Contact:  Melissa Potter
September 8, 2006

MECC Classes Combine Classroom Work with Hands-On Training

Just how hot did it get this summer? One might ask students from Jerry Ramey’s Heat Pump class at Mountain Empire Community College. As a summer semester project, the class installed a five-ton heat pump at Cornerstone Church in Big Stone Gap. This required the group to work in an attic on days when the temperature reached near record highs. Needless to say, it got a little warm.

“It was one of the most difficult installations we’ve ever done,” says Ramey, Assistant Professor of Air Conditioning and Refrigeration. They (the students) just about cooked up there.”

The hard work and sweat was well worth it for both the church and the students. For Cornerstone, a need was fulfilled with less expense. There was no labor fee attached to the installation, so the church only had to pay for the heat pump itself and materials at cost.

However, it was the students who worked on the installation who may have benefited the most. For them, another need was met—the need for experience in the field, and as Ramey believes, the skills learned during the project will only help these students in years to come.

“They get a better understanding from working hands-on,” he states. “It makes them more valuable when they are trying to get hired because they’ve got that experience.”

The project took approximately eight weeks to complete with three of Ramey’s classes working on it. Upon its completion, students from summer semester Electricity courses prepared electrical hook-ups and wiring. They were instructed by Silas Qualls, Assistant Professor of Electricity.

For individuals interested in taking Heat Pump courses at MECC, contact Ramey at (276) 523-2400, extension 326 or jramey@me.vccs.edu. For more information about Electricity classes, contact Qualls at extension 235 or squalls@me.vccs.edu.

Eugene Brooks, one of the members of the summer semester Heat Pump class at MECC, works on an installation project at Cornerstone Church in Big Stone Gap.

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