Hired and wired

Mike James/the Independent

Ashland November 14, 2006 06:36 am

— Balanced on a stepladder, Chris Payne fed a length of red cable through a bracket and stapled it in place.
Before he could bang in the second staple, Brian Rodehaver pointed to a kink in the line and showed Payne how to straighten it.
The cable led to a port for a computer terminal that one day soon will handle data for a busy medical office. A twisted line could lead to electronic interference that might scramble the data.
Part of Rodehaver’s job was to monitor installation of cables and other hardware in the office, which is under construction near the Melody Mountain shopping development.
The other part of his job was to work with the installers, who were high school students from the Boyd County Career and Technical Center. The students, all enrolled in the Cisco Systems networking course, spent a full day wiring the future offices area chiropractor Jeremiah Holmes.
In the real-life exercise, he can teach them better than he ever could in a classroom or school lab, said Rodehaver, who is an assistant professor at ACTC and offers the course for dual credit at Boyd County.
The students got the job after Rodehaver, an occasional chiropractic patient, mentioned the class to Holmes. Knowing that Holmes was building a new suite of offices, Rodehaver talked to him about wiring it for phone, computer and internet service.
It was a unique chance to take the class through the process of planning and executing the wiring of an entire facility, Rodehaver said.
Earlier, he’d discussed with school officials the possibility of constructing a mock-up of new construction at the school, but that proved too expensive.
The deal with Holmes called for the class to do the work. Holmes provided pizzas for lunch.
“I’m on board with it,” Holmes said. “They need the credit and I need the installation.”
“Look how much energy there is in this room” Holmes said.
The job is educational in a way no lab could be because the students not only see the entire process but work alongside the carpenters, electricians and plumbers who are building the offices, Rodehaver said.
“They’re learning life skills. Wherever you go you’re going to be part of a team.”
Another advantage of the real-world project is that the work really matters, said Chris Hutchinson, a Boyd County senior.
“If we make a mistake, we have to figure out what went wrong and fix it.”
The dual credit the students receive is worth about $400 and transfers to ACTC or most other post-secondary institutions, Rodehaver said.
MIKE JAMES can be reached at mjames@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2652.