On April 24th, Mike Blair, Underground Residential Distribution (URD) Instructor at Oneonta Job Corps Academy shared his knowledge with his daughter’s 4th grade class at Greater Plains Elementary School in Oneonta, NY.
Mike went to the elementary school and set up a mock URD area in order to show the children safe ways to handle electricity. The 4th graders were completing their basic electricity curriculum, neutrons, electrons, etc. and the teacher and Mike thought his visit would be a good way to end the coursework.
Mike showed the children all of the proper Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) that goes along with working in the utility field and even let the children put it on. After they were safely in their PPE, the students were allowed to use hotsticks to install a load break elbow in a transformer, hooked up a cold shrink termination to a fused cut-out on a power pole and then were shown how to tie secondary cables into a meter box.
Although the day was plagued with spitting snow, the 4th graders were excited about the opportunity to experience a day in the life of a utility worker.
Mike said, “It was a great opportunity to share his knowledge with young, enthusiastic community members.”