On Thursday, August 12th, Dominion Energy was named as the Batesburg-Leesville High School CTE Center "Business of the Year." (CTE stands for Career and Technology Education.) Lexington Three Superintendent Dr. Ashley Atkinson, Chief Academic Officer Angie Rye, Principal Sonya Bryant, CTE Director Roy Frick and Building Construction Teacher Benard Trotter were all on hand to present the award to Kellar Kissam, Dominion Energy South Carolina’s President of Electric Operations, and Robby Feaster, the company’s Manager of Electric Safety and Training.
Dominion Energy was chosen for the prestigious award thanks to a partnership that the company formed with Batesburg-Leesville High School last year. CTE students at BLHS constructed around 15 buildings during the 2020-2021 school year that were relocated to Dominion Energy’s Lake Murray Training Center. The 37-acre facility is located behind the Lake Murray dam in Lexington and is used by Dominion Energy South Carolina to provide training to apprentice linemen and electricians. Training at the facility ensures that Dominion Energy employees operate switches and devices in the field safely and correctly. In an effort to make the training as realistic as possible in a safe and controlled environment, officials replicate neighborhoods and industrial parks at the facility by constructing roads and buildings. The buildings constructed by students at Batesburg-Leesville High School are used to represent houses and businesses that Dominion Energy employees see in their everyday work. Trainees set meters, check voltage, and operate switches on the buildings, simulating issues they may encounter in the real world.
"It’s a mutual learning opportunity. What these students are doing in the classroom ends up educating our linemen in the field,” said Kissam. “We’re very proud of this relationship with Batesburg-Leesville High School.”
This is only the second “Business of the Year” title that has been awarded by Batesburg-Leesville High School. Last year, CORA Physical Therapy received the award.