Page 17 - Julyaug

to 20 attendees, which is actually a more facing the class and continued teaching.
manageable number. Te power did come back on afer 20 or
It was rewarding to hear attendees from 30 minutes, but Mickey demonstrated
the frst classes express their appreciation to the class how one can deal with
as well as their wonderment at why I and unexpected change in a positive manner.
the other volunteer instructors would Te 725 students have had many
give up our time to provide them with memorable experiences at TPWI. Te
the instruction they had received. Today, Maintenance Technologies for Public
our volunteer instructors still receive the Works four-day school includes a session
same expressions of appreciation from in which we take the class to an of-site
class attendees. I think I speak for all the location where they are able to learn
volunteers when I say that one reason we how to operate various types of heavy
continue to volunteer is the gratitude we equipment over a four-hour period. Te
receive from the attendees. We also leave weather is always unpredictable; some of
each class knowing we have provided these sessions have occurred on sunny
information that will help them be more days with temperatures in the high 90s,
valuable to their agency and help them and others have occurred when it was cold
to further and possibly advance in their and raining and even one time when it John Calvert
careers. was snowing. Regardless of the weather,
A Decade of Memories the attendees always seem to fully enjoy down from the backhoe and got in line to
the opportunity to learn how to operate
Over the past ten years, there have equipment. operate a dozer. He did well on the dozer
been many memorable moments. One I remember one particular student and then moved on to a mini-trackhoe.
of the frst classes we did on Public who was an engineer from a large city At the end of the day, he said he was
Works Supervision included a session on in the state. He had never been on any so thrilled to have been able to learn how
Organizing and Planning. Te instructor piece of heavy equipment. He was very to run the equipment that when he got
was Mickey Sullivan, and he was no more hesitant to get on any of the equipment back to his home agency, he was actually
than four or fve minutes into his session that was on site that day, but afer some going to pursue being transferred from
when a sudden thunderstorm passed encouragement from his classmates, he his engineering position to that of an
through. A large clap of thunder ended agreed to get on a backhoe, which always equipment operator. I don’t know if he
the power and lights at the hotel. Mickey also had an instructor on board. Afer ever did it, but it was clear that he had one
never blinked an eye and continued ten minutes, he had clearly surprised enjoyable and memorable experience at
teaching in the dark. His laptop battery himself with how quickly he had been able TPWI.
was fully charged, and he simply placed it to learn to operate the backhoe. He got Continued on page 18

TPWI - lIST OF All ATTeNdeeS NovEmbER 2003 THRu DECEmbER 2013
726 ATTENDEES FRom 72 AGENCIES AND 30 4-DAy SCHooLS
Agency ......................... # Attendees Agency ......................... # Attendees Agency ......................... # Attendees Agency ......................... # Attendees
Bradley County ............................ 2 City of Franklin ............................ 5 City of Memphis .........................32 Individual Attendee.......................1
Buchart Horn, LLC........................ 1 City of Gallaway ........................... 1 City of Morristown ........................6 Knox County ..................................8
Carter County .............................. 1 City of Germantown ....................52 City of Mt. Juliet ............................3 MetroNashville ............................39
City of Alcoa ...............................30 City of Goodlettsville ...................15 City of Murfreesboro....................21 Neel-Schaffer, Inc. ........................1
City of Athens .............................22 City of Henderson ........................ 2 City of Newport .............................2 Province Builders ..........................2
City of Bartlett ............................. 6 City of Hendersonville .................. 5 City of Oak Ridge ........................19 Rutherford County.........................4
City of Bristol..............................14 City of Jackson ............................. 4 City of Pigeon Forge ......................9 Shelby County Gov’t ......................2
City of Chattanooga ....................26 City of Johnson City ....................20 City of Portland .............................2 Tellico Village POA ........................2
City of Clarksville .......................44 City of Kingsport .........................20 City of Pulaski ..............................1 Town of Collierville ......................20
City of Cleveland ......................... 8 City of Kingston ........................... 3 City of Sevierville ..........................4 Town of Farragut .........................28
City of Clinton .............................39 City of Knoxville ..........................47 City of Shelbyville .........................5 Town of Halls ................................1
City of Collegedale ......................11 City of Lafayette .......................... 2 City of Sparta ...............................3 Town of Jonesborough ...................1
City of Columbia .......................... 5 City of Lakeland ..........................10 City of Spring Hill ........................ 7 Town of Mount Carmel ..................3
City of Crossville .......................... 7 City of LaVergne ........................... 7 City of Springfeld .......................20 Town of Pleasant View ..................1
City of Dickson ............................. 2 City of Lenoir City ........................ 1 City of Waynesboro ........................3 Town of Signal Mountain .............26
City of Dyersburg ......................... 5 City of Lewisburg ......................... 4 City of White House .......................8 Town of Smyrna ............................1
City of Elizabethton ..................... 1 City of Martin ............................... 1 CNT Enterprise ..............................1 University of Tennessee .................1
City of Fayetteville ....................... 2 City of Maryville ..........................11 Collier Engineering Co., Inc. ..........2 UT-MTAS .......................................1

TPW July/August 2014 17