Former Maytag Employee not Looking Back;
JALC Makes Future Bright

CARTERVILLE — For eight years, Shanna Patrick worked on the washer line at Herrin Maytag. Her job was to put three screws in the back of the washer and a clip around the wire harness. She did this as much as 1,700 times a day.

Shanna Patrick

The work was hard, but the pay was good. And as a young mom, the money she earned helped bring financial security to her family.

Hundreds of other employees at Maytag worked just as hard and depended just as much on the paychecks they earned. It’s understandable that when company officials made the announcement two years ago in May that the plant would closeon December 22, many of the employees were devastated.

“It was a sad, sad day,” Shanna said. “Everyone tried to cope the best they could. After they made the announcement, we were given the rest of the day off with pay; some went to the bars, some went home. I went and picked my kids up from school and cried.”

It was, however, twice as troubling for the Patrick family, Shanna’s husband, John, also worked at the Maytag plant. For a split moment, there was a feeling of helplessness as the two discussed their future.

But Shanna, 32, quickly fell back on the idea of obtaining a college degree. She had already been taking some classes in her spare time, edging slowly toward an associate’s degree. Her efforts were about to be sped up.

On May 16, Shanna will not only have an associate’s degree from John A. Logan College; she will also receive a medical assistant’s certificate. The doors of opportunity have swung open widely because of this, and Shanna could not be happier accepting a new job with Southern Illinois OB-GYN and Associates.

“My future is bright,” Shanna said. “Thanks to MAN-TRA-CON and John A. Logan College, I do have a lot to look forward to now.”

In the meantime, Shanna’s husband was hired by American Coal to work at the company’s mine in Galatia.

In all, 13 former Maytag employees will go through the graduation ceremony to obtain degrees and certificates from John A. Logan College on May 16. Some of those graduates are close friends of Shanna’s.

“Everyone I know graduating, is really proud of themselves,” Shanna said. “We have all come a long way, dealing with emotions, classes, class schedules, and all that goes with losing a job and becoming a full-time college student to get to this point.”

Dr. Julia Schroeder, vice-president for instruction at John A. Logan College, called it a “display of remarkable cooperation” between John A. Logan College, MAN-TRA-CON, and a number of other agencies to bring about the opportunity for college to former Maytag employees.

The College remodeled a suite of offices and commons area to create the MAN-TRA-CON Center where former employees could meet, study, and gain confidence from each other and college and MAN-TRA-CON career specialists.

Robin Pritchett was Shanna’s career specialist. “Robin was really great,” Shanna said. “When I needed anything, she was there to help me. She kept me focused on completing my education.”

Shanna also praised JALC’s Cheryl Bernhardt and Dr. Brenda Erickson for their role in encouraging her to do her best in college.

“When you lose your job — a job you thought was secure and would be there for you for a long, long time — it takes the breath out of you,” Shanna said. “You have to find encouragement, and thank goodness there was plenty of that for me. I’m so excited about graduation.”

Shanna’s father, Tom Shoemake, will join her husband and two sons at the graduation ceremony.

“We’ll all still remember what it was like a couple of years ago when Maytag made the announcement it was closing, and to have the opportunities that have opened to me since that time, it will be an amazing feeling when they call my name at graduation,” Shanna said.

Shanna explained that she would pass the plant each day now on the way to her new job. “I will always remember the people I worked with there, and how close we were, but I’m not looking back when it comes to my career, I’m looking forward,” she said.