They will be paid for their work at the plant and their schooling is free.
The two won gold medals during the recent West Virginia SkillsUSA competition in Putnam County and will compete in Kansas City in June for a national gold medal.
They were among the 14 selected from a pool of 70 finalists for the extremely competitive Toyota program. In addition to the gold medals, the two also went through an interview process at Toyota’s West Virginia location.
Pine moved from Chicago, Ill., to Pineville, W.Va., to take advantage of the chance to work in Toyota’s West Virginia manufacturing plant. He had an associate’s degree in science, but couldn’t find a job in Chicago. While visiting his grandmother in Wyoming County, he toured the career center and explored the new mobile robotics program.
He thought it was an unbelievable opportunity.
“I thought we had a good chance,” he said of the internship program.
Both young men lauded the professional atmosphere in the manufacturing plant.
“It was immaculate,” Pine said.
“We had to go through security,” Cunningham added.
“We knew they were serious,” he joked.
Despite going to college on Toyota’s money, the two are not obligated to work for the car manufacturer after completing the program.
“We can go wherever we want to work,” Cunningham explained.
In June, the two will have to build a mobile robot designed to place feed in an 18-inch high trough in order to feed a cow as part of the SkillsUSA competition.
The parts needed will be supplied at the competition, Cunningham explained.
“We’ll have five hours to build it and make everything work like it should,” Pine added.
The two have been practicing since the state competition and believe they also have a good chance at the national title.
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