Things to Ask Electrician Vocational Schools<\/strong><\/h3>\nOnce you have decided to earn a diploma, certificate or degree, you can start to focus your training options. Because there are numerous electrician trade and vocational schools in the Picher OK area, it’s essential to have a checklist of criteria that each program must satisfy. The first two that we talked about were location and the cost of tuition. If you are interested in earning an online degree, then that must be an option that your chosen school offers. And while all three qualifiers may be important when making your determination, there are additional variables that need to be taken into account as well. Below is a checklist of those additional qualifications that you will need to assess before enrolling in an electrical vocational school.<\/p>\n
Accreditation. <\/strong>Many electrician technical programs have received either a regional or a national accreditation. They can earn Institutional Accreditation, which focuses on the school’s programs overall, or Programmatic Accreditation, which relates to a specific program, for example electrical technology. Make sure that the Picher OK school and program are accredited by a U.S. Department of Education approved accrediting organization, such as the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology. Along with helping make certain that you receive an excellent education, it can assist in obtaining financial assistance or student loans, which are in many cases unavailable for non-accredited schools. Also, some states mandate that the electrician training course be accredited in order to be approved for licensing.<\/p>\nHigh Completion and Placement Rates. <\/strong>Ask the electrician schools you are considering what their completion rates are. The completion rate is the portion or percentage of students who enroll in and complete the course. A low completion rate could signify that students were disappointed with the course and quit. It may also signify that the teachers were not competent to train the students. It’s similarly essential that the schools have high job placement rates. Older and\/or more reputable schools may have a more extensive directory of graduates, which may mean more contacts for the school to utilize for their apprenticeship and job placement programs. A high job placement rate can not only validate that the school has an excellent reputation within the industry, but also that it has the network of contacts to assist Picher OK grads obtain apprenticeships or employment.<\/p>\nApprenticeship Programs. <\/strong>Numerous electrician vocational programs are taught along with an internship or an apprenticeship program. Those participating vocational and trade programs will help place you in an apprenticeship program within their network of electrical contractors or trade unions. Ask if the schools you are reviewing have referring relationships with Picher OK area electricians or electrical specialists. An apprenticeship not only provides a rewarding experience by supplying practical training, but it also supplies employment opportunities and helps to build relationships in the area electrician professional community.<\/p>\nModern Facilities. <\/strong>Make certain that the campus facilities and the tools that you will be trained on are state-of-the-art and what you will be working with in the field. If you are presently in an internship or an apprenticeship, check with the electrical tech you are working with concerning what you should be looking for. If not, ask a local Picher OK electrical contracting company if they can provide some tips. Additionally bear in mind that unless you are willing to move, the school needs to be within driving distance of your Picher home. Take note that if you decide to attend an out-of-state school, besides the added relocation costs there may be increased tuition fees compared to in-state residents.<\/p>\nSmaller Classes. <\/strong>It’s important that you receive as much one-on-one training as possible, which can be difficult in bigger classes. Ask if you can sit in on some of the classes so that you can see how big they are and experience the interaction between students and teachers. Speak with several of the students and get their opinions concerning class sizes and instruction. Finally, speak to a few of the teachers and learn what their level of expertise is and what degrees or certifications they have earned.<\/p>\nFlexible Scheduling. <\/strong>Confirm that the class schedules for the programs you are reviewing are flexible enough to fulfill your needs. If you can only attend classes in the evening or on weekends near Picher OK, verify that the schools you are looking at provide those options. If you can only attend on a part-time basis, make certain that the school you select offers part-time enrollment. Finally, ask what the protocol is to make-up classes should you miss any due to work, illness or family issues.<\/p>\nConsidering Attending an Electrician School near Picher OK?<\/h3>\n
Following is a little bit of background information about the Picher OK area.<\/p>\n
Picher, Oklahoma<\/h3>
More than a century of unrestricted subsurface excavation dangerously undermined most of Picher's town buildings and left giant piles of toxic metal-contaminated mine tailings (known as chat) heaped throughout the area. The discovery of the cave-in risks, groundwater contamination, and health effects associated with the chat piles and subsurface shafts resulted in the site being included in 1980 in the Tar Creek Superfund Site by the US Environmental Protection Agency. The state collaborated on mitigation and remediation measures, but a 1996 study found that 34% of the children in Picher suffered from lead poisoning due to these environmental effects, which could result in lifelong neurological problems.[4] Eventually the EPA and the state of Oklahoma agreed to a mandatory evacuation and buyout of the entire township. The similarly contaminated satellite towns of Treece, Kansas and Cardin, Oklahoma were included in the Tar Creek Superfund site.<\/p>
A 2006 Army Corps of Engineers study showed 86% of Picher's buildings (including the town school) were badly undermined and subject to collapse at any time.[5] The destruction of 150 homes by an EF4 tornado in May 2008 accelerated the exodus[6]. On September 1, 2009, the state of Oklahoma officially dis-incorporated the city of Picher, which ceased official operations on that day. The population plummeted from 1,640 at the 2000 census to 20 at the 2010 census. As of January 2011, only six homes and one business remain, their owners having refused to leave at any price. Except for some historic structures, the rest of the town's buildings were scheduled to be demolished by the end of the year. One of the last buildings, which had housed the former Picher mining museum was destroyed by arson in April 2015. (However, its historical archives and artifacts had already been shipped elsewhere by that point.)<\/p>
Picher is among a small number of locations in the world (such as Gilman, Colorado; Centralia, Pennsylvania; and Wittenoom, Western Australia) to be evacuated and declared uninhabitable due to environmental and health damage caused by the mines the town once serviced.<\/p><\/div>\n