2025 Zion Opportunity Grant Recipients


Owen Black - Internship at Dydo's

I have been working at Dydo Company for the past few months. While I was there I learned how to change tires, do oil changes, how to weld, and how to change brakes. I also got to learn how to do inspections. The inspections now include taking pictures of the vehicles, checking the lights, brakes, tire tread, cracks in the windshield, and you also plug a scanner into the car to check emissions.


Lucas Blay - Tools for Internship

Being able to purchase these tools gave me the opportunity to find a job in the area of auto mechanics. Already having these tools meant that the garage did not have to let me borrow tools and it let my boss know that I was serious about working there. 

I am doing really well at my job and the guy who runs the shop has offered me a full time job. 


Teresa Cole - Here We Grow Internship

I did my internship at Here Wee Grow Again. Throughout half of this semester (spring 2025) I’ve worked almost every day with 2 months old through 2-year-olds and I will say babies are not my thing. I loved working with the 2-year-olds no matter what time of day. The staff is very welcoming and showed me how it is working throughout the day with babies and 2-year-olds. They are hiring me within the next month or so at Here Wee Grow Playschool. I am super excited to become a full-time employee and work every day! I am taking a college class right now about working with kids with diverse abilities and planning on taking more this summer/fall. Overall, my experience at Here Wee Grow Again was absolutely amazing other than my finding out I don't want to work with babies but that is what this experience is for.


Jordan Deckman - CCV Course on Medical Terminology

I took a Community College of Vermont elective online class called Medical Terminology. With this experience I was able to determine that I do in fact want to go into the medical field. This was an online class and was completely independent, as there were no zoom meetings. This class was also a flex class, meaning that there were no assignment due dates, the only due date was that all the work had to be done for the class by December 15th. I thrived in this class! I was always working on it as I joined late and finished early. I had a textbook, and went through three notebooks while taking notes. The quizzes were open notes, except the finals. Overall, if I didn’t start taking this class, I would be so lost in future medical classes. This is also my 9th college credit (3rd college course).


Seth Dunlap - Construction Internship


Keegan Earthwood - PennFoster Automotive Repair Technician Course


Rylee Gabert - Capital District Fusion Softball


Zoie Harrington - Internship at Wonderfeet Museum


Kayden Merino - Nail Salon Owner Certificate Course


Kendra Niles - Internship at Maple Street Pre-K