Tuesday, September 27, 2022

Michael Braaten, Employee of WECA Member Contractor

e1 Audiovisual Technologies


 

2022 Northern California Low Voltage Valedictorian Michael Braaten cites his WECA education as being “very wide-ranging and interesting” and says that “being in a cohort with people from many different subtrades really gave me a deeper understanding of how low voltage works and what it takes to be successful on a job site.” 

Michael, who works for WECA Member Contractor E1 Audiovisual Technologies, expounds on his sentiment by saying that “My WECA education gave me a lot of background knowledge about how low voltage works in general, and electrical code, project management, and tools to be successful on a job site. Beyond that, having classes with such a wide variety of people from various subtrades really gave me excellent insight into what it is like working in those other trades, as well as how to successfully collaborate with them on site to get the job done.” 

Michael also says that his on-the-job training with E1 was very diverse and challenging in many ways, but extremely rewarding. 

Read the rest of Michael's spotlight here!
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Rhoderic Tayaba, Employee of WECA Member Contractor Bergelectric Corp.

2022 Northern California Low Voltage Salutatorian Rhoderic Tayaba says that if you want to be the best in your field and have state-of-the-art training and education, WECA is where you want to be.

“The opportunity with WECA is there,” says Rhoderic. “I had a strong desire to be successful in my career. I wanted to be the best in my field and WECA encouraged me to do it by providing all the tools I needed to be successful, such as a positive class environment and encouraging instructors, classmates, and coworkers. The [Low Voltage Apprenticeship] program was an incredible program that I would highly recommend to anyone looking to go into my field because it provided classroom learning with real-life field experience.”

Rhoderic – who works for WECA Member Contractor Bergelectric – says that WECA prepared him for his career by enabling him to take his classroom learning out into the field.

Read the rest of Rhoderic's spotlight here!
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Alondra Mora, Employee of WECA Member Contractor Sebastian Corp.

2022 Low Voltage Apprenticeship graduate Alondra Mora – who works for WECA Member Contractor Sebastian – got her start in the low voltage electrical industry when she met her boss, Frank Sierra, at a high school career fair.  

“I was introduced to him at a high school career expo, and he always kept doors of opportunities open for me to go through and explore,” says Alondra. 

Though some of Alondra’s apprenticeship was completed during the pandemic stay-at-home directive in California, when WECA apprenticeship classes moved temporarily online, she always eagerly looked forward to doing hands-on labs at WECA’s Rancho Cordova training facility, stating that it was her “favorite part because it would allow us to experience what it would really be like working out in the field.” 

Read the rest of Alondra's spotlight here!
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Shane Suddeth, Employee of WECA Member Contractor Rex Moore Group

2022 WECA Northern California Commercial Electrical Apprenticeship graduate Shane Suddeth says that the greatest aspect of WECA and his apprenticeship was “Going through the apprenticeship with the group of people that I went through it with. We’ve all grown and learned together.”

Shane also credits WECA and his apprenticeship with giving him “quite an arsenal of knowledge and a pretty heavy-hitting support group” but attributes his success to his motivation and eagerness to learn and be successful in the trade, as well as some key people in his personal circle.

“First of all, my employer, [Rex Moore Group] for seeing potential and investing in my future,” says Shane. “Secondly, everybody who plays a role in my education (instructors, partners in the trade, foremen) and my classmates, when at some points it was difficult, we all would pull together and build one another up.”

Read the rest of Shane's spotlight here!