While Covid-19 forced many businesses, schools and other organizations to close around the country in 2020, Miles Terry was able to continue the job he had grown to love.

Miles, who CEFGA featured as a K12 Pipeline success story in August 2019 (read his story here), is a carpenter with the Bibb County School District in Macon. He and his co-workers worked right through the shutdown, adapting facilities throughout the district to safely accommodate students, faculty and staffers upon their return.

“They kept us working during the pandemic,” says Miles, who began his full-time role immediately upon graduating from Westside High School in May 2019. “We were on the front lines, working in the schools trying to get things ready for when everyone came back. We were building walls, framing, making shields and isolation rooms to make sure that when kids did get back into the schools, they would be safe.”

Miles is passionate about his work and continues to relish the process of learning on the job and refining his skills.

“I’ve become more in tune with my craft,” he says. “I work with a diverse group of men who can teach me a lot of different things in welding and carpentry. This job has afforded me a lot of great opportunities.”

Those opportunities extend beyond the workplace as well – Miles recently moved into an apartment of his own and upgraded from his 2015 Toyota Camry to a brand-new 2020 model.

Still, Miles remains close – both geographically and relationally – to his mother, who moved the family from Chicago in 2018, and his brothers.

“We don’t stay too far from each other, so I see them on a regular basis,” he says. “It’s good to have my own space, but I’m a family guy, so I go check on my brothers and they come check on me to make sure everything is still going well. And there’s nothing like Mama’s home cooking. If she has a lasagna or if she makes her homemade nachos with four different cheeses, I go over there and grab a plate.”