August 3, 2018
ASHLAND, Ky., Aug. 3, 2018 – Kentucky Power summer internships give recent high school graduates work experience and allows Kentucky Power to show newcomers what goes into effectively operating an electric utility.
For the second year in a row, two recent graduates of Morehead State University’s Craft Academy for Excellence in Science and Mathematics joined Kentucky Power as summer interns. Brooke Hall of Paintsville was assigned to work at the Pikeville service center and Brandon Stanton of Flatwoods worked at the Ashland service center.
Their last day was Friday.
“I did so much this summer,” Hall said. “I called on customers, went out with technicians to job sites, watched a new pole being put up and did a lot on the computer. The people here at Kentucky Power are the nicest people I’ve met in my life. They really took care of me and I learned something every day whether it was about electricity or being a good person.”
Both Hall and Stanton plan to become engineers. Hall plans to study electrical and computer science engineering at the University of Louisville and become a robotics engineer. Stanton will attend the University of Alabama at Huntsville and study aerospace engineering.
Carolyn Thacker, Pikeville District manager, said Hall had a “great work ethic and attitude.”
“Having Brooke here this summer has been such an asset,” Thacker said. “She is a joy to work with. It doesn’t matter if it’s working at the computer or grabbing a pair of boots and heading to the field, she is ready.”
Shelia Hall, distribution projects manager in Ashland, said Stanton helped her group solve a complicated database issue and helped create a pool vehicle reservation app to track pool vehicles at the Ashland Service Center.
“Brandon is very impressive and so intelligent,” Shelia Hall said. “He definitely is going to do great things.”
The Craft Academy is a dual-credit program for academically exceptional Kentucky students. The program allows high school juniors and seniors to finish school while also completing up to two years of university coursework. The Craft Academy provides tuition, housing and meal plans at no cost to select students and allows them to live on campus for the fall and spring semesters of their final two years of high school.
Kentucky Power President Matt Satterwhite acknowledged it is unusual to have high school-age students as summer interns. Most interns employed by American Electric Power companies are college students. However, he said he wanted to show Kentucky Power’s support of education and encourage young people in eastern Kentucky to build upon their experience at the Craft Academy and pursue careers in the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering and math.
“There is an urgent need across the country and here in eastern Kentucky to increase student achievement and interest in STEM fields because they play an increasingly critical role in ensuring our collective economic growth,” Satterwhite said. “As a community partner and president of a business that depends upon employees with a good understanding of math and science, I want Kentucky Power to encourage students in this area. Our internships can help do that.”
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Kentucky Power, with headquarters in Ashland, provides service to about 168,000 customers in 20 eastern Kentucky counties, including Boyd, Breathitt, Carter, Clay, Elliott, Floyd, Greenup, Johnson, Knott, Lawrence, Leslie, Letcher, Lewis, Magoffin, Martin, Morgan, Owsley, Perry, Pike and Rowan. Kentucky Power is an operating company in the AEP system, one of the largest electric utilities in the U.S., delivering electricity and custom energy solutions to 5.4 million regulated customers in 11 states.
