When students and staff prepared to travel to the Navajo Nation as part of a service project to bring power to homes, they weren’t sure what to expect. What they found: rewarding work and families ready to welcome them into their homes.

Marc Cegielski, Electrical Power Distribution Instructor at NTC, said the most impactful part of the trip came at the end of 10-12 hour work days. “(We’d) set all the poles, pull all the wire, make the connections to the house, energize the line and then have the homeowner flip the breakers on to turn on the lights, turn on a fan, get the fridge running, get the internet going so their kids can learn remotely - maybe even work remotely,” said Cegielski.

One of the students who volunteered his time and skills to Light up Navajo said “I would love to go back at a different stage in my career - maybe as a journeyman - as an awesome opportunity to see how far they've gotten and help out someone younger,” said Arden Ziert.

“I think it was a huge resume builder, but also I got that feel-good of being able to help out people, families and young kids.”