“Learn and Earn” mobile education units to open new pathways to electrical careers for high school students in five southern Oregon counties

Support from Pacific Power, Pacific Power Foundation and IBEW Local 659 will ensure rural students from diverse backgrounds can access well-paying careers.

GLIDE, Ore. — Four new “Learn and Earn” mobile education units will soon hit the roads that wind through southern Oregon, delivering new opportunities for well-paying electrical careers to rural high school students in small and outlying communities.

Each unit is a trailer the length of a large school bus, with learning and lab space inside for up to 15 students. Starting this fall, the units will deliver the Rural Electrical Pre-Apprenticeship – a Career and Technical Education course currently offered on-site at only two high schools – to students throughout Douglas, Jackson, Josephine, Lake and Klamath counties.

The pre-apprenticeship launched at Glide High School in Douglas County in 2022 through a partnership between Pacific Power, the Pacific Power Foundation, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 659 and Crater Lake  Electrical Training Center.

Recent contributions of $60,000 from Pacific Power, $40,000 from the Pacific Power Foundation and matching support from IBEW Local 659 helped unlock state and federal grants to fund the new mobile education units and expand the pre-apprenticeship to students who don’t typically have access to such opportunities during their school day.

Project partners shared the news about the “Learn and Earn” units at a student assembly Thursday at Glide High School, where 14 students completed the pre-apprenticeship last year.

“It’s common, especially in rural communities like Glide, for students to be unaware of higher-level job opportunities like electrical careers. We want to change that,” said Jeff Brown, a director at Pacific Power’s North Umpqua Hydroelectric Project, about 50 miles east of Glide. “By expanding this program to reach more students, we’re trying to remove barriers to opportunity for young people growing up in the rural areas that Pacific Power serves.”

Pre-apprenticeship removes barriers in rural communities

The Rural Electrical Pre-Apprenticeship, which is run by Crater Lake  Electrical Training Center instructors, combines academics with hands-on learning to prepare students for apprentice electrician positions offered by trade unions and utilities. The course is open to all students, with an emphasis on recruiting women, students from Tribal communities, students of color and those from low-income backgrounds – all of whom are underrepresented in the skilled trades.

“We are thrilled to support the Crater Lake Electrical Training Center and local high schools in their efforts to prepare students from diverse backgrounds for energy-related careers. The utility industry needs them, and this is an excellent partnership to share these opportunities right here in their own communities,” said Sam Carter, Pacific Power regional business manager and a member of the Pacific Power Foundation’s Grant Champions committee.

Glide students on Thursday heard from Coby Pope, a 2023 Glide graduate, who landed a job with Pacific Power right out of high school, earning $37.03 per hour. Pope had his eyes opened to electrical careers as a pre-apprenticeship student at Glide, and the skills he gained helped him stand out in interviews. Of 50 applicants, he was one of four hired.

New units will deliver skills, exposure to electrical careers

The new “Learn and Earn” units will deliver the horizon-broadening experience that Pope had at Glide to potentially thousands more students throughout the region. Each unit will include mock framing inside so that students can practice bending conduit and running wire through walls. At least two of the units will have solar panels and handrails on the roof so that students can learn about renewable energy generation.

The job outlook for electricians overall is expected to grow faster than the average for all occupations over the next decade, according to federal labor statistics. Some southern Oregon students have already been exposed to electrical careers because their parents or other relatives work in the skilled trades, including at Pacific Power projects in the region. It’s important to ensure that students without those connections have access to the same opportunities to build a stable, well-paying career, according to Lance Corley, training director at Crater Lake Electrical Training Center in Medford.

The four “Learn and Earn” units are being assembled by Transport Custom Designs, a Pennsylvania company. The first unit is expected to be on the road in southern Oregon by September 2024.