Kittrell Job Corps celebrates National Signing Day

Aug. 30—KITTRELL — Job Corps today. Marine Corps tomorrow.

That's the plan for Isaiah Ranger, a 20-year-old Kittrell Job Corps student from Lubbock, Texas.

"Job Corps saved my life," Ranger said on Thursday. "I didn't really have nothing back at home and for them to give me an opportunity here was the biggest blessing I've ever gotten. I am here to become a U.S. Marine. That's my goal. That's what I'm here for."

Ranger made that declaration shortly before walking over to the Kittrell Job Corps campus gym, its walls splashed with the school colors of blue and gold, to bear witness to a new Job Corps initiative called National Signing Day.

Job Corps Career Transition Readiness and Work-Based Learning Coordinator Joan Robinson said it's all about promoting spirit on campus while challenging students to formally commit to the programs of their choice as they embark on professional careers. And they're doing it in-person again after an extended period of virtual learning.

Kittrell Job Corps used National Signing Day to recognize three new students: Jeremiah Gilchrist of Fayetteville, Amitra Thomas of Charlotte and Kelvin Hargrove of Warren County.

Backed by the U.S. Department of Labor, Job Corps is the largest, free, nationwide residential career training program in the country and has been operating for more than 50 years, according to its website.

Kittrell's is one of four Job Corps locations in North Carolina and the only one outside of the western part of the state.

"They deem our students low-income, at-risk students, so all of our students come here completely free," said Kittrell Job Corps Center Director Norman Turner. "Housing, cafeteria, free meals, extra snacks in the evening, recreation activities, movies, paintball, race track — you name it — we do those things and our students don't pay a dime."

Some of Kittrell Corps' 170 students, most of them residing on the campus that was once home to Kittrell College, will graduate to more advanced training, like Kinston's Trinity Roberts.

A 2020 North Lenoir High School graduate, Roberts expects her certified nursing assistant studies to be completed after about eight months. After that, she'll move on to Blue Ridge Job Corps in Marion, Virginia, to become a licensed practical nurse, hoping to one day land a job working in neonatal care.

Roberts is currently working towards her OSHA safety certification, an example of some of the studies that go on here. Other trade options offered include bricklaying, facilities maintenance, office administration and culinary arts.

Ranger and Asheville's James Chapman, 24, have elected to study security and protective services.

Why Kittrell?

"It's a chance for me to experience and meet newer people and different faces instead of what's close to my hometown and being in a familiar place," Chapman said. "I wanted to get out of my comfort zone."

Chapman credited Kittrell Job Corps SPS Instructor Shirley Henderson for being "the greatest mentor" he's ever had.

Chapman and Ranger each participate in work-based learning, which for them means on-the-job training in campus security.

At some point, Chapman wants to join the Army, but he anticipates working with the AmeriCorps service organization before that.

For Ranger, trading the arid heat of West Texas for humid Southeastern air this summer could be the major turning point his life needed.

Ranger had opted for the fire academy before eventually being encouraged to consider Job Corps by his mother Jennifer. Firefighting remains a passion of Ranger's, but he feels called to be a Marine.

Ranger's ASVAB results kept him from being able to enlist as planned, so Kittrell Job Corps represented an opportunity to hone his math skills with the help of tutors while benefitting from a structured learning environment.

Ranger, a 6-foot, 235-pound former Texas high school wrestling standout, started in Kittrell about two months ago. He's been obtaining FEMA certifications, is set to take a CPR class and serves as his dorm leader.

Ranger said math is not his greatest subject, "but it will be."

When he does pass the ASVAB, he'll probably cry, he said, and considers himself "lucky" to have been afforded the opportunity to be admitted to Kittrell Job Corps.

"This is a very special day," Ranger said of National Signing Day. "This is something I take to heart."