May 22, 2020—Collision repair student Alex Pruitt made the most of his time "sheltering-in-place" during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the Collision Repair Education Foundation, Pruitt, a senior at Mercer County Technical Education Center in Princeton, W. Va., earned over 90 training certificates in recent weeks.
MCTEC collision repair technology instructor Daryl Barton first sang Pruitt's praises online, noting "While we are mostly a hands-on class, during this corona shutdown, students have had to work at home. During this shutdown, Alex has managed to acquire 95 certificates to add to his portfolio.
"I'm very proud of this young man ..."
The certificates from OSHA, PPG, 3M and ToolingUp help ensure that the soon-to-be high school graduate is prepared to enter the workforce, despite recent challenges brought about by shelter-in-place recommendations.
"Since this is my senior year, this was the only chance I had, since I won't be back at MCTEC next year," Pruitt told CREF.
"While we've been continuing school remotely," Pruitt added, "I've earned all these certificates, learning so much through the programs that offer them. I've also been doing some minor body work on vehicles for family and friends.
"With all of this, I've learned a lot about collision that I didn't know before."
