BEALLYOUCANBE

800-421-4422

cas$su

Educational

^Assistant

*

^Vete

titS^nnvbenete.

Program

As an

electrician,

Jim

finds himself in several

unusual

places.

Above, he heads toward

ajob

on

topofa

new

grainbin;

above

right,

Jim

sets to

work on

a

new

servicebox;at right,

once again up

in theairwith hisever- present screwdriver.

Ambition and early success in the electric

business are two reasons why Jim Loven

^is.

.

Climbing

40 The National

FUTURE FARMER

Higher Toward ^His Goal

By Michael Wilson

Jim ^Loven

^{islikealivewire}

—

^he'sfullof

energy.

And

trying tokeep

up

withthe energetic

Cannon

Falls, Minnesota,

FFA member

isn't easy. If he's not out shinnying

up

utility poles or

working on

circuitbreak-

ers,

you

can almost bet he's fixing or installing electricalgizmos somewhere.

Why?

The

reasonissimple: Jim's goalistobe

an

"A

master"electrician.

And

ifhisprevious accomplishments are

any

indication,he's well

on

his

way

toward success.

Jim

is typical of the young, ambitious self-starter in today's progressive busi- nesses.

He began

taking his interest in electricityseriouslyfiveyearsago

when

he

became an

apprentice electrician for his father's business.

At

^the

same

time, he

made

his

work

part of aSupervised

Occu-

pational Experience

Program

in the

Fu

ture

Farmers

ofAmerica. Hislofty

ambi-

tions have led to

FFA

recognition

on

chapter,state

and

regionallevelsof

compe-

tition in Agricultural Electrification. His goal toearn national recognition materi- alized last

November when Jim was named

national proficiency winner in Agricul- tural Electrification.

For

Jim,it'sonlythe beginning.

"My

goal is to

own my own

small business

and

contract

my own

work," he says.

So

far, his credentials fit perfectly.

Terms

like

"amp

meter"

and

"continuity tester"have

become

asecond languagefor the 18-year-old Minnesotan, partly be- cause of his background.

He grew up

surrounded

by

the electric business

and was

involvedwithhisfather'svocationasa youngster.

"When my

father

and

I were still

working

together,

Iwas working my way

into part ownership,"

Jim

asserts. Jim's father sensed his son's keen interest in electricity

and began

giving

him more and more

responsibility.

Jim soon began

pre- paring bids for contracts,

and

provided capital for

equipment and

expansion.

Alter his father's death,

Jim

apprenticed at Skillestad Electric, Inc., where he currentlyworks.

He began

therehissenior year through acooperative

work program

at

Cannon

Falls

High

School.

April-May,19S2

Like

any

wellthought out^plan,

Jim

has

mapped

out specificsteps

which

he plans to pursue to

become

afull-fledged, inde- pendent electrician. He's ready,after

two

yearsof apprenticeship,totake thefirstin a series of four ^tests: applying for his"B-

journeyman"

license next fall. Inanother year he willtakehis

"B

master"test;

and

the following year, his

"A journeyman"

test.

Ifhe

makes

itthroughallofthese,

by

his fifthyearof apprenticeship he'llbeready forhis final step,theexaminationforthe

"A

master"license.

There'sone

more

"hitch:" he

must

pass 70 percent ofalltests toearn

any

license.

"Once

I pass allthesetests

and

receive

my A

master's, I'll be

on my own,"

the

"The cardinal rule when working with

electricity is

to turn

off ^the power,

"

says Jim.

sandy-haired

FFA'er

sayswithconviction.

"But right

now,

the biggest challengewill bepassing thetestsfor

my

licenses."

Throughout

his experience as

an

ap- prentice,

Jim

says he's realized the vital importance

and

needforsafety.

"Electricity can be a very dangerous thing,"hecautions."I'vealwaysfeltif

you

don't

know what

you're doing,

you

should find out or leaveitalone."

"The

cardinal rule

when

working with electricity ^is to turn off the

power"

he stresses. "If

you

have tohave

work done

with the

power

still 'hot,' then have

an

expert

do

it."

Jim

says it's always importantto

wear

proper equipment, such as leather or rubber-soled shoes

and

rubbergloves.

"We

incorporate alotof safety intoour work,"

he says. This includes hard hats, safety belts(forpole

and

binwork),safetyglasses

when

needed

and

dust

masks

for inside grain bins.

Another

important safety factor is to avoid

any

type of"ground"

—

^thatis,any-

thingconnected totheearth."That way,"

saysJim, "the

power

will notgo through your body."

No

matter

how much

attention

you

pay to safety,

Jim

says,

common

^senseisstill

the bestjudgement.

"Common

sensetells

you you

don'tput a

penny

into a fuse socket to override the fuse,"hesays."Using your

common

sense, intuition

and

experiencecan

go

along

way

in telling

you what

to

do and what

notto do."

Jim

enjoys all aspects of the electric business, but he says working

on

utility

and

telephone pole tops is his specialty.

"When

I

worked

for

my

father, he had a ladder truck

and

hepreferred thatIdid the polework. Guess Igotto like

working up

intheair," he says with a laugh.

"I also enjoy putting in

new

electrical services,"the State

Farmer

adds.

Jim

has

had

extensive experience in

new

installa- tions,wiringhomes,farmbuildings,speci- alizedgrainfacilities; he's installedrecep- tacles,

hung

fixtures,

hooked up

circuits

and

putin serviceboxes."Ithink

working

out in rural areas,

we

get a lot

more

variancesin

what we

do," he says. "I like getting outintothe

community and

meet- ing people."

"Jim

had

our

normal

training in ag mechanics

and

elementary electricity,"

sayshisadvisor

John

Hobert.

He

put his interest to

good

use

on

the

Cannon

Falls

Ag

Mechanics team,leading the

team

three consecutive years.

He was named

top individualintheregion as asenior.

"I'mparticularly

proud

of

him

becauseI

had

a concernthat

Jim

mightquitafter his father'sdeath, butitstimulatedhisinterest inthefieldeven more," Hobertsays."He's one of the top students^I've

had

as faras

SOE programs

go."

Jim's well-planned climb to the top of the professional ladder will

no doubt

proceed smoothly. He's preparedhimself for the challenge, takingadvantage ofa father's experience

and

excellent voca- tional training at

Cannon

Falls.

Add

to that Jim's desire

and

ambition to stride forwardinthe profession

and you come up

with one agribusinessman^well

on

his

way

toward reachinghis goals. •••

41

Raising the

American

^flagbeforefoot- ball

games has become

a tradition at Mid-Prairie

High School. Standing

in formation

from

left to right are

Steve

Berger,

Sandy

Sleichter,

Terry

Waters, Rollin

Brenneman and Kevin

Rice.

MARCHING THE RED, WHITE,