Sheridan Electric’s Sansaver Visits Classroom

A group of Culbertson students were recently visited by Sheridan Electric employee Shawn Sansaver as part of the Empowered program. Empowered believes in creating experiences that students can learn from and hands-on experiences, such as the opportunity to see and handle some of the tools and equipment Sansaver uses on the job.

Sansaver has been an employee with Sheridan Electric for more than 14 years. Starting out as an apprentice lineman, he took a four year course to become a journeyman lineman as he is today. The students enjoyed looking at all of the different items he had in this big tub, including safety gear, hats, gloves, wires and more. The items brought about so many great questions. Recent years have seen many graduates from Culbertson Schools go into this field, especially after scholarship opportunities and internships.

Sansaver answered questions and encouraged students to take advantage of every opportunity in school. He reiterated many times the importance of math and science to be able to solve formulas on the job, stating that one should never stop learning.

Students may not always understand the importance of community service and giving back which is intertwined with many school organizations and groups. Sansaver shared his experiences traveling to Bolivia through the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association program, which sends employees from our country to assist communities in third world countries.

“Do you like your job?” was among the questions posed, to which Sansaver replied, “it’s a great job if you like working outside, and when you complete a large project such as building lines, you get to see what you accomplished.”

In addition, he shared that there are many jobs within the company that are just as important and offer opportunities to work inside and he reiterated the advice to, “call before you dig.”