Donation brings JVS experience full circle

BLOOMINGDALE -- A past student is helping future graduates hone their skills by donating training equipment to the electrical trades program at Jefferson County Joint Vocational School.

Jim Westfall, a 1996 graduate of the JVS and owner of Vocational-Education Training Solutions, contributed four electrical trainers as well as a curriculum with workbooks to enable instructor Buddy Davis' 38 juniors and seniors to get on track for success.

Westfall said he designed the trainers out of necessity and initially filed a provisional patent. He now holds a full patent for the system. The units were welded and powder-coated by fellow alumni Landon Grimes and Cody James, the latter with Envyous Performance and Coatings.

The trainers include a frame with eight project boards as well as specialty boards with multimeters and lockout/tagout components for hands-on learning.

Westfall, a Mingo Junction resident, is also a former instructor at the Western Area Career and Technology Center in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, where he taught for nine years, and was an industrial electrician for 12 years. He currently operates the overhead line worker training program at Duquesne Light in Pittsburgh and has served on several advisory committees in Pennsylvania.

"Developing basic skills is probably the most important thing for any trade, especially the electrical trade, so this makes them repeat projects over and over and over and build those skills," he explained. "The goal is to get them excited about the trade and then further their career, whether it’s engineering [or] being an electrician, but the sky is the limit for the students."

He developed a prototype in 2023, and after the trainers were built, he pitched the idea to area career-technical centers.

"I was just talking to other instructors and showing the design and they were like, 'Let’s give it a shot.' It's been it’s been an amazing two years."

The first trainer went to the JVS, and Westfall said he was giving back to his former school while hoping the equipment would help future generations prepare for the workforce.

"This is the first school I’ve donated specialty boards to, so it’s kind of kind of cool to go full circle."

Westfall has also launched a YouTube channel called "The Color Blind Electrician," in light of his partial color vision deficiency, but he said it has never slowed him down.

He was inspired by former JVS instructors Rick Bell and Clark Retzer, saying Bell never let Westfall's condition become a limitation while Retzer also supplied him with a collection of electrical books that he still has today. In honor of their support, the former teachers' names adorn the trainers.

Additionally, Westfall said the name of his company includes the acronym "VETS" as a tribute to his late father, Arden Westfall, who also was a JVS graduate and served in the U.S. Army. He said the model number 101-58 denotes Arden's service in the 101st Airborne Division and his work on the OH-58 Kiowa helicopter.

Meanwhile, Davis said he met Westfall during a JVS open house last spring, and Westfall proposed contributing the panels to help students sharpen their skills. He added that students can work in residential, commercial and industrial electrical careers and the trainers would help prepare them for those roles.

"I like the layout, to be able to help the kids practice with less material being used until they can figure out how everything gets wired, and then they’ll take their concept...and actually wire it just like they would wire in a house. So, it just lets them be able to practice locally," Davis commented. "They can get the actual whole theory of how everything gets wired and then they actually will take that concept and they’ll use it just like you would do out in the real world."

JVS Principal Heather Hoover was thankful for the donation, saying it will give students another means to hone their abilities.

"I think having the hands-on experience throughout the program, throughout every single day, gives the students an experience that ties in real-world work force and prepares them for their future careers, no matter which way they go," said Hoover. "I’m in awe over the equipment that Mr. Westfall has brought in and we’re just very appreciative of the pieces that he’s donated to the electrical program to help our students."

She added that Westfall had an exciting story to tell about going from a student to a professional, and she planned to have him return as a presenter in the future.

"I'm very excited and appreciative of Mr. Westfall and hearing his journey and what he has accomplished is amazing. He has a great story that benefits any student who listens to what he has done since he left the JVS."

More information can be found on his website, Vocational-Education Training Solutions, or its Facebook page.