A group of three Overton Power District #5 (OPD5) apprentices completed the next step in their path to journeymen status in their trades earlier this month. Each one of them passed an exhaustive series of annual exams at a utility training and testing facility in St. George, Utah, on Thursday, March 5.

The exam was the final step for Jared Klunker in completing his four-year apprenticeship in substation operations. Klunker passed the rigorous exam and was advanced to journeyman status.

Alonzo Martinez is also on the substation operations track. He successfully completed his first-year step exam, advancing to second-year apprentice status.

Successfully passing his second step exam last week, Layton Woods has entered his third year in the lineman apprenticeship program.

The annual step tests in these programs are notoriously difficult. They demand tremendous dedication, hours of study and careful focus on detail.

Each program requires rigorous online coursework to learn the complex technical material needed on the job. Klunker estimated that he easily spent 10 hours a week, outside of work hours, in studying this material.

“It is a challenge to find time to do that kind of study with all the demands of kids and family going on at home,” Klunker said. “So for me, I had to start pretty early in the morning to be successful. I would get up a couple of hours before work and put in the study time.”

Woods agreed that the coursework in the lineworker program was also a heavy lift. But he found it easier to focus on concepts that he applies daily in his line of work.

“It was more interesting now than, say, when I was in high school and the application for what we were learning was not always so clear,” Woods said. “When it is something you are interested in, and that you are using every day, it makes studying it a lot easier and more fun.”

Martinez pointed out that another part of preparing for the test was the many hours on the daily job at OPD5. “In your work each day you are an apprentice,” he said. “So you are working under the wing of an experienced journeyman who is teaching you the physical portion of things. That experience is important.”

A big part of the exam covers that physical application of knowledge. Candidates are given complex skill tests to solve problems they’re likely to encounter in real-world situations during the course of their jobs.

In the lineman program where Woods is studying, that involves climbing poles, assessing problems, planning solutions and safely making hands-on repairs out in the field.

In the substation track, Klunker and Martinez are required to test various complex components and equipment, evaluate how well they are functioning and diagnose the problems that need to be addressed.

OPD5 CEO/general manager MeLisa Garcia emphasized the dedication of these three employees in their advancement.

“It would be easy to glaze over how much work these guys put into this process to pass their tests,” she said. “But there is no doubt that it is a tough process. Each one of them is fully committed to advancing. We are so thankful they have the full support of their families behind them, and we are happy to invest in people like these three, who work so hard and show that kind of commitment. We are very proud of them.”