Greenfield Power & Light linemen Blaine Bever, Cole Dishroon and Stephen Fruth all recently scored remarkably high marks on the journeyman exam during a three-day test period May 16-18. The three men will now become certified journeymen after passing the test and completing a four-year apprenticeship that spanned 8,100 hours.
GREENFIELD — Cole Dishroon took some good-natured ribbing from coworkers at Greenfield Power & Light when questioned about his remarkably high scoring on a test to become a certified journeyman earlier this month.
Dishroon scored an impressive 99% while two of his colleagues had similarly impressive scores of 98% and 96%.
“I would have gotten a higher score if I hadn’t misspelled my name,” Dishroon said with a grin.
Scott Yost, who manages Greenfield Power & Light, shared the accomplishment at Greenfield’s Board of Works meeting on Tuesday, May 23.
“Becoming a journeyman is an accomplishment in itself, but to score so high on the test is really something,” said Yost, who became a journeyman himself in 1996.
“I only scored in the low 90s on the test, so I’m jealous,” he said with a smile.
A score of 70 or higher is required to become a journeyman at the completion of a four-year apprenticeship program that spans 8,000 hours.
Greenfield served as a testing site May 16-18 for candidates from around the state, who underwent two days of field testing followed by a day-long written exam, which was administered by the Tennessee Valley Public Power Association.
Dishroon was pleasantly surprised to learn he had scored one percentage point shy of perfect on the overall exam, and that two fellow apprentices scored similarly high marks.
Blaine Bever scored 98% and Stephen Fruth scored 96%.
While Dishroon has completed his required 8,000 hours of training and is now a certified journeyman, Bever will complete his hours this summer followed by Fruth in early 2024.
“I’m super proud of these guys. They worked hard and it shows,” said Yost, who oversees 11 linemen — seven journeymen and four apprentices — at Greenfield Power & Light.
Linemen are responsible for keeping the electrical power running throughout any given community, building and maintaining electrical power systems from power plants to the meters on customers’ homes.
Their job often involves working with life-threatening high voltage on towering overhead structures as well as inside underground trenches and vaults.
Bever, 27, of Greenfield, said it was rewarding to be recognized for high marks in such a challenging profession after working diligently as an apprentice over the past four years.
Fruth, 36, who lives in Knightstown, echoed those sentiments. He said he enjoys the ability “to build something out of nothing” on the job, which is enhanced by the camaraderie found among journeymen and apprentices.
“It’s a tight-knit band of brothers,” he said just before lunch Tuesday in a utility barn at the Greenfield Power & Light headquarters, where the group of linemen shared some laughs after an online training session.
“I love this job,” said Dishroon, 26, who lives in Fortville. “I can’t imagine doing anything else.”
