Brad Roberts has served the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) for over 30 years and was recently recognized as the Park’s 2021 Employee of the Year. Originally from Winston-Salem, Brad started serving the GSMNP when he was 16 years old, and it all began with a move to Oconaluftee Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center […]
North Carolina
Xavier Edwards
A Job Corps experience so nice, he did it twice! When Xavier Edwards graduated from high school in Charlotte, N.C., he was looking for a more cost-effective education path than college. His mom did some research and introduced him to Job Corps. Xavier moved to Brevard, N.C., and completed the Culinary Arts program at Schenk […]
Justin Speight
“I decided I needed to get out of my comfort zone—go do something different or have a greater skill set and not just work at the same job and not be happy about it. So that’s why I went to Job Corps.” Justin Speight is a lube technician apprentice at Hubert Vester Toyota in Wilson, […]
Antonio Forston
Before coming to Job Corps, Antonio Forston was homeless. He found himself running with a bad crowd after aging out of foster care, and a friend suggested that he look into Job Corps as a means to make something of himself. Originally, Antonio was only interested in joining so that he could get his driver’s […]
Chase Waters
“I recognized why I was there and was able to stay there for one main reason—bettering myself and realizing something good is going to come of this.” Chase Waters struggled with kidney issues for most of his life until he received a kidney from his mother. On April 21, 2011, Chase underwent a kidney transplant. […]