S1: E27 | Why FAME Works: Education, Experience, and Opportunity

In this episode of Gator Bites, we’re spotlighting the FAME internship program and how it’s redefining what it means to be career-ready. Recorded during National Apprenticeship Week, this conversation explores how students can earn a degree while gaining real-world experience through direct partnerships with industry.

Host Daniel McLemore is joined by Sean McFarland, Dereck Cloeren, and FAME student Mason Pruett to break down how the program works and why it’s becoming a game-changer for workforce development in Southeast Texas. From paid, hands-on training to mentorship from experienced professionals, FAME offers a clear pathway from the classroom to a full-time career.

Whether you're a student unsure where to start or an employer looking for skilled talent, this episode highlights how education and industry can work together to build the future workforce.

About Lamar State College Orange:
Lamar State College Orange (LSCO) is a two-year, state-supported institution located on the banks of the Sabine River in Orange, Texas. As part of the Texas State University System, LSCO is committed to transforming lives and communities through the continual pursuit of academic, professional, and personal excellence. Serving more than 5,500 students, the College offers associate degrees and certificates in academic, technical, and workforce fields, providing new and unique opportunities for growth and success. With a focus on accessibility, affordability, and innovation, LSCO serves a diverse student population, including a high percentage of first-generation college students. Through strong community partnerships, dedicated faculty and staff, and innovative student support services, LSCO is the bridge connecting those it serves to a bright, Orange future.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:05

Hello everyone and welcome back to Gator Bike, the official podcast of Lamar State College Orange, where we interview faculty, staff, and students to give the community an inside look into life here at LSTO. So this is this episode is especially timely because it's airing during National Apprenticeship Week. This is a nationwide celebration of programs that combine classroom learning with real-world career experience. And so today we're talking about the FAME internship program, which this is a program that connects students with industry partners for hands-on training while they complete their education. So joining me today is Sean McFarland, our machining program director here at LSEO. We've got Derek Claren, who's the operations manager at Claren Incorporated, and then Mason Pruitt, one of our students here, that's currently participating in the FAME internship program. So welcome, everyone.

SPEAKER_03 0:55

Good morning. Morning.

SPEAKER_02 0:56

So let's start off with some introductions. Uh tell our listeners a little about who you are and your role in the FAME program. We'll start over here with Derek.

SPEAKER_01 1:04

My name is Derek Claren. Uh, I am the president of the uh Board for Fame.

unknown 1:09

Awesome.

SPEAKER_00 1:11

Okay. My name is Mason Pruitt. I'm one of the FAME interns at Clarin Incorporated on the aerospace side and in the second year of the FAME program. Awesome. Welcome.

SPEAKER_03 1:21

Morning. I'm Sean McFarland. I'm uh the machining program director here at LSCO. Um also help out with FAME. Um I'm gonna go ahead and talk a little bit about it. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:33

Let's just what is the FAME model? What's what's different? What kind of like what what what is this? Kind of give us an overview.

SPEAKER_03 1:38

So FAME is was started by Toyota, uh and it's all across the United States in 16 states. Matter of fact, over 40 chapters. Uh there's over 400 company partners that uh you know meet with the colleges. Um it's an excellent program for someone that comes in, you know. Nowadays we don't have a lot of hands-on in the high school with stuff, so this gets students to come in, look at the different programs we offer, like this fall. Uh me and Derek were talking about. We're we're getting a lot more students interested in the machining program. I know Mason's in the electromechanical program. So this has given these young adults the time with fame to come in and have adequate time to study and be here to college like two days a week, and then they go and then they'll work with the industry partner like Derek at uh Claren uh for three days a week. Um so kind of that in a nutshell on what fame is uh for the student, but on the back side, it is an organization where we meet monthly. And uh we okay, what's next? What other program are we getting involved in? How are the students doing? Do we do we have any issues or problems? So it is a very connected, it's not part of per se Lamar, but it is. So we we meet here and uh allows industry to tell us, hey, these are the things we need to do with these students, and then vice versa, hey, can you start doing this with the fame students? So it's definitely a model back and forth that we're trying to very tune that student for whatever life career that they're wanting to go down.

SPEAKER_02 3:43

Yeah. Uh well, and and I mean, I think that's a lot of what we're seeing with uh specifically two-year education right now, is you know, we we're trying to be as nimble as possible with industry because industry moves at lightning speed, right? And and education sometimes has a hard time keeping up because as soon as a as soon as you get comfortable teaching something, then it changes, right? Uh but the uh it that's one of the things I love about this FAME program is that it's it's geared towards um not just keeping up, but also advancing where we're bringing education specifically with uh industrial side of things. So, Derek, can you kind of talk about how um how you've been involved with FAME and then how Claren Inc. is is really partnering with LSEO to make this happen?

SPEAKER_01 4:26

Well, I got in fame, I got involved with FAME pretty much uh as soon as they announced that uh they were looking into developing the electromechanical program for fame. Uh so I've been here now, I guess, about four years. Um it was really something that we as a company needed because uh, as you were talking about uh two-year education and keeping up, there wasn't really anything that would develop the students into moving towards manufacturing for us. Uh, there's a lot of process tag, um, there's a lot of instrumentation, electrical things like that, but that doesn't necessarily translate into a manufacturing environment.

SPEAKER_02 5:04

Right.

SPEAKER_01 5:05

Um, so to have a multifaceted craft like electromechanical was right up our alley because then we can take these students that are getting a little bit of everything, mechanical knowledge, electrical knowledge, how things move and work together. And from there, we were taking students as part-time employees before FAME started. So when we were able to actually put together a program where it funneled uh interns into our company where they can uh get their tuition paid for, come and work for us 24 hours a week while being at the school for the other 16 hours. Um, it was really a great uh partnership between the college moving in that direction and then for companies like us that needed, like I said, someone that can funnel into a manufacturing environment. It was it just kind of all came together at the right time.

SPEAKER_02 5:53

Yeah. And so this uh this all came together, what what was it, 2022, 21?

SPEAKER_01 5:59

I want to say our first class was 21.

SPEAKER_03 6:03

Yeah, 21. That's what I was yeah. Okay, yeah. 21's I think when we because it was 22, because you're gonna be the second graduating class uh this year.

SPEAKER_01 6:12

Yeah, okay. Oh, yeah, this yeah, 222. Or 23. I don't know. We've been meeting for a really long time. Yeah, it's been meeting together. Yeah, it's all running together. Yeah. So I think our our first graduating class was 2025. Yeah. And then uh Mason's class will be the the second class.

SPEAKER_03 6:27

Yeah. Awesome. Yeah, yeah. Because before this I was an industry partner um sitting beside Derek with all this. So yeah, and uh I don't know. We just seen uh to me and Derek you it's like when the students get into fame, it's a it's just a little higher quality of what and I'm gonna throw Howard's name out there. Yes, it's fame, but uh Howard's on that wavelength of what fame wants. Tuck your shirt in. Uh, we're gonna do our safety circles in the morning. I'm sure Mason's gonna kind of elaborate more on that. But um I think for such a short window with the students we've gone through no longer than we've been a part of all of this. Um I I think it's been very excellent, you know.

SPEAKER_02 7:16

Yeah, I love it. So, Mason, what uh what what originally drew you to the fame program and this internship opportunity?

SPEAKER_00 7:23

Well, not only is it a really nice opportunity to get my education taken care of, but right now what we're seeing uh in this industry is uh wanting to get into these jobs and not having the experience necessary to really get positions that you w would like to get. And so really seeing that I could get come out with a degree, but also two years of experience in the field that I was wanting to go into was just a a really nice opportunity.

SPEAKER_02 7:52

Yeah, and a lot of these job opportunities, uh it always has the requirements of well, you've got to have the education, you've got to have the experience. Well, chicken and egg, which one do you get first, right? Right. So I think education. Right, right. Fame is kind of that that bridge in between that's creating this model for students to get educated and experienced at the same time, right?

SPEAKER_01 8:11

Right. And I think it also it gives the uh the students a little bit of grace that they might not get otherwise if they were just going straight into their first job. We we understand that they're they're new to this, we understand that they're young. And unless they do something horrible, like get someone seriously injured or something like that, then they can still learn from those mistakes. They've got a two-year window, a two-year tryout, a two year to really gain that experience. So that way when they do graduate, well, now you got both, right? You got the experience and the education right there. So if they do choose to go off and find another opportunity, at least they were able to kind of build that um education and experience right there.

SPEAKER_00 8:53

Right. And if I can add to that, it is really nice to have this almost symbiotic relationship between the college and the employers in FAME where the employer cares about our performance in the classroom and our professors care about our performance at work. And so it's nice to kind of have it on both ends, kind of pushing us towards success.

SPEAKER_02 9:12

Gotcha. So, Derek, from from the employer standpoint, why do you think that programs like FAME are so valuable to uh not just Clarion but other companies in our region too?

SPEAKER_01 9:21

Um, that's a great question. I think, and I don't think it's any kind of secret that the the gray wave is coming, right?

SPEAKER_02 9:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:27

Uh the the boomers are are kind of getting to the, they're getting a little long of the tooth. They've got 40 years experience at this point, they're on their way out, and what it's really doing is given a great opportunity to find um these young, motivated, talented students to come in and not only learn from all the experience that their co-workers have, but to kind of start filling in those gaps because what you're gonna lose with that is is tribal knowledge, it's experience, it's things that might not have gotten written down into a procedure to follow. It's it's things that you've re you can really only gain through experience.

SPEAKER_02 10:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:04

And I know that I've benefited greatly from my coworkers that that trained me, you know, when I was working in high school or even when I first started, um, all that experience kind of getting funneled my way. And so for us to be able to, like I said, to get a student um to come in and get that two-year, you know, trial period just to really gain as much knowledge as they can, um, it what it really does is gives us a really young, because I mean, you're gonna be what, 20, 21 when you're done?

SPEAKER_00 10:34

20, oh I'm 20 to be 22 when I'm done.

SPEAKER_01 10:36

Yeah, you know, um, you know, student that's got that experience, it's got their foot in the door, you know an owner of the company, you know, multiple owners of the company. Right. And um we all know Mason. And so I think that's really great because it's not like every company in fame is this giant conglomerate, like some of our partners are. Um, you're gonna know the plant manager if you're working at CP Kim, you're gonna know the plant manager if you're working at Dow, you're gonna know owners at Claren, Bune Electric, and everybody else. Yeah. Um, and so it's really a great opportunity for not only, you know, for someone like me to get these these young uh adults to come in and be ready to work by the time they're already, you know, 20, 21 years old.

SPEAKER_03 11:20

Yeah, I'm it I want to kind of bounce off that. It's like IPS uh joined here not long ago, and uh they looked at it, they were like, Oh yeah, we kind of like the model. So they got one intern, and I think he was there a couple of weeks, turned right around, called Howard, he said, I want another. You know, so um anybody knows me, I'm a big cheerleader for fame because like I said, I was on the industry side and this program works. This this program to me sets uh it it has credibility to the industry partner and credibility to the student because um if the student isn't doing what they're supposed to be doing, coming to work on time or this or that, well, I mean, not only are they losing out on potential uh fund reimbursements for their education, um, I mean, they may lose uh a job if they do something that's you know not in line. So there is that credibility. It's not just a job, it is a career that they're going down. Um and it's kind of like what Derek said, it's a mentorship that I think the industry partner and the fame student is it's it it combines well.

SPEAKER_02 12:41

Yeah. It's a great model. I mean, it it's something that whenever I got here um back in 23, I'd I'd had to to look into and understand because it was then my role to help kind of help promote it. And when I looked at it, I went, God, why have we not seen this uh in bigger uh places at this point? And so I've just been able to continue watching it grow. And I think it's such an incredible um opportunity, specifically for students, but also for the industry and for education too. So um, Mason, you tell us a little bit more about the experience that you've had working um uh along real industry professionals and and also still being a student. How do you kind of work through that together?

SPEAKER_00 13:21

Um, I mean, it really has been kind of a kind of a blessing to have these people. A lot of them have been doing this craft longer than I've been alive, you know, 30, 40 years. And so for a lot of them just showing a little bit of interest in what has been their life, they're more than willing to kind of impart whatever knowledge they can onto you. And so being able to take that into the classroom and work on stuff there and at work, it you're getting a nice combination of learning.

SPEAKER_02 13:51

Yeah. So so give us a little walkthrough of what does your week typically look like?

SPEAKER_00 13:55

So typically well, so for this semester, my class is the internship class, so I'm at work for the week. Uh generally though, it's a like Derek said, it'll be a 24-hour week. So at work for three days and then school for two days.

SPEAKER_02 14:12

Okay. And then uh when you're when you're at work, are you also then kind of learning the same thing in the classroom, or how does how do those two things work together?

SPEAKER_00 14:23

So it it really just depends on which department of at least for Claren, where I got uh put. But a lot of the time, if you're somewhere at work, you can I've a lot of times I've come to Mr. Baylor and said, Hey, here's what we're doing at work, I'm kind of struggling with this, and he will take and turn that into the lesson for the day. And so it's it's very modular in that sense that we can change what we're doing in the classroom to reflect what we as students are doing in the field. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:49

That's awesome. So this episode's airing during National Apprenticeship Week. So why is it important to highlight programs like FAME during this national conversation about workforce training?

SPEAKER_01 15:01

So I think uh it's important to highlight things like this program, uh, specifically FAME, um, because you know, we go to a lot of the local high schools. Um Karina uh at LSCO does an amazing job of making sure that we're getting FaceTime with all the schools in the area. And I think what it does is it gives an attainable objective for somebody to reach out and grab to know that I can get my school paid for, I can get working experience. I didn't know a company like Claren existed. I thought that I could only go into oil and gas or I could only go do this thing because that's what my uncle, dad, so forth and so on, is doing. Um, it's exposing um the manufacturing industry that's in this area as well. And so I think it's just kind of opening up opportunities to these high school students or these um, you know, somebody that might have gone into process tech that didn't really love it and wants to find, you know, somewhere else to go and and and learn. Um, so a program like FAME is to me perfect for somebody that's motivated, that wants to learn something, that wants to get not only um a good education, but their foot in the door somewhere and and really apply what they're learning in the classroom.

SPEAKER_03 16:18

I'd like to bounce off that too. So something I really like about the FAME model program is um, and I know me and Derek's talked about this before, is um we're getting these high school students, they come out, they'll get in fame, industry partner will pick them up. And um it's kind of like what Derek said, okay, what's out there? What is this? And they see Uncle Billy that works at the refinery. Okay, well, Uncle Billy's got a F 250 in a bass boat, and that's what I want. But through the FAME program, you you might be able to get into that, and then when you get out to the plant, the refinery, you may go, hey, um man, I don't like this. This isn't this isn't my speed. I don't I don't want to be out here. So there's an other things like at Derek's company, you know, okay, hey, I'm more into manufacturing. You know, I like this. I can go to a plant every day. It's uh it's not as um stringent, I guess, you know, there's a little more leeway. It's kind of like Mason was saying, hey, I I know the owners, I know this, it's a little more easier. So that's something with fame, I think, with the apprenticeship program that you in with Mason, I mean, there's all these students are in different spots, right? Different industry partners. So they get to visit, they get to talk and say, Yeah, hey, I really like what I'm doing over here, or man, I'm doing this, but I don't think plant life's for me, or vice versa. So there's a lot of that that I think that it really funnels them together because they go through as a section through the so they are constantly together. So it it really kind of I think builds a brotherhood with them in each section as they go through.

SPEAKER_02 18:13

Well, and and I I also see that benefit too. And you Mason, you may be able to talk about this, but now you've got you know a cohort of other people in other industries around the area that when they move on, you still got that contact not just with that person, but with that company now, right? Yes, sir. So what is it, you know, d talk a little bit about that camaraderie and those people that you're with.

SPEAKER_00 18:34

Yeah, I mean it's definitely been we've we've all become very close over the last two years, and so it's been like you said, very we have this kind of network of people who we've all kind of come become very close with, and so hopefully that continues into the future when we all go off in our directions.

SPEAKER_02 18:51

Yeah. And so then uh what what are your goals after you graduate from LSEO?

SPEAKER_00 18:56

So my goal, I'd like to continue my education. I'd like to get some form of engineering degree by the time I'm kind of through that point.

SPEAKER_02 19:06

Still still able to do it? Right. Right. Um and so you know, you're you're you've got this experience already. And so what uh you you got the the and one of the owners of the company sitting right here beside you. What do you what do you say about fame? Right? What do you say to him? Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 19:28

I gotta brag on on Mason. Um, you know, we we we do a panel interview of all the the potential um interns. And uh, you know, we we run through our questions, we do everything else. And um when I asked Mason what he wanted to do, he just point blank said, I want to work at Claren. And uh just looked at everybody else and I was like, okay, that's my hands off. That's my guy. Yeah. Um because you know, we're we're hoping to get people like Mason into this program, someone that's uh very uh intellectually gifted, someone that's driven, and um someone that's adaptable to want to learn a bunch of other things. Um he's doing a great job. He's in our aerospace division right now in inspection, but his path to get there, he went through assembly um inspection, uh, which is more of a mechanical inspection. He's he's on the high-tech stuff that we don't have in my building, you know. Um uh I think he did some annual machining and just kind of learning uh, you know, this and that as he made his path. And then as soon as my my brother, who runs our air aerospace division, asked if I had anybody that I could send to him, he was first on the list. You need this guy in that building. He's he's going to take off as soon as you teach him a little bit and then just let him you know spread his wings and fly. So yeah, I just wanted to give him a thank you. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 20:56

Little attaboy there for it.

SPEAKER_01 20:58

A little attaboy.

SPEAKER_02 20:59

So for students that might be listening that are are interested in this, you know, this has sparked their interest. What's the first step to getting involved in the freighting program?

SPEAKER_01 21:07

Uh first step is to apply. Um, if you go to the uh fame website um and and pick our local chapter, uh Golden Triangle Fame, and and put your application in. Uh that's that's step number one. Uh step number two, if you haven't seen this at your high school, if you are a high school student, you need to talk to your CTE director or coordinator and ask why we haven't been there. I I think we've been to most pretty much all of them. Yeah. But um if if we haven't been, um that that you should do that because we're always happy to be there. There's always at least one or two industry partners that are there, as well as you know, Sean and Howard, uh, to promote and talk about the FAME program and you know, to answer any questions. Um, because what what's kind of gotten popular now is are these small table uh meetings. So it's not a general assembly of a lot of kids that aren't really there, they're just kind of missing class. You're getting the 10, 12 students that are actually interested in it. And so that way we can connect and um you know answer questions and and kind of help them you know funnel their way into the program.

SPEAKER_02 22:16

Yeah. I love it. Well thank you Sean, Derek, Mason, thank you all for joining us and for sharing your perspectives on this FAME internship program. So for programs like FAME um they show how powerful it can really be for education and industry to work together and to prepare students for real careers. So be sure to keep up with the latest Gator Bytes podcast episodes on the LSEO website, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts. Thanks for tuning in and we look forward to bringing you another conversation soon.

SPEAKER_03 22:46

Go Gators you can edit that.

SPEAKER_02 22:49

I don't know we might leave that in I like it. I don't leave it. I don't know we'll save it