10/01/2026
Cheers to a true difference-maker, Mike Coyne!
If you have spent any time at MADE at Plainfield, you know how much Mike Coyne has meant to Workforce U. For this month's Workforce U spotlight, we are looking back on the incredible impact he has made on our team, our programs, and hundreds of students.
Mike brought a wealth of hands-on experience from the automotive and manufacturing industries straight into the classroom. But what truly sets Mike apart is his heart for helping others succeed:
-He taught himself Spanish and learned sign language so every student felt supported.
-He routinely worked weekends, odd hours, and traveled off-site whenever someone needed a hand.
-He lived by the belief that everyone deserves a chance at an education.
“𝘔𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦, 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯. 𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘔𝘪𝘬𝘦, 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘥, 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘴. 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦.”
— Sabrina West, Ingredion
"𝘔𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘝𝘜 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮, 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘝𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺'𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘧 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘖𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦."
— Matt Schwartz, Asst VP of Outreach & Engagement.
"𝘏𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘦𝘥. 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥."
— John Kirisits, Colleague and Fellow Instructor (Plainfield, IN)
Mike, thank you for building Workforce U into what it is today.
Drop a comment below to send Mike your congratulations!
