CHS Intern of the Year award presented

Originally posted on cleburnetimesreview.com
Written by Lisa Magers, Read the full story here.

Zane Thomas was recently presented with the first Tony Spalding Intern of the Year Award, established by Cleburne High School Career and Technical Education in memory of an industry partner dedicated to providing students with internship opportunities.

Cleburne High School senior Zane Thomas, center, is the first recipient of the Anthony “Tony” Spalding Intern of the Year Award. The award has been established by the CHS Career and Technical Education program in memory of Tony Spalding, who developed the Holt Caterpillar high school internship program and worked closely with Cleburne CTE in implementing the heavy engine/diesel technician program at CHS. From left are Holt Cat Workforce Development Liaison Rick Elmore, CTE Director Mark McClure, CHS Diesel Tech Instructor Daq Querry, Zane Thomas, Wendy Spalding and Holt Caterpillar President and CEO Corinna Holt Richter.

The CHS senior and three-year member of the Heavy Engine Diesel Technician program was honored in ceremonies held at Cleburne Holt Caterpillar, where Thomas has been an intern since January. The award he received is named for Anthony “Tony” Spalding, who was the Director of Apprenticeship Programs for Holt Caterpillar. Spalding passed away in November. 

“This award is pretty special, and Tony Spalding was a special guy,” Cleburne CTE Director Mark McClure said. “He had a heart of gold, most especially when it came to helping veterans and helping high school students transition into a career with Holt. You can’t talk about Holt Cat interns without mentioning his name.”

The partnership between Cleburne CTE and Holt Caterpillar began in 2014, when the first CHS student was hired as an intern. From the start, Spalding was interested in Cleburne’s career education program and what it was doing for students in preparing them for the workplace.

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