On the Line for a Great Career, Thanks to This Charter School Program

When Caeleb Varney graduates this spring, he’ll not only have a high school diploma – he’ll also have a career making $60,000 or more right out of high school.

It’s all thanks to the Tri-County Trades Lineman Program, which is offered and operated by State Street Academy, a charter school in Bay City. Now in its second year, the program gives high school juniors and seniors the training and certification they need to get a job as a lineman right out of high school.

It’s a collaborative program that’s operated by State Street Academy, offered to any high school student in the area. Caeleb is a graduating senior at Freeland High School, a traditional high school in the area, so he’s graduating as a combination traditional school/charter school student. He enrolled in the program as a junior.

“I go to my high school in the morning and the lineman program at lunchtime,” Caeleb said. “When we graduate from this program, we can go into the trade right away. You might start as a groundman (operating the truck or other work as a ground) and then become an apprentice so that you can eventually work up on the pole.”

State Street Academy’s Tri-County Trades program is one of only two high school lineman programs in the state (the other is in Boyne City), and after just two years, it’s already become one of the premiere Career-Technical Education (CTE) programs in Michigan.

State Rep. Tim Kelly recently toured the program and came away extremely impressed.

“This is critical to the growth of Michigan and we need to encourage more and more kids to get involved in this kind of education,” he said.

Kathleen Ranck, the director and founder of the program, said it’s the perfect fit for a student like Caeleb, someone who wants to go into the trades directly out of high school.

“We're excited about the program,” she said. “The training that the students receive here would cost you about $40,000 if you took it after high school, and they get it all for free here. It’s continuing to grow. We're hiring a second instructor to handle the influx of kids that are coming to us. We want to be able to accommodate everyone, because you can't go anywhere to get this kind of training while you’re still in high school.”

Caeleb said he’s been fascinated with electricity since he was a kid, and once he got into high school and heard about the new program at State Street Academy, he thought it would be the perfect learning choice for him.

“I always wanted to be an electrician to begin with. I thought that was the most fascinating trade ever, you know, the way electricity works,” he said. “It was like magic to me. I was always fascinated with it. And then when I was a sophomore going into my junior year, I was looking to go into something related to electricity, and the only thing I could find was HVAC. I didn’t want to go into HVAC, and then I heard about the lineman program. I had my mom look around and we ended up here.”

Students in the program get hands-on training in every aspect of being a lineman, from the ground to the wires to the poles.

“They learn everything, and safety is always first and foremost,” Kathleen said.

“In your first year of the program, you start out by learning all the basic and most vital information there is about line work, rigging techniques, how to climb, how to work on the pole, how to be safe,” Caeleb said. “So that's what you learn first. And then you start like getting more advanced as the year goes on.”

The students work outside on the poles all year-round, unless there’s lightning in the air.

“Linemen work in the dead of winter, so the students are out there in the dead of winter, too,” Kathleen said.

A career as a lineman is rewarding for a student like Caeleb, who said he’s always wanted a job where he works with his hands. It can be extremely lucrative, too. He’ll start off making $29 to $31 an hour right out of high school (about $60,000 a year), and once he’s through his apprenticeship and is a full-fledged lineman, he’ll be making $125,000 a year or more.

“The retirement benefits are also excellent through the UBEW (United Brotherhood of Electrical Workers),” Kathleen said.

As he gets ready to graduate from his high school and his charter school program, Caeleb said he’s extremely thankful that he’s had this opportunity.

“It's incredible,” he said. “I mean, there's nothing like it anywhere else in the nearby area, especially for high schoolers. It gives us a giant head start and knowledge and experience, which is vital. You have a career immediately after you get out of high school.”