Company reaches students during Careers in Energy Week
During Careers in Energy Week, Mississippi Power employees gave plant tours, sponsored events for local students and spoke to earth science classes who were studying renewable and nonrenewable resources.
The week kicked off with seventh- and eighth-grade engineering students from D’Iberville Middle School touring Plant Watson. The students learned there are career opportunities for several different fields of engineering at an electric generating plant.
For the 12th year, the company teamed with AABE, American Association of Blacks in Energy, to host the annual Blacks in Energy Awareness Month (B.E.A.M.) event, attended by 80 students.
“With this year’s event held at the Operations Center, students were able to tour the Distribution Control Center, the Transmission Control Center and the Customer Call Center,” said Community Development Representative Ann Holland.
Recruiters from Mississippi State University and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College were on hand to talk with students and information was handed out on the University of Southern Mississippi.
“The goal of this event is exposing minority students to career opportunities in the energy industry,” said Digital Media and Advertising Manager Brian Green. “Whether it’s engaging young minds through STEM programs or participating in career fairs, Mississippi Power has a longstanding history of supporting education. Events like BEAM are key in preparing our future workforce for the jobs of tomorrow.”
During the event employees discussed a broad range of careers in the industry, offered the students tips around branding themselves for their first job opportunities, and the students worked on a team building activity.
“This is important because you learn about a variety of different jobs and it gets you more involved in what’s going on,” said Destine Clark, a Harrison Central High School senior.
Rounding out the week, Michael Mosley and Nick Forehand, operations employees from Plant Watson, spoke to three earth science classes at Harrison Central High School on the role of our natural resources in the production of electricity.
Mississippi Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company (NYSE: SO), produces safe, reliable and environmentally responsible energy for more than 186,000 customers in 23 southeast Mississippi counties. Mississippi Power earned the 2015 ReliabilityOneTM Award for outstanding midsize utility for excellence in storm restoration and recovery efforts as well as being a leader in reliability, customer service and safety. Visit our websites at www.mississippipower.com and www.mississippipowernews.com, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and YouTube.