Higher Learning

Students enrolled in a 600-hour lineman trainee class practice their pole-climbing technique by reaching out to shake hands. It’s a physically demanding way to greet a classmate, but a necessary exercise of the Electrical Technician/Distribution Mechanic Trainee program offered by the East Los Angeles Skills Center, the only school in California that provides such training. Equipped with spiked boot braces and belt harnesses, trainees must learn to scale power poles up to 30 feet high, haul 60 pounds and pass basic reading and math tests to receive certification. Graduates have the required skills for jobs with the Department of Water and Power, Southern California Edison and other organizations in need of their pole-ascending prowess. The class is one of many vocational programs offered by the 34-year-old center, which is operated by the Los Angeles Unified School District.