08/16/2026
๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐๐๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ ๐๐๐ซ๐ง ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐ซ๐๐ข๐๐ฅ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐๐ข๐๐๐ง๐ฌ๐๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ ๐๐ญ ๐ฉ๐๐ข๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ข๐ง๐๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐จ๐ง๐-๐จ๐-๐-๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ก๐๐ซ-๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐๐๐ซ ๐ญ๐๐๐ก ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐ซ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฆ
โ๐๐ง ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ข ๐๐๐ ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐โ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐บ. ๐๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ค๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ, ๐ช๐ตโ๐ด ๐ข ๐ท๐ข๐ญ๐ถ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ข๐ญ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ.โ โ ๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฃ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ, 2026 ๐๐ฆ๐ต๐ฐ๐ด๐ฌ๐ฆ๐บ ๐๐ช๐จ๐ฉ ๐๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ญ ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ฅ๐ถ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ
Jake Warner hopes to work full-time for the City of Harbor Springs, operating plow trucks and other city machinery.
Thomas Ager, Ayden Cady, Eli Hissong, and Timmy Payton are pursuing linework, which involves driving large vehicles and transporting equipment safely to and from powerline repair sites.
Freddie Hollerback has seen huge trucks haul massive boats in and out of his place of employment, Irish Boat Shop, marveled at the skill it takes, and wanted to learn.
What these local students have in common for their futures is needing a credential that is in extremely high demand: A Commercial Driverโs License (CDL), Class A with airbrake endorsement.
However, the process can take awhile, and be expensive. It can cost upwards of $6,000 out of pocket to become CDL certified.
In Charlevoix-Emmet Intermediate School District, however, an innovative new summer program allowed recent graduates to get paid to take the training โ earning their CDL, a wage, and a lifelong skill that will serve them in any career path they choose.
Nine students from four ISD school districts recently completed two, three-week cohorts and are now CDL-certified drivers.
Anya Zarzycki, a 2026 Petoskey High School graduate, enrolled in the program to further skills she had already begun to develop.
โI love driving, and I had the opportunity to drive dump trucks for one of my jobs. I really enjoyed it, so earning my CDL seemed like a natural next step,โ said Zarzycki.
Zarzycki, like the 8 other students, took at least two career and technical education classes during high school, which provide a strong foundation for young adults in learning skilled trades. All said their CTE teachers encouraged them to enroll in the summer CDL course.
โI think it will help me start a career that Iโll truly enjoy,โ Zarzycki said. โItโs also nice to know I can pursue a great career without taking on college debt for something I might not even enjoy doing.โ
https://charemisdcareertech.org/students-earn-commercial-drivers-licenses-and-get-paid-to-be-trained-in-one-of-a-kind-char-em-isd-career-tech-summer-program/
