Schools
$10,000 In Scholarships Now Available To Local Students
Ten scholarships open to those interested in studying trades at Parkland
East Central Illinois students are invited to apply for $10,000 in scholarships being offered by UA Local 149, area contractors and Parkland College.
Ten scholarships of $1,000 each are available to students interested in studying plumbing, welding, HVAC or other construction trades. Applications are welcome from students graduating this spring from Champaign Central, Centennial, Urbana, Mahomet-Seymour, Monticello, Unity, St. Joseph-Ogden, Mattoon, Charleston and Effingham high schools, as well as from current Parkland students who graduated from those schools.
“There is a shortage of skilled labor positions and we want to do all we can to create opportunities for local students interested in pursuing a career in those fields,” said Matt Kelly of UA Local 149. “We have a strong partnership with Parkland, which offers a variety of certifications and degrees in the trades, with experienced instructors and quality programs developed in partnership with local unions.”
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Students can take courses as they build skills and experiences that can help them become apprentices with Local 149. There, they will immediately make $20.75 an hour, with generous health insurance benefits. Within five years, they will make $39.20 an hour and be eligible to test to become a journeyman, where they will earn a total hourly package of $66.38 an hour.
Local 149 represents more than 600 East Central Illinois residents who work for more than 40 local companies, providing plumbing, heating, air conditioning, refrigeration, steam, industrial process, boiler and medical-gas piping services across the area.
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Ten scholarships will be awarded each semester, with fall scholarships set to be awarded on May 1. Scholarships can also be used to study trades courses at Lake Land College. All applicants must have at least a 2.0 grade-point average. The deadline to apply is March 29.
For more information, please visit www.parkland.edu/parklandscholarships and after logging in, search for “149.”