Jody with his parents.
BY IEC STAFF
After a pretty astounding spring and summer, IEC Atlanta third year apprentice Jody Chembars, SilverMoon Electric, is even more committed to his craft. Jody is proud to be an electrician and glad to be working with his dad and brother in the family business.
Initially, Jody went the college route but found out quickly that it wasn’t for him.
“While in college, you’re taking courses, completing assignments, and writing papers but the results are years down the road,” he says. “When I decided to join my dad and brother, I immediately was able to accomplish tasks for our customers that they use now and into the future.”
He loves the hands-on learning every day at SilverMoon and the additional training through the IEC Apprentice Program. Jody has nothing but praise for IEC staff and instructors who have made school ‘a smooth experience’ for him, and appreciates his fellow students as well.
“Second year was definitely my favorite year,” he says. “I had a really good teacher, Mr. Bitts. He was strict but his methods really helped. He had me push myself to improve rather than just slide by. He really cared about each of us and wanted to see us grow in our knowledge and skills.”
Jody speaks highly of the IEC model of earning while learning. He says that having working electricians as instructors also is valuable as they sprinkle in scenarios from their job sites when exploring class topics.
“It’s really cool to be able to see the things you learn about in class like bonding jumpers and grounding electrode conductors and be able to use them on the job site or be able to reference the proper code for a job since we’ve studied code in class,” Jody says.
Among his favorite work is wiring up breakers for new circuits in the panel box, flipping that breaker on, and seeing ‘everything come to life.’ Another positive Jody notes with his current work life is being able to work with both his dad and his brother and identified them as great mentors.
“They give me two different perspectives during the work days,” he explains. “My dad has more than 40 years of experience in the trade which really helps out a lot. Zach is in his sixth year as an electrician and still understands what it’s like to be an apprentice and can help me differently as he’s closer to where I am now.”
The only downside Jody has with class is the long commute from his home and work in Dahlonega and his class in Atlanta. Dahlonega is about an hour north of Atlanta, but while Jody always tried to be on time, his instructors understood if he was late on occasion.
IDEAL Championship
What also helped make Jody’s recent spring and summer astounding was electing to participate in the IDEAL Electrician National Championship. It was a great decision as Jody was one of just 10 apprentices nationwide (both union and merit shop) who advanced to the finals of the competition, earning an all-expense-paid trip to the finals in West Palm Beach, FL. Nick Chovan from IEC Central Ohio also was a finalist and in fact, took home the top prize of $10,000.
“First, I competed at IEC Atlanta on Wednesday, May 29,” Jody explains. “It was a challenge made up of a series of troubleshooting issues, and I was judged on accuracy and speed. If I did not troubleshoot all of the issues correctly, I would have been disqualified. By the end, I won first place, $1,000, and I advanced to the IDEAL National Championship Semi-Final Round!”
The semi-final round was an at-home challenge, which Jody felt was the biggest part of the competition and the most stressful for him. It was made up of two parts: an at-home challenge kit sent to each competitor where they needed to record themselves completing a task and be judged on workmanship and speed, and an online quiz covering NEC® and electrical theory. That quiz included 20 questions, mostly math, and had a five-minute time limit to complete.
“I received my package with instructions and materials for the hands-on challenge on July 18 and I practiced the hands-on quite a lot as I had to record myself wiring several outlets in 4″ metal boxes and EMT conduit, all of which was provided in the package. I received an email for the online quiz on July 23. What made it stressful for me was that I couldn’t see other competitors’ times and see where my times were in comparison. I struggled with whether to keep trying for lower times.”
Believing he had arrived at the lowest time possible, Jody submitted his recording and quiz on July 26. The stress continued as he awaited word of how he did. On August 5, he was advised he was one of 10 finalists from a pool of 50 semi-finalists invited to West Palm Beach.
For the national competition, the 10 apprentices had 1.5 hours to show their skills on a task to install a subpanel box in a two by four wall.
“From that wall which was set up in an L shape, we needed to run conduit along the wall and put a GFCI receptacle on the other wall,” Jody explains. “Then we had to run another conduit for an air handler unit and make connections to the air handler unit. We had to install a disconnect for an AC unit and in that disconnect we had to install a surge protector and then connect it to the AC unit. We also had to install the breakers in the panel box for the GFCI, the air handler, and the disconnect.”
Jody said judges looked for safety and workmanship. Completion was another factor, and none of the 10 completed all the steps. While Jody did not place in the top three, which were eligible for cash prizes, he was proud of the work he had done.
“It was pretty satisfying and I know that I did the work to the right standards,” he says. “By entering this competition, I wanted to prove I have the skills that an electrician needs. Competing in the IDEAL competition gave me a lot of confidence and it made me even more proud of my chosen trade. I got to meet other electricians who care for the trade and it motivated me to keep learning.”
Jody found the full event in West Palm Beach highly interesting. In addition to his electrical apprentice competition, the championship included competitions for electrical professionals, as well as apprentice and professional competitions for HVAC, plumbing, and auto. The time spent with peers nationwide and the overall quality of the event, as well as lodging and food, made the experience incredibly meaningful to Jody.
Jody looks forward to qualifying to compete in the IDEAL competition again next year and then the IEC Apprentice of the Year competition as a fourth year.
Watch Jody on CBS Sports Network
A recording of the 2024 IDEAL Electrician National Championship airs at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time December 20 on CBS Sports Network. Watch the best of the best professional and apprentice electricians in the country.
HVAC and plumbing competitions air December 13 and auto December 27.