DLC Wraps Up Inaugural 'Educator in the Workforce' Program

As students begin heading back to school, seven local educators recently completed Duquesne Light Company’s inaugural ‘Educator in the Workforce’ program —a paid program dedicated to educating teachers and school staff about the different career paths available at DLC, including those that do not require a four-year degree.

As part of the program, local educators spent two-weeks ‘interning’ with the company, during which they had the opportunity to tour DLC facilities, learn about departments across the company, and take a Construction and Skilled Trades (CAST) test to understand the different components of the exam.

All of the participants were also tasked with creating real lesson plans that could be taken back to their schools and used to inform students, parents and other educators about the opportunities available at Duquesne Light. Each session, one educator’s lesson plan is chosen to win a $2,500 prize to be used for classroom supplies. This year, Nicolette Bendick of the Clairton City School District won the prize with her well-rounded lesson plan.

In addition to being paid for their participation in the program, educators gained credit hours to meet their Act 48 requirements, a Pennsylvania law mandating all state educators to participate in ongoing professional education.

This program is part of DLC’s larger ‘School to Work’ initiative which seeks to highlight the high-demand trade and technical careers at Duquesne Light. Next year’s program is tentatively slated to begin in mid-June to which educators working in DLC’s service territory will again be invited to apply.