Teachers from high schools and colleges throughout the state will come to Gulf Power Company headquarters on Tuesday for the second annual Florida Energy Teachers Network meeting.

The two-day training course will introduce the Energy Career Cluster curriculum to about 30 teachers and instructors from schools around the state.

Career Clusters are industry groupings of occupations, a way of organizing both a curriculum and standards to prepare people for careers in a range of occupations within a particular industry. Before the Energy Career Cluster was added in 2009, there were 16 Career Clusters linking to 79 career pathways, in fields such as healthcare, construction, and manufacturing.

Gulf Power helped lead the way in requesting the 17^th Career Cluster involving an energy curriculum. It is sponsored by the Florida Energy Workforce Consortium and is part of a statewide collaborative effort supported by the Florida Department of Education.

In addition to creating the curriculum, last year the FEWC and Gulf Power began providing teachers with the training needed to deliver these energy courses and help educate them on current trends in the energy industry through the Florida Energy Teachers Network.

“The goal for this effort is to give these teachers connections directly to the FEWC as an organization — and as a link to Florida’s energy industry,” said Jennifer Grove, Gulf Power’s Workforce Development coordinator. “And to provide them with a network of instructors who are teaching similar programs across the state of Florida.” 

Partnerships have helped pave the way for the innovative education program.

“The Florida Department of Education has been an amazing partner in helping transform the curriculum, and existing industry partners provide current, real-life instructional support,” said Grove.

The program is designed to help students pursue careers in the growing future energy workforce. It also helps develop a peer network for teachers and instructors in the state’s expanding energy career curriculum.

Workers in the energy career field will be in demand in the next decade to meet growing state and national electricity demand, developing new technology and infrastructure and to augment a retiring older workforce.

“Gulf Power is excited to again host this training session,” said Grove. “We are continuing to help build a network of technical instructors who will inspire and train a critical future workforce.”

Gulf Power Company is an investor-owned electric utility with all of its common stock owned by Atlanta-based Southern Company. Gulf Power serves more than 435,000 customers in eight counties throughout Northwest Florida. The company’s mission is to safely deliver affordable, reliable and environmentally responsible electric service to our customers while working to improve the communities we serve. Visit online at GulfPower.com or on the company’s Facebook page, “Gulf Power Company.”

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