Sibley Municipal Utilities (SMU) hosted the Sibley Ocheyedan fourth grade class for a visit at the Power Plant on May 24 to help the students learn more about power, safety, and opportunities in the electric field.

There were 67 students and four teachers who attended the event. The students were divided into four groups and rotated to four different stations. Each student was given a draw string bag from Northwest Iowa Community College (WICC) with information about the college, student newsletter, coloring sheet, and other items supplied by SMU. There were 67 students and 4 teachers. 

• Doug Breuer, who has been with SMU for 40 years, talked to the students about the generators and how energy is delivered to the homes through the Power Plant. The students asked questions about how long it took to have the generators running to restore power during an outage? It takes about 20-30 minutes to restore power during outages. Is someone at the Power Plant 24 hours a day? No, there are two employees on call who respond to outages.
  

• Lisa Story, NWICC Director of Enrollment Management, talked to the students about careers and education at the NWICC.
  

• Jerrad Brouwer, who has been with SMU for 17 years, demonstrated equipment used for safety such as rubber goods, different types of voltage testing equipment, and clothing. Jerrad stressed the importance of staying clear of downed power lines and to call their power provider immediately.
  

• Jon Hieliger, who has been with SMU for four years, talked to the students about truck safety and clearances. Jon showed the students how to put on a harness, demonstrated the use of the fiberglass tools, and talked the students about staying clear of Utility trucks in use.
  

The Sibley area is served by three power providers. It is important that the students and parents are aware of who to contact in case of an outage or electrical emergency. We appreciate the opportunity to have Northwest Iowa Community College be a part of the tour. We want to be sure our students understand there are different career options for them after graduating High School.