adobe Photoshop. These sessions run Mondays through Thursdays from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. through the end of June.

Additionally, 25 EBR students took part in ExxonMobil’s “Career Exploratory Academy” hosted at CTEC from June 2–5. The week concluded with a special field trip to tour the Exxon plant—giving students a firsthand look at career pathways in the energy sector.

Great things are happening this summer in Workforce Development—and we’re just getting started!