Host Joy Walczak speaks with Brian Gall, Electrical Instructor, West Michigan Construction Institute and Bryer Armstrong, 12th grade, Kent City High School
Joy Walczak (JW): Welcome to the Your Dream Is Our Dream podcast where we celebrate student success one dream at a time.This program is made possible by Kent ISD in partnership withWGVU.I'm Joy Walczak and today I'm talking with Brian Gall, electrical instructor at West Michigan Construction Institute and a proud alum of Kent Career Tech Center, and Bryer Armstrong, a senior at Kent City High who also attends Brian's electrical class, a Kent ISD CTE program. Thanks to both of you for joining us today.
Brian Gall (BG) It's great to be here.
Bryer Armstrong (BA):Thank you.
JW: All right. Well, Mr. Gall, I'd love to get started with you. Can you tell us about the program here at West Michigan Construction Institute that you're teaching where Breyer's now a student?
BG: Yes, the high school students can, junior year, they can apply to get into the class. They get in, they come in, they learn trade, a technical trade. They come out of class, they get credentials with a company called NCCCR. So they got you, know, actually for the CTE programs. So they got credentials and experience coming out of here. So if they make it into level two and level two's on, they get a job. We help them get a job and they go to work.
JW: And your area of expertise is electrical, right?
BG: Correct.
JW: And that's the course that you're teaching here?
BG: Yes.
JW: And Bryer, why did you decide to take this course?
BA: Our high school counselor showed us this program, WMCI, and I thought it was a really good thing to get into because I know the trades have a really good job security. I'd be able to find a job and have one for life.
JW: What made you interested in electrical? What a cool area.
BA: My whole family kind of works in the trades and I thought electrical would be pretty fun.
JW: And Mr. Gall, you actually got started about the same age as Bryer is now. You took a course way back at Kent Career Tech Center. Can you tell us about the course you took and how that helped launch what you ended up doing with your career?
BG: Yes, I did. It was back in early 80s. I was a junior in high school. The class came available. So a friend of mine is also getting in the same class. We did it together. I was looking forward to it because my older brother is an electrician. He took the same class. And I got into class, and I was working right away the summer after my junior year.And I kept the job and working ever since.
JW: Fantastic. What was the course that you took there?
BG: At that time, it was called Industrial Electricity.
JW: And now you're teaching our next generation of electricians. That's pretty cool to come full circle.
BG: Yes.
JW: And Bryer, can you tell us how this courseis really um helping you achieve your goals of wanting to become an electrician? What do you actually do in this course?
BA: This electrical course will help me get the credentials and skills I need for the electrical field, and it will help me find a job.
JW: Fantastic. What kinds of skills are you learning? What are you doing in that lab over there?
BA: We learn how to bend conduit, run wires, install lights and switches, outlets, all sorts of things that we need to know on the job.
JW: Fantastic.And have you been able to experience any field trips or anything where you're actually seeing some of this work in action?
BA: Yeah, we went to a couple of job sites and we got to do a tour of them and see how things go.
JW: What do you think of learning from people who are actual professionals in this field? Does that make a difference for you?
BA: Yeah, it does. um Learning from professionals who've worked in the field for a while, they know how the trade is and what you need to know to get started.
JW: Fantastic. Have you had an opportunity to earn some credentials while you're still in high school?
BA: Yeah, we learn our core credential and then our level one electrical through high school.
JW: That's great. What do you hope to do next, maybe this summer?
BA: I want to get a job as an apprentice and then come back here in the fall to keep learning.
JW: Fantastic. Mr. Gall, why do you think it's important for us as adults and as educators to ask students like Breyer what they're interested in, what their dreams might be?
BG: Well, you've to find out what they'd like to do. We have some people that come into class that they think they want to do electrical and they might change their mind. We give them some different options here, we do other trainingand kind of get them exposed to the trades and different things they can do. They can stick to electrical, they can move on to some other trade. yeah.
JW: Briar, I'd like to ask you the same question. Why do you think it's important for us to learn what your dreams are and help you achieve those dreams?
BA: If you don't know what you want to be when you're older, it can be hard to be successful. But if you have a dream, then you can work toward it when you're young and you can be successful in your life.
JW: Fantastic. Mr. Gall, we want to welcome you to the Kent Career Tech Center Alumni Network, which we've just started this year. We'retaking a chance ofbringing back our alum so that you can be aligned with some of our students and our programs and that we can celebrate your success too. So congratulations on your career.
BG: Thank you.
JW: You're welcome.
BG:It's been great. I think it's a neat program.
JW: Tell us about the need for new students like Breyer in an electrical field today.
BG: Oh, there's a big need. Skill trades, as we know, for quite a while now have been short on people. It's hard to find people. It's gonna be a shortage for quite a while, actually. So, on the electrical trade, it's nice one because there's so many other avenues you can do in electrical besides just running conduit, pulling wire. There's a lot of technical avenues. There's other avenues. You can become a project manager, an estimator, a foreman, a lot of different things. So, a lot of dreams within a dream.
JW: Fantastic. And Briar, would you like to share with maybe the next generation after you why it's important to embrace programs like this CTE experience here at West Michigan Construction Institute?
BA: I think this is a great program because you can do it when you're young in high school and it's completely free. It's a great opportunity to get into the trades and learn all about them.
JW: Well, we wish you a great deal of success and I really appreciate talking with both of you. Thanks for being here today.
BG & BA: Thank you.
JW: And thanks to everyone who's listening too. If you know a student who dreams big, we would love to feature them in our Your Dream Is Our Dream podcast. You can submit your ideas and hear more episodes at KentISD.org/Your Dream Is Our Dream.I'm Joy Walczak. The Your Dream Is Our Dream podcast is presented by Kent ISD in partnership with WGVU.
