Richland One high schooler named “SC Work-Based Learning Student of the Year”

COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO) — The award for “South Carolina Work-Based Learning Student of the Year” was handed out to a deserving student here in the Midlands.

Richland One’s Columbia High School Senior Tyler Clark was given the news in front of his teachers, family, and media at the Heyward Career and Technology Center on Lynhaven Drive.

Tyler thought he was coming to be a part of a few photos to show off their diesel technology program — warranting this reaction.

“I’m surprised. Shocked. I mean, I came in to here thinking, ‘Oh, it’s just going to be some pictures done for SkillsUSA, told to wear my uniform, so I was thinking just a couple pictures, you know, like I’ve done a couple times here, but I mean, this was completely different than I was expecting. I mean it kind of threw me off, gave me a little shell-shock,” he says.

As part of the diesel program Tyler also interns as a Maintenance Tech with the City of Columbia, through its “One City: Future Ready” program.

Tyler says he knew he wanted to be a part of the diesel program since he was a freshman. But his interest in mechanics came much sooner.

“I was always working on something. I was that kid that was in the back yard with a go cart, trying to make it faster, have more fun on it. I mean I was working on motorcycles, just anything with my hands I was always doing, so I knew that I wanted to work hands-on within a program where I could learn something that would take me farther than just working on it in my backyard,” he says.

In honor of his hard work and dedication, Tyler was also given $350, a toolkit, and a gift card.

His teacher Martin Butler, Jr. says it’s well deserved, considering Tyler an advanced student and super fast learner.

“To have a student like Tyler, where I can just build, leave him, let him be, let him grow, watch him do different things, and like he mentioned before, when he learned something new, ‘Hey boys, look what I learned let me show you on this truck, let me come do that.’ So it was awesome hearing that the stuff he learned in class, he could also take back to the real world and show his peers, that it’s not just here at the school, it’s everywhere,” says Butler.

The award is given out by the SC Department of Education” and the Midlands Education and Business Alliance.