Sara Atwood, a student at the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s Environmental Resources Training Center (ERTC), received the Sylvanus Jackson Memorial Scholarship Award at the Illinois Water Environment Association (IWEA) Awards banquet in Springfield in mid-April.
The scholarship was established to assist professionals in furthering their education and training in the field of water pollution prevention and control. The fund was created in memory of Sylvanus Jackson, supervisor of the Rock Island Treatment Plant, who passed away due to a work-related incident.
“The ERTC helped me pursue a career with more possibilities than I have ever imagined,” said Atwood. “I wanted to pursue a job that offers advancement. This internship has shown me that with experience and hard work, I can move up in a company.”
Also at the event, ERTC student Chris Schwent, of Edwardsville, won the quiz event of the Illinois Association of Water Pollution Control Operators (IAWPCO) Challenge. Schwent, who is in the ERTC’s Water Quality Control Operations Program, competed against 28 wastewater operators and engineers from Illinois.
The ERTC’s Rick Lallish, program director of Water Pollution Control, was named the new IAWPCO president during the annual conference. Read more about Lallish in SIUE News.
About the Environmental Resources Training Center
ERTC is one of the most unique training centers in the nation and has been training water quality professionals since 1977. The instructors use the 30,000-gallon per day training-scale drinking water and wastewater treatment plant to teach students the skills needed to properly operate a plant. An example of the training impact that ERTC has on the water profession can be measured in the statistics from fiscal year 2013, when it trained more than 975 students and awarded more than 25,000 continuing education and contact hours.
To meet the important need for trained operators, ERTC annually provides up to 30 graduates from its Water Quality Control Operations Program. These graduates are skilled operators and most possess their state certifications. The placement rate for graduates ranges from 70-80 percent.
ERTC courses are designed to assist entry level personnel, who are preparing for a career in drinking water and wastewater treatment systems, and persons already employed in such systems who desire education to upgrade job skills, obtain advanced certification levels and prepare for more responsible positions.
ERTC plays a role in the education of minority and female students, who typically make up 20 percent of the students in the Water Quality Control Operations Program. Numerous displaced workers have completed the program and productively re-entered the workforce. Several displaced workers, who graduated from ERTC, have returned to visit instructors to thank them for “turning their life around.” ERTC also has a commitment to train the returning military veterans and assist them in re-entering the workforce.
Photos:
Sara Atwood, SIUE Environmental Resources Training Center (ERTC) student, is awarded the Sylvanus Jackson Memorial Scholarship Award.
ERTC student Chris Schwent (left) is congratulated for winning the quiz event of the Illinois Wastewater Professionals Conference Operators (IAWPCO) Challenge by Rick Lallish, program director of ERTC Wastewater Operations who is the new IAWPCO president.