This past week, Rosendin Electric partnered with the Hillsboro Chamber’s School to Career program to teach high school seniors from the Hillsboro and Beaverton school districts about the electrical industry.
On January 8th and 9th, the 18 students who attended the Early Learning Opportunity (ELO) were able to explore each department within Rosendin Electric at Rosendin’s Hillsboro office, including Project Management, Estimating, Building Information Modeling (BIM), IT/Technologies, Engineering, Pre-Fabrication, Business Development and more.
The day was not just about taking a tour through the facilities, but about receiving hands-on learning from those in the field. Each day started with a “Stretch & Flex” routine, an informal all-staff meeting that kick starts the day with a safety and health meeting as well as light stretching. The Stretch & Flex routine gave the students a glimpse into the electrician world and exposed them to the more active learning and working environment they have the option to receive.
“We know a lot of these students are going to want to, or are at least thinking of becoming an electrician,” said Courtney Hron, Business Development Manager at Rosendin Electric. “We’re going to provide them with the tools and resources to get them there, telling them ‘here’s the IBEW, here’s how you can join,’ and really just pointing them in the right direction, because a lot of it is already public knowledge.”
Programs that provide ELOs to students can help them make an informed decision before they decide whether to spend thousands of dollars at a university, studying classes for a major they might not even keep.
“I think for a lot of these students, money is a big driving factor,” Hron said. “Within a few years, some of these students could be making nearly 100 grand a year as an electrician.”
For high schools and parents, programs like School to Career help to bridge the gap between students and the career paths they may want to pursue.
“From 9th through 11th grade, students will go to some of the 100-120 different career days we host a year,” said Tabitha McCampbell a School to Career Coordinator. “By their senior year, they will have narrowed down what they want to do their 15-hour experience in, fill out a request form, and we place them in a group ELO that is related to what they are interested in.”
A group ELO will include a range of different activities, speakers, and field trips, all focused around a specific career area. According to McCampbell, School to Career was able to do the entire 15-hour program at Rosendin over two days because Rosendin was able to teach the students a wide variety of things, including being an electrician, engineering, building information modeling, and more.
“We rely a lot on our partnerships with companies and organizations to make this program work,” McCampbell said. “They volunteer their time and resources to help out the students.”
McCampbell said that they plan to continue their great partnership with Rosendin, including at least one annual group ELO at Rosendin.
