Whether it’s the price tag of a degree, or the uncertain prospects coming out of one, more job seekers are prioritizing stability. While larger education frameworks play a big role in defining the default pathways, many small towns and rural communities across the country quietly shape the entry into alternative options like skilled trade work. Turning the heads of some young workers, technical fields are increasingly being recognized as a route to meet this priority.
On the Cherokee Nation reservation in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, a fiber technician training program is connecting its community members to one such pathway. As part of the Cherokee Nation Career Readiness Act, the program helps train members in fiber optics — the underpinning infrastructure for internet connectivity around the world.
Unlike many college grads today, people from this program are moving quickly into paid work. The last four graduation classes have all landed jobs in the industry — with a new class beginning training today.
A clear backbone of the program’s success is its trainer, Jeremy Sixkiller, and the close, hands-on relationships he builds with each class.
A graduate of the program himself, Sixkiller went from working at a feed store for $12 an hour to becoming a skilled foreman — thanks to a farmer who casually suggested one of the Tribe’s programs. Within eight months of graduating, he was leading two crews, with equipment and company trucks, traveling across Oklahoma and Colorado.
For years, traveling was a highlight of the job, but starting a family flipped that on its head. “I had a baby girl, and she was growing up on me so fast that, you know, I was missing out on a lot,” he told Broadband Nation.
While packing up to head home to his family, Oklahoma State University called him and offered an instructing position in the same program that he’d come through. He’s been teaching there ever since.
"It has really lightened up my life; it really has,” he reflected. Nearly every day at lunch, Sixkiller sees someone he knows, a friend or a neighbor, and they stop him to check in on the program and the latest group of students coming through.
“That just tells me they hear about the success that we have here,” he added. “They know we're doing good things for not just the Cherokee Nation, but for the citizens of Cherokee Nation, so it really makes me feel good to hear people say every day, you know: You guys are doing good.”
Reality readiness
With such a strong placement rate into the field, Sixkiller has built a real trust in the program — and its growth has reflected that.
“We went from having about 25 applicants to having 70 and 80 applicants every class, every three months,” he explained. Now before every program, Sixkiller and his team spend four full days interviewing the applicants — so it’s become important to set up clear expectations of the training and work.
The first common myth to dispel: it’s “all computers.”
Sixkiller explained: "Some of the guys come in, they think it's going to be all computers… and I'm like, ‘All right, guys, this is not computers all the way, you know, we're going to be climbing,’ and they don't like that idea.” The interview process helps sort out their relationship to the outdoors, the weather, and more importantly, how they show up, he noted.
Another big consideration — travel.
"Are you willing to travel with the work? Because, you know, we're not guaranteeing you a spot in your backyard,” he said. While local technician jobs pop up, they’re not always a realistic expectation, especially in rural areas like Tahlequah.
Their application questionnaire now assesses the willingness to work in other states in unusual schedules — like on the road for three weeks and home for one. Sixkiller knows personally how this can evolve from an exciting prospect to a dealbreaker depending on circumstances like having a family.
But he reminds those whose lives are more travel compatible that “the further you go, the more money you're going to make, so just remember that.”
A fiber feedback loop
With the intimacy of the program, Sixkiller has approached the training, its students and their job prospects not just as a workforce pipeline, but as a community.
“I hold a pretty good bond with just about every one of my students, I try to get on a personal level with them, to make them feel comfortable with me,” said Sixkiller. Like other rural technical college programs, the smaller class sizes make for deeper student-teacher relationships — and more individualized learning.
Those relationships stick around as they enter the workforce, which supports a feedback loop of both industry experience and community building.
“I have a couple of students that work here in town, and sometimes they get off earlier than the others, so they'll swing by and be like, ‘Hey, this is what we're working on.’ And they'll show the guys: this is a real-life situation; this is what you're going to be doing,” he detailed. “I can pretty much call on just about anybody, and they would come up and give a demonstration.”
In the same vein, Sixkiller is always ready to support graduates out in the field, especially when the technology is always evolving. “I still learn every day, because there's so much to learn about fiber,” he said — echoing many of the industry’s veteran educators.
“That's the kind of bond I hold with every one of my students,” Sixkiller concluded. “They can call me any time of the day if they need advice. If I don't know, I can call somebody that does.”
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