LaGRANGE — THINC College & Career Academy mechatronics students Carter Dagenhart and Devin Joyce recently earned the mikeroweWORKS Foundation Scholarship as competitors in the SkillsUSA Robotics and Automation Technology National Championships.

The students won the SkillsUSA State Championship for Robotics and Automation Technology in the spring of 2016, and continued on to Louisville, Kentucky, representing Georgia.

The mikeroweWORKS Foundation is a public charity that rewards people with a passion to get trained for skilled jobs that actually exist. As CEO of the foundation, Mike Rowe spends time speaking about the country’s dysfunctional relationship with work, highlighting the widening skills gap and challenging the persistent belief that a four year degree is automatically the best path for the most people.

The mikeroweWORKS Foundation scholarship programs provide assistance to eligible students who are pursuing an education in a vocational or similar trade-related program. In 2016, the mikeroweWORKS Foundation has a priority focus on high school and college/post-secondary students who are working toward careers in manufacturing, construction, automotive, engineering and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math)-related courses.

Each student was required to submit videos and documentation of their technical skills in action, recommendation letters from local industry representatives, as well as an essay in response to questions such as, “What role does a strong work ethic serve in your life?”

Dagenhart and Joyce will have the opportunity to meet representatives from the mikeroweWORKS Foundation and will each be awarded $1,000 toward their post-secondary plans.