The 10 students participating in the Petal High School Utility Lineman Program recently got to show their skills to several organizations around the Pine Belt during an April 5 visit from a wide variety of electric, development and educational groups.
Officials from Chain Electric, Mississippi Power, the Mississippi Community College Board, South Mississippi Planning and Development Division, MHA Solutions, and Pearl River Community College showed up to the high school campus to check on the progress of the program.
“They got to see it hands-on, in action, with the students and instructor present,” said Matt Dillon, Superintendent of the Petal School District. “It went extremely well – it was great to have all the partners around together to listen to some students give some testimony about how much the program has meant to them, and how this is going to shape them in what they do next as far as college and career.”
The Utility Lineman Program was started last year through a partnership with Chain Electric. Under the leadership of Chain Electric general foreman Blake Jones, the students get to work in the classroom and the field to earn college credit and possible job opportunities after graduation.
Classes start at 7:30 a.m. every day throughout the school year, with instruction taking place in the classroom and hands-on training conducted in the field near the school’s transportation department. Classroom activities consist mainly of safety courses, while field training sees students setting poles and other lineman duties.
Topics in the program include such areas as specifications, transformer hookups, wire sizes, framing and voltage.
Upon completion of the program, students are eligible to be hired by Chain Electric or other electric providers. In addition, school officials have partnered with Pearl River Community College, which will offer graduates of the program 14 credits in PRCC’s Utility Lineman program.
“Of (the 10 students in the program), most of those are going into the field to be a lineman, whether they’re going to extend their career at Pearl River Community College or they’re going straight into the field,” Dillon said. “So I think this is going to serve as something we’ll continue to do.
“I think we have 10 or 11 that are interested in it again for next year. We feel like that’s a good, safe number to be out in the field with the instructor, because they do climb the poles and use equipment and things like that. So that’s a good, manageable number for us.”
Dillon said the program has been a great benefit for the students, and has helped to fulfill a local need for linemen.
“There’s a lineman shortage, and this is needed right here in the Pine Belt,” he said. “So I think it’s a great partnership to enhance our community and provide a good workforce for our community here locally.”
