Nationwide Boiler recently hosted more than 30 students and teachers from the Discovery ChalleNGe Academy. The “NG” refers to the National Guard which sponsors the program.

Located in Lathrop, California, the Discovery ChalleNGe Academy was founded in 1993 to assist students in enhancing life skills, education levels, and employment potential. This military-style program houses, feeds, and educates 16- to 18-year-old young adults that were unable to complete high school due to varying circumstances, and allows students to earn 65 high school credits while developing life skills.

The tour was a part of the academy’s two-part field trip to educate students on the many education and career opportunities available to them after graduation. Following their visit to San Jose State University, the academy toured Nationwide Boiler’s 26,000-square-foot shop in Fremont, California, where employees demonstrated a diverse skill-set including mechanical abilities such as welding, pipe fitting, electrical work, fabrication, equipment assembling, and other technical skills. The students also learned about other professional career opportunities including accounting, engineering, sales, and marketing.

“We are honored that Nationwide Boiler had the opportunity to be a part of this inspiring program,” said Larry Day, Nationwide president and CEO. “We feel strongly about educating our youth so that we can successfully sustain our business and our industry for future generations. That starts with giving them the necessary information on both education and career opportunities, but also alternative education like trade schools where they can choose from a variety of different technical skills to master. Those who choose to go the trade route can succeed monetarily, in a similar fashion to those who choose to attend a four-year college.”