Through the years, Monroe Truck Equipment has had several incredible young students in our Welding Youth Apprenticeship Program. Each year, students from local schools, often Monroe High School, join our team part time to hone their skills and learn the trade.
This year, we have two exceptional students in our program, Joseph Munigal and Vanessa Hartwig. Joseph and Vanessa have developed so many skills over the past several months working on our team, and we are so proud to see how much they have grown. They both have unique stories of what led them to Monroe Truck Equipment, and are already well along their path to building successful careers in the trades.
All About Joseph
Joseph joined our Welding Youth Apprenticeship Program after taking shop classes at Monroe High School. His teacher Mr. Sanders encouraged him to be a part of the program to further develop his skills and build the foundation of his career.
Throughout his time at Monroe, Joseph has enjoyed welding Push Frames, Z Dumps and Weldments the most. He likes the second shift and the environment of our shop and has found our team to be nice and helpful as he learns.
Joseph is graduating this year and is looking forward to growing his welding career. We know Joseph will do amazing things and we are so proud to have seen him develop the skills that he will use throughout his life.
All About Vanessa
Vanessa was inspired to join our Welding Youth Apprenticeship Program because her grandfather, Larry Hartwig worked on our team for several years. We love to see family members of existing and former employees join us!
Throughout her time at Monroe, Vanessa has enjoyed developing her skills and witnessing her growth. She states the Monroe team has shared their insights with her and she learned. She enjoys welding on plows and truck bodies the most, and wants to try stainless welding next.
Vanessa will be attending Blackhawk Tech’s Welding Program in April, with nearly all of her credits being paid for through grant money.
It has been an honor to watch Vanessa hone the skills she will use throughout her career. She is a talented welder and will no doubt work on incredible projects in her years ahead.
The Future of the Program
With so many successes in our Welding Youth Apprenticeship Program, we hope to be able to expand and accept more students in the spring. We are also in the process of developing Youth Apprenticeship Programs in our other departments, like IT and Engineering. It has been a wonderful experience for our Monroe team to invest in the futures of local students. We look forward to meeting and working with more high school students from across Green County in the months ahead!