On Wednesday, 11 high school seniors from Carroll County Schools graduated from Southwire’s “12 For Life” program and were rewarded with a job offer at the company.

At a ceremony at the Burson Center, students who are graduating from high school Friday were presented with their “12 For Life” certificates of completion, including two students who were honored with awards for the highest grade point average and perfect attendance.

Southwire President and Chief Executive Officer Stu Thorn congratulated the graduating seniors and said that when it comes to this program, the most important measurement of success - along with productivity and efficiency - was its graduation rate.

“Today, we get to celebrate the fact that that measurement is now coming to life,” Thorn said. “We’re actually graduating people from the program, and that’s what it is all about. While not everybody is graduating, we haven’t achieved perfection. But you stretch for perfection; perfection’s not something you ever do achieve, but you keep trying. And we’ll keep trying to increase that graduation rate.”

Started in January, “12 For Life” is the brainchild of Southwire executives who wanted to help lower the high school dropout rate. The program gives students from each of the six county high schools a chance to work at the company’s manufacturing plant, be paid for their time and earn credit towards a diploma. The jobs that the students perform are repackaging and rewiring with either new or completely refurbished equipment.

Initially, the program began with 69 students, but because of its popularity, the enrollment has increased to around 90 students. Currently, nearly one-third of the 90 students are seniors.

“I want to thank the students for sticking with it,” said Carroll County Schools Superintendent John Zauner. “Persistence is extremely important in life, and it usually pays off. You’ve done that, and here you are at one of the finish lines in life. It’s a great accomplishment.”

Gib Grooms, a Southwire employee who worked with the “12 For Life” students, told the group of graduates that getting to know them and working with them has been a “tremendous blessing” in his life.

Graduating senior Randall Allen said that without this program, he definitely would not have a job or have enough credits to graduate from school. After graduation, he plans on working for Southwire.

“If it wasn’t for (12 For Life), I’d pretty much be in class and not really enjoy it,” he said. “With this, I really enjoyed it and earned class credit.”

At the end of the event, Thorn surprised graduates by offering all 11 full-time positions at Southwire, a $1,000 bonus and a higher starting salary than most people starting entry-level positions.

“There are not a lot of graduates coming out of high school who get a job just for graduating,” Thorn said. “There are thousands of student graduating across the country, but only a handful are getting (this) kind of opportunity.”