Charleston Team Inspires Future Electricians Through “Build-It” Explorers Club

With the help of other ABC member volunteers, the kids were taught how to wire their own lamps and each participant went home with a newly created personal mini-lamp.

The “Build-It” Explorers Club is a partnership between ABC Carolinas and several local Boy Scouts Councils. At the Charleston Club’s get-together on Saturday, March 4, 2023, CarolinaPower’s Johnny Monroe, Branch Manager of our Charleston office, and Derek Sligh, Project Manager, volunteered their time to teach a group of Explorers (middle-schoolers) about the wide range of career opportunities in the electrical trade. Monroe and Sligh not only explained what an electrician does, they also described how apprenticeships work.

CarolinaPower is an active member of the Charleston Electrical Contractors Association (CECA) with Sligh serving as CECA President for the 2023 term. The CECA-administered electrical apprenticeship program, launched in partnership with Trident Technical College, has proven quite successful in attracting new recruits to the industry. The program has seen a steady increase in enrollment over the past few years. Monroe, who served as CECA President in 2021, is one of four instructors for the Charleston area’s Supervisor electrical apprenticeship program – a first-of-its-kind in the state.