Area students who successfully completed session two of Elm Electrical’s free summer training seminars.
Reminder Publishing submitted photo
WESTFIELD — This summer, Elm Electrical is once again offering free four-day training sessions for students interested in the electrical field and for prospective co-op students at one of three “Elm Futures” training seminars.
The seminars are hosted in “Elm University,” the company’s inhouse training program.
Elm University classrooms and labs are used year-round giving employees who want to become licensed electricians an opportunity to opt into Elm’s four-year apprentice program. They can work their jobs Monday through Thursday and then every other Friday attend school at Elm U for free.
Elm Futures training seminars provide exposure to the field for high school students who don’t attend a technical school and for trade students who want to continue learning skills over the summer. One session took place in June and Session 2 ran July 13-17. Session 3, which runs from Aug. 4-7 is already full with a waitlist.
Paul Asselin, Elm Futures instructor, emphasized the value of the program for students from traditional high schools who might not have considered a trade career. “Often, these students think it’s too late to enter a trade. We ensure they know that pursuing a career in the electrical field is still very much an option,” he said.
On Monday through Wednesday during the training seminars, students receive instruction in Elm’s state-of-the-art multimedia classrooms and hands-on lab. Thursday, the final day, is Challenge Day where students apply what they’ve learned and complete a project board challenge. Elm project managers evaluate their work and offer feedback.
“This is a great opportunity to showcase and utilize our training facility, expose kids to the electrical field as well as instruct our current and future workforce. At the same time, we can get them excited about the field and see what the kids can do,” said Asselin, adding that the seminar gives Elm Electrical a snapshot of what they’d look like as potential co-op students on the job.
Students in Session 2 came from Westfield Technical Academy, Chicopee Comprehensive High School, Palmer Vocation, Springfield Technical Community College and one from Connecticut.
“It’s been a great week. Paul was awesome. I’ve learned a lot of more advanced stuff this week, so that’s been pretty cool,” said Antonio Simposon of Westfield Technical Academy at the end of last week’s training.
Asani Gayle, an engineering student at STCC said it was a great refresher for him.
“I attended school in Jamaica nine years ago. Paul showed us how to not just get it right, but to do it well. He reminded us how important accurate measurements are, how to do a good splice. I loved my week here with this group,” Gayle said.
Asselin said, “This was a great group of students. They all worked so hard this week. They helped each other out, everyone improved, and it was a hot week. They showed up every day ready to work.”
Asselin added Elm University is a great option for employees who in four years are ready to sit for their exam to be licensed electricians. “Adding our Futures program to our Elm U program really allows us to groom our future workforce from the very beginning,” he said.
Elm is a diversified automation, construction and electrical services provider that has been serving commercial and industrial customers throughout the Northeast since 1971. Elm offers a broad portfolio of services which includes automated manufacturing and distribution systems, design-build electrical construction services, machinery and mechanical solutions, electrical control panel assembly services, 24/7 electrical service and support and electrical preventative maintenance.
For more information about Elm Electrical and its training programs, visit elmelectrical.com.
