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Nation’s Only Middle School Electrical Academy Opens At Ernest Ward

A grand opening was held Thursday night for the new IBEW Electrical Academy at Ernest Ward Middle School. The academy, which began in August, is the first such program in the nation at the middle school level.

According to Lesa Morgan, director of Workforce Education for the Escambia County School District, the academy will teach not only traditional electrical systems, but also alternative energy such as solar power.

“We have Florida’s future energy talent right here,” Morgan said of the EWMS students.

For a photo gallery from the event, click here.

“What they are learning now can one day be used in the workforce,” Escambia Superintendent Malcolm Thomas said. He called the program “a model that you can take anywhere in the country.”

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers worked with the school district to create the Electrical Academy. Middle school career academies are small, personalized learning communities within a school in which select students and teachers participate during a two or three-year span. A career academy involves teachers from different subjects working together as an interdisciplinary team.

“I think it is going to give them a lot of opportunities; it’s going to get him interested in the electrical field, which is a very good field to get into when he gets out of high school,” Alex Amerson said of the education his nephew is receiving in the academy.

In the EWMS Electrical Academy, the students are being introduced to electrical systems, learning the theories of electricity constructing  projects. Students in the program said they are captivated by the projects that give them real, hand-on experience in the program.

“It’s real fun; we get to do a lot of projects,” said Christopher Brown. “We’ve been able to wire lab boards, and later on in the year we will be able to wire a house,” added student Abbie Johnson.

During the grand opening program Thursday night, students demonstrated their lab boards — wired 120-volt circuits with operating outlets, three-way switches and light bulbs.

“One youngster told me that he was now ready to go rewire his house. I told him to wait a little while longer,” Thomas quipped.

There are about 90 students in the Ernest Ward Middle School Electrical Academy. By 2012, the current Construction Academy at Northview High School is expected to be expanded to include an electrical academy.

For a photo gallery from the event, click here.

Pictured top: Escambia County School Board member Gerald Boone uses his cell phone to photograph sparks from a Telsa coil on display during the grand opening of the Ernest Ward Middle School Electrical Academy Thursday night in Walnut Hill. Pictured inset: There are about 90 students in the academy. Pictured below: EWMS Electrical Academy students demonstrate “lab boards” with functioning 120-volt electrical wiring. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.

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