By Liz McMahan
Times Staff Writer
April 16, 2008 05:26 pm
—
Bonnie Coy went to work Tuesday morning in a new career.
The former teacher’s aide is now Fort Gibson’s first female water treatment plant operator.
She got hired full-time at Monday night’s town board of trustees meeting.
A few months ago, all Coy knew about what was that when you turn on the faucet, water came out.
She never realized it’s about a 12-hour process to take the water from the river to let it settle, run it through filters and process it for consumption.
It took a lot of study to get her Class D operator’s license, she said. She studied materials for several weeks before recently attending a class and taking the 100-question test. She also has been working part-time at the plant since Feb. 25.
It paid off. Coy made a perfect score, which Town Administrator Kathryn Carson said is unusual.
“I’ve been here seven years and I’ve never known of anyone making a 100 on their test,” Carson said. “I was pretty impressed.”
Coy, a native of Fort Gibson, worked as a teacher’s aide for 11 years in kindergarten through second grade.
“I was ready for a change,” Coy said.
Her children, Charlie Disney and Lacey Coy, were old enough that she felt she could give up her job at the school to get into something different.
“This is a huge change,” she said.
Now, she’s beginning study to get her Class C water lab license.
Reach Liz McMahan at 684-2926.
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