EMPOWERING STUDENTS TO BUILD MORE THAN STRUCTURES He’s handed families the keys to their first home. He’s led mission work in Guatemala. But for Eric Schramm (‘09), nothing compares to the feeling of watching former students find success – and knowing he somehow played a part in it.
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chramm is an architectural design and building construction instructor at Mitchell Technical Institute in Mitchell, S.D.
He is originally from North Platte, which is where his love for the building trades developed and where he became inspired to pursue his current career path. “I had a very strong mentor at North Platte High School,” said Schramm. “Butch Lehmkuhler was my shop teacher, and he’s the one who really got me excited about the field I chose. He was a very positive person and never played into the stigma of a blue-collar worker. He looked at success as being happy as a person and doing what you want to do. My time with him was a huge turning point in my life. I decided I wanted to have an impact on people they way he had an impact on me.” Schramm graduated from NPHS in 2008 and subsequently enrolled in Mid-Plains Community College – just across town. He was familiar with MPCC because of the numerous dual credit classes he had taken through the college while still in high school and the SkillsUSA applied technology competitions he had participated in on campus. The scholarships he won through SkillsUSA, as well as others he earned to attend Mid-Plains, also had a huge impact on his decision to attend MPCC. “It just made sense,” Schramm said. “I originally wanted to go straight to a fouryear college or university for elementary education, but couldn’t fathom paying for school when I had scholarships to MPCC.” Instead, he set his sights on building construction.
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