Levi Lumm, a student at the John Deere TECH Program at Vincennes University in Vincennes, IN, was named one of the top Indiana college students for 2009.
Lumm received Indiana’s Award for Excellence for Career and Technical Education. This is the 25th year for the award, which honors outstanding career and technical students and programs. Fewer than 10 students are honored statewide each year.
“I think the TECH Program is an amazing program,” Lumm says. “Basically it grounds you in what you need to know to work on John Deere equipment and systems. You get hands-on John Deere experience, and that can’t be beat.”
Lumm, a U.S. Army veteran, does exceptional work in the TECH Program, says Tim Hale, John Deere TECH instructor at Vincennes University. “He has great skills and intuition with the equipment. But more importantly, Lumm’s positive attitude inspires other TECH students to work toward their full potential. It has been a pleasure to have him as part of the John Deere TECH Program.”
As a winner in the post-secondary student category, Lumm was the only student in a transportation field to receive this award in 2009.
“After two tours in Iraq and being stationed in Hawaii, I was interested in staying close to home,” Lumm says. “The TECH Program at Vincennes gave me that opportunity. I wanted to work on equipment and I wanted to stay in agriculture. This was a perfect match.”
Lumm was sponsored by Vincennes Tractor Inc. and has been offered a job with them after his graduation this fall.
The award is sanctioned by the state and sponsored by the Indiana Department of Workforce Development, the Vocational Directors of the State of Indiana, Vincennes University, and IV-Tech. The John Deere and Vincennes University TECH Program partnership was honored by the state in 1998.