Famed Skilled-Trades Advocate Again Honors Penn College Students

Published 04.29.2015

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Diesel Truck, Heavy Equipment & Power Generation
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School of Transportation & Natural Resources Technologies News

Two Pennsylvania College of Technology students are among 56 nationwide recipients of tool scholarships from the mikeroweWORKS Foundation.

Receiving $1,000 each to offset the substantial outlay that students invest in the tools that will carry them into their eventual careers are Sam E. Helbling, of Pittsburgh, enrolled in heavy construction equipment technology: Caterpillar equipment emphasis, and Tyler W. Mosher, of Kintnersville, majoring in heavy construction equipment technology: technician emphasis.

They are among two people chosen from each of 28 Associated Equipment Distributors-affiliated technical colleges for their high cumulative GPAs as of the end of the Fall 2014 semester. Both of the recipients’ associate-degree majors are accredited by AED, making Penn College the only Pennsylvania institution on the association’s roster.



Penn College diesel instructor Chris S. Weaver (left) presents $1,000 tool scholarships to Sam E. Helbling, of Pittsburgh ...... and Tyler W. Mosher, of Kintnersville.“We are pleased these students and their academic achievements are being recognized by both AED and the mikeroweWORKS Foundation,” said Mary A. Sullivan, executive director of Penn College’s Schneebeli Earth Science Center and assistant dean of transportation and natural resources technologies. “They’ve worked hard and have distinguished themselves and the school, and are now gaining the national recognition they deserve.”

The foundation was established by Mike Rowe, creator and host of the “Dirty Jobs” series on the Discovery Channel and a widely recognized advocate for the skilled trades. His new CNN show, “Somebody’s Gotta Do It,” pays tribute to “innovators, do-gooders, entrepreneurs, collectors and fanatics – the men and women who march to the beat of a different drum.”

Funding tool scholarships – which has benefited nine Penn College students in its five-year history – is just one of the many hands-on ways that Rowe and his foundation are focused on helping students become aware of high-demand career opportunities.

He shared his approach to workforce development as an interviewee in “Working Class: 100 Years of Hands-on Education,” an award-winning documentary prepared for the college’s 2014 Centennial.

For information about majors in the School of Transportation & Natural Resources Management, call 570-327-4516.

For more about the college, email the Admissions Office or call toll-free 800-367-9222.

Photos by Pamela A. Mix, secretary to the ESC executive director and assistant dean of transportation and natural resources technologies