Class is in session

Class is in session
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until you see what you’re learning in
action, then it all makes sense.”
The course lays the foundation for the
possibility of a successful career upon
completion; students earn an OSHA-10
Hour Construction Certification, a Certificate of Recognition from International
Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local
134’s apprenticeship school, and consideration for the IBEW Local 134 Market
Expansion Program. Not bad. Especially
for an industry that is constantly trying to
find well-trained employees.
Yet, early last summer, Simeon’s
electricity program was blinked out of
existence. In late June of last year, CPS
officials decided to cut the program. According to Kindred, who was laid off
after the class was dropped, the initial
reasons were budgetary, as Dr. Sheldon
House, the principal at Simeon, determined that the school could not afford
the program. At the time of the decision,
the school’s budget was down around
$200,000 and enrollment was projected
to drop by approximately 60 students.
Barbara Byrd-Bennett, former CPS
CEO, would later tell the Chicago Board
of Education that the program was removed because of limited enrollment,
not lack of funds. Denise Little, chief officer of network support, added that only
4% to 5% of students have earned qualifying certifications.
Kindred understood how the budget
angle factored into the program’s re-
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How a community saved one of the few high school electricity programs in the country
Hands-on is the name of the game at Simeon’s electricity program. Students wire circuit
boards and handle piping. They also work on electrical outlets from walls and wooden
framework that’s built by students in the carpentry program.
By Bill O’Leary, EA Associate Editor
At the corner of S. Vincennes Ave.
and W. 81st St., on the South Side of
Chicago, sits Neal F. Simeon Career
Academy High School, home of the
Wolverines and former school of NBA
superstar Derrick Rose. It is also home
to one of the few high school electricity
programs offered in the U.S., and the
only of its kind from the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) system.
Simeon’s electricity program is a
three-year course sequence that introduces students to electrical construction. The curriculum includes
workplace readiness, safety, blueprint
reading, and fundamentals and application of construction math. Students
also receive an introduction to careers,
tools, materials, and terminology associated with the industry.
“Some of my students don’t understand what they’re getting into at first,”
said Latisa Kindred (pictured at right in
ELECTRICAL APPARATUS / JULY 2015
the photo above), the program’s teacher. “But being able to work with their
hands and learn that way—they get it.
You can be in a book all day long, but
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Former students of the program include college graduates from Purdue, Eastern Illinois University, University of Illinois, Southern Illinois University–Carbondale/Edwardsville, and
Loyola University. Other have gone into the U.S. Navy or pursued construction careers by
becoming IBEW trainees and apprentices.
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Photos, unless otherwise credited, by Bill O’Leary and copyright 2015 by Barks Publications, Inc.
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The program is not solely hands-on. Students learn workplace readiness skills like interview techniques, filling out job applications, and how to create resumes, cover letters, and
reference lists. Mock interviews are conducted between students and volunteers from the
construction industry and with human resources backgrounds.
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moval, but she took issue with the claim
that students could not find real-world
success after graduating. Former students had gone on to study electricity
in college or join Local 134’s apprenticeship school. The main objective
of the program is to prepare students
for IBEW Local 134’s Market Expansion Trainee program, where they’ll
take Simeon’s introductory, hands-on
instruction into the field. Successful
trainees can then become union apprentices and journeymen.
“Everything that I was expected to
do, like preparing students for college
and the apprenticeship, I was able to
do,” said Kindred. “It made no sense to
get a rid of a program that was proving
to be successful.”
Kindred has taught the Electricity
program since 2007, and prior to that
she served as an IBEW 134 construction electrician for twelve years, working for contractors out in the field. She
made the decision to become a teacher
after hearing from recruiters that the
“black kids couldn’t pass the test to go
into the trades.”
“I believe the young people in my
community not only deserve to be in
the trades, but they were capable of
doing what they had to do to get into
the electrical field,” said Kindred. She
is currently an active member of Local
134 and a member of Chicago Women
in Trades, where she taught after leaving Simeon.
“I’ve known Latisa for years, and
she probably took a 50% pay cut to go
from being an electrician to a teacher,”
said Maurice King, assistant director
of the IBEW NECA (National Electrical Contractors Association) Technical
Institute, and involved with community
outreach for the apprenticeship program. “She wanted to help these young
kids and give them an opportunity for
success. That’s how committed she is.”
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CLASS IN SESSION continued
Each year, students take multiple field trips that will expose them to post-secondary options
in electricity-related fields. Past trips included IBEW NECA Technical Institute in Alsip, Ill.;
ComEd training facility in Rockford, Ill.; Union Pacific Railroad Hotel construction site; the
Illinois Department of Transportation/Construction Industry Service Corporation’s HandsOn Fair; and Illinois Institute of Technology’s Smart Grid and Campus Tour.
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Rally time
After news broke of the program’s
cancellation, community support came
about as quick and easy as flipping a
light switch. A celebration was held in
the classroom where parents and students were invited to share their experiences with the class—one of Kindred’s
proudest moments as a teacher.
Multiple school board meetings were
held where administrators and parents
engaged in “heated exchanges” as the
parents emphasized the importance
of having programs such as these that
provide a career path for younger inELECTRICAL APPARATUS / JULY 2015
ELECTRICAL APPARATUS / JULY 2015
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grow if students and parents see an “end
game” by joining the Simeon class with
the IBEW apprenticeship program and
having assurance of getting a job after
completing each level of training.
On Aug. 20, the efforts of Kindred,
parents, students, alumni, politicians,
union members, and the community
at large paid off. When the doors first
opened at Simeon Career Academy for
the 2014-15 school year, class would be
in session. Those circuit boards aren’t
going to wire themselves.
“When I heard the news, I was relieved, but at the same time I knew I had
to execute a whole new plan since the
IBEW training program is a guaranteed
option for my students now,” said Kindred. “The whole campaign to save this
class was launched on pure adrenaline,
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benefits that we could give them after
they graduated by guaranteeing employment,” said Donald Finn, current
Local 134 business manager and financial secretary.
CPS administrators wanted Local 134
to guarantee that they could increase
participation, so they developed an outreach program to promote the electricity class to middle school students and
other members of the community who
may not know about the advantages of
this trade.
Principal House, looking to tie a job
to the program, asked Finn to draft a letter to parents that outlined the program’s
connection to IBEW and the industry as
a whole. After the letter had been sent
out, the positive response from parents
and the community added further incentive to revive the program. Interest will
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One of the primary objectives of the program is to teach students the basics. Ohm’s Law and
construction math are covered as well as understanding where power comes from and how
to read a ruler.
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dividuals who come from troubled
neighborhoods with limited options.
A rally and press conference was
held directly outside of Simeon to urge
parents to contact administrators and
express the impact it’s had on their children. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel,
Alderman Howard Brookins, and the
Chicago Teachers Union provided political backing for the growing initiative,
releasing statements of support.
Former students began to take an active role in supporting the program as
well. Shanae Webb, a Simeon graduate who is currently two years into the
Local 134 apprenticeship, had kept in
touch with Kindred after running into
her while running errands.
As the battle to save the electricity
program unfolded over the summer,
Kindred would update Webb on its
progress. The relationship had come a
long way since the days when Webb’s
mother would receive a call from Ms.
Kindred if Shanae was misbehaving
in class.
“If I hadn’t taken the electricity class,
I would probably just be working to
make ends meet,” said Webb. “You receive an Associate’s degree after finishing the apprenticeship program, and the
credits you receive can be transferred
towards getting a Bachelor’s. I feel like
this is a great opportunity and a great
choice for my future.”
Kindred has kept in touch with many
of her students, serving as a mentor and
providing guidance and letters of recommendation as these young minds enter the technical trades.
The tides truly began to turn in the
class’s favor when IBEW took an active role. Kindred contacted Terry Allen, Local 134 business manager at the
time, and explained the situation. Allen
became instrumental in brokering the
deal to save the program.
“Terry was really the galvanizing
force and the first labor leader to reach
out and do something like this,” said
King. “He probably had never stepped
foot in Simeon before hearing about
what was happening with the course,
but he was going around saying we have
to save this program, that it was the right
thing to do.”
Allen died on Nov. 11 from prostate
cancer, five months after mobilizing
his union to save Simeon’s electricity
program.
IBEW Local 134 members first set up
a meeting with CPS and then contacted
the mayor’s office. “At these meetings
we would express the benefits that this
program was giving these kids and the
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Students have a number of tools at their disposable during class hours, including screw
drivers and saws. The tools come from well-known sources like Klein Tools and Grainger.
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The next step for graduates of
the Simeon electricity program
Simeon graduates who complete the electricity program can then serve as trainees
through the IBEW Local 134 Market Expansion Trainee Program. This program
begins with a non-paid, one-week electrical
industry orientation; after that, students will
be assigned to a signatory contractor and
begin working on a job site, earning 35% of
a journeyman electrician’s wage. Successful trainees can then work to become union
apprentices and journeymen.
The IBEW Local 134 and the Electrical
Contractors’ Association of the City of Chicago sponsor an electrical apprenticeship
program in Cook County, Ill. This program
is five years long and consists of classroom
instruction and on-the-job training provided by union electrical contractors. Apprentices can earn 53 college credit hours
toward an A.A.S. in electrical construction
technology through Richard J. Daley College in Chicago.
The program starts off with eleven weeks
of classroom instruction, held at the West
Side Technical Institute in Chicago. Firstyear classes include Technical Math, Print
Reading, Construction Technology, Electrical Circuitry, and Conduit Bending. After
completing these courses, apprentices are
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Victory
The Simeon electricity program now
has the capacity to enroll 28 students
with the promise from Local 134 to
offer jobs to students who complete it.
Trainees will now earn $12.50 an hour
and apprentices could earn around $43
per hour. Now that the dust has settled,
one could look back and ask: Why was
saving this one class so important?
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and now I just had to go into the class
and do what I had to do.”
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CLASS IN SESSION continued
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IBEW apprentices have performed a variety of electrical tasks for the Construction Industry
Service Corporation.
—IBEW-NECA Technical Institute photo
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One possible answer is that there
are barely any of these classes left.
For years now, vocational programs,
like the “shop classes of old,” are being phased out. According to Forbes
magazine, by 2012 the Los Angeles
Unified School District had eliminated
90% of shop classes. On a national
level, the number of public high school
graduates earning credits in engineering technologies has decreased 2.6%
from 1990 to 2009, as stated by the Institute of Education Sciences’ National
Center for Education Statistics.
“I’ve heard that since Simeon became such a big issue last year, other
schools are now asking for an electricity program,” said Maurice King. “And
we need them because all the vocational classes are pretty much gone. I went
to a vocational high school in Chicago
and took electric shop. That’s where I
decided to become an electrician. Now
those options are no longer in place.”
A cultural shift could also be a culprit for the diminishing interest in
trades. These days, the younger generation is being raised on computers,
and most of their technical interests
are being served in that sphere. While
attending Simeon, Shanae Webb saw
how fellow classmates were turned off
by taking classes that required you to
get your hands dirty.
“With any trade that’s hands-on, it
takes dedication and hard work. A lot
of people don’t want to be associated
with that because it’s easier to sit down
and be on the computer,” she said.
“This is a good trade, but you definitely cannot be lazy. If a trade is something that you want to do, go for it and
don’t let gender, race, or anything else
deter you.”
Vocational programs provide an
educational gateway for young people
who can’t afford student loans. There
seems to be a societal belief that high
school graduates must go to college
if they want to get a job and become
successful. This certainly is not the
case, but it’s hard to break a deeply
ingrained opinion that so many have
bought into.
“Everyone is not going to college.
It’s just that simple,” said Kindred.
“But there is an option for those who
aren’t going to college where they can
create with their hands and put their
mechanical abilities to use.”
While options at this level are limited, thanks to a community that values
hands-on trades, the students of the
Simeon electricity program now have
a chance to chart their futures.
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assigned to work with a union electrical
contractor for around nine months.
In the second year, apprentices are paid
a stipend to attend nine weeks of classes
at the IBEW NECA Technical Institute in
Alsip, Ill. Year three has students learning
about HVAC, electrical power systems, industrial control systems, and programmable
control. The fourth and fifth years each
consist of six evening seminars focused on
safety training, leadership, and other industry related topics. After completing the fifth
and final year, apprentices become journeymen wiremen.
Apprentices have worked throughout
Cook County, performing electrical construction tasks at Chicago Midway International Airport, Navy Pier, shopping malls,
and housing complexes. At the IBEW
NECA Institute, apprentices have been
building solar panels and wind turbines.
The program is hoping to focus more on
renewable energy-based work in the future.
This way, when the apprentices become
journeymen electricians, they are wellequipped to perform in this emerging field.
There have been some bumps in the road.
The languid state of the economy caused
the program to shut down from 2009 to
2011. Since then, local industries have
been requesting more apprentices, and the
program has been consistently filling their
classes to meet demand.—BO’L
ELECTRICAL APPARATUS / JULY 2015