EC&M On Air Podcast — Training the Next Generation of Electrical Professionals

In this episode of “EC&M On Air,” Editor-in-Chief Ellen Parson sits down with Saugerties High School Guidance Counselor and Master Electrician Mike Catalano and three of the electrical students he instructs to discuss a unique program, based in Saugerties, N.Y., that allows high schoolers to gain hands-on and classroom electrical knowledge, along with the opportunity to put those skills to work on a real job site through a partnership with the local Habitat for Humanity chapter. 

Jonathan Toth, Dylan Senor, and Kaitlynn Lennon are three seniors in the program. They share their experience working hands-on with Habitat for Humanity in this episode. All three students have spent two years in the Electrical Construction Program at Ulster Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES), which operates as an extension of the county's local school districts to provide vocational training services and programs. Through its partnership with Habitat for Humanity, the students worked with Catalano and gained hands-on experience such as working with a panelboard, running wires in tight spaces, and more.