February is Career and Technical Education Month, and the State of Florida has been making some big investments in the field in recent years.
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Action News Jax spoke exclusively with Florida’s Lieutenant Governor during her visit to a training program here in the Bold City Friday.
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Florida Lieutenant Governor Jeannette Núñez stopped in to award a $618,000 grant to the Jacksonville Plumbers and Pipefitters Joint Apprenticeship & Training Trust in Edgewood.
The five-year apprenticeship program covers HVAC systems, plumbing, welding and pipefitting.
Read: JEA announces the State of Florida released $5.7 million in federal grants
It allows students like Meghan Nemeth to work in the field and learn their trade at the same time.
Nemeth said after bouncing around jobs in retail and insurance, she quit her job on the spot when she learned about the program.
“I walked in and I still had my insurance clothes on, he’s like, are you in the right spot? I’m like I am exactly where I need to be,” said Nemeth, who is now a fourth-year apprentice.