Oklahoma CareerTech Delivers

The high school graduate from Elmore City saw a Facebook post about a new training program at Mid-America Technology Center and thought it might check off two boxes on his career checklist – money and travel.

Moore enrolled in Mid-America’s first lineworker technology class, and his instructor, Bruce Beam, said Moore met the challenge head-on and quickly became a sought-after employee.

“He always came to class ready to learn,” Beam said.

Beam uses a combination of indoor and outdoor labs and theory-based instruction, covering everything from pole climbing and framing to principles of electrical transmission and distribution. Students graduate with the skills they need to become high-voltage journeymen-lineworkers.

Moore is also a specialist E-4 in the U.S. Army Reserves, and it was his sergeant who told him about a job opening at MDR Powerline Construction in Stillwater. He was hired and started work just three days after his last class at Mid-America.

MDR specializes in constructing, repairing and upgrading utility lines, responding to everything from storm restoration to heavy construction. After two months on the job, Moore is making $24 an hour.

Beam described Moore as a “good student with a great attitude.”