Western Electrical Contractors Association, Inc.

Already Belong? Login

GetWired! Program Instructors Talk Progress at Biannual Train the Trainer Event

Thursday, January 16, 2020


WECA held its first Train the Trainer event of the decade on Saturday, January 11th at its Rancho Cordova headquarters. The event - which was facilitated by Dan Bierly (Curriculum Development and GetWired! Training Manager); Galen Eckert (Electrician Trainee/Continuing Education Lead Instructor); Ana Lopez (Electrician Trainee/Journeyman Program Manager); Emily Groetsema (Electrician Trainee/Continuing Education Program Coordinator), and Rebecca Archer (Curriculum Production and eLearning Specialist) - covered topics such as the latest teaching strategies and techniques, new processes such as rolling out a new code year (2017 NEC), and burning questions that the GetWired! program instructors in attendance brought to roundtable discussions.

One highlight of the event came as the team celebrated that at the beginning of the previous decade (2010), the GetWired! program had less than 200 students per session. But now, as we enter a new decade, the program regularly draws over 1,000 students per session. The growth of this program is due in no small part to the skill and dedication of our GetWired! program instructors.

Dan Bierly, the Curriculum Development and GetWired! Training Manager, says that "Train the Trainer is all about team building. All of our instructors teach from different locations, and this is a way to bridge the gap and open the lines of communication with all instructors so no person has to teach in a vacuum."

Rebecca Archer, the Curriculum Production and eLearning Specialist, concurred with Bierly, adding that with the event, "we get to express gratitude to our instructors for their hard work." 

"Many instructors go above and beyond every session to help us meet the ever-increasing student demand," said Bierly. "If it wasn't for our part-time instructors - some of whom teach four nights a week plus weekend labs in addition to their full-time jobs - we would not have the successful program that we have today."

As we begin a new year and a new decade here at WECA, we are grateful to our instructors for continually striving to ensure that WECA's students receive the most cutting-edge and well-rounded electrical industry education possible.

Electricians: Want to get paid to share your knowledge and expertise, nights or weekends? We'd love to talk to you about joining the GetWIred! instructor team. Click here to learn more about open positions.