Opelika Power Services and Opelika City Schools

Hopefully you have heard that the City of Opelika is the first gig city in Alabama.  What you might not know is that according to the High Speed Geek (http://highspeedgeek.com/america-gigabit-internet/) as of March 7, 2016 there were only 48 cities in the United States that offered a gigabyte of data to their residents. All this data is transferred by sending light through glass tubes smaller than the size of a hair bundled into fiber optic cables.

In order to run these fiber optic cables throughout the city or a building the cables have to be cut and spliced together in a way that does not interrupt the transfer of data. This is a special skill that workers at Opelika Power Services (OPS) have to be trained and certified to do.

At Opelika High School, we have been offering students courses in Information Technology for three years. Students in these courses learn the basics of computer hardware and software. Part of the computer hardware that students learn about are the cables that transfer data throughout our world. During the fall of 2015 OHS had 39 students test and certify as Copper Cabling Specialists. Copper cables are what most of us have plugged into our computers or WiFi routers in our houses. They transfer the same data as fiber optic cables, they just do it slower. In an effort to expand our information technology program, OHS started exploring how to provide students a fiber optic certification along with the copper certification we currently offer.  As you can imagine equipment that allows someone to splice a glass tube together is not cheap.  When OPS heard what we wanted to do with fiber optic certifications and saw the curriculum we wanted to teach, it made sense to work together.

With the support of OPS, fiber optic training equipment will be purchased to allow Opelika High School students the opportunity to become C-Tech Certified Fiber Optic Cabling Specialists during the 2016–2017 school year.

Since our students live in the first gig city in Alabama, it makes sense that our students be provided with the opportunity to become contributing members of their community.  With this new certification, it is possible for a student in the class of 2017 to graduate with the skills and training that would help them begin a career at OPS.  

Opelika Power Services is not only working to create homes in Opelika that are “Future Focused”. They are helping to ensure that Opelika High School graduates are “Future Focused” as well.  Opelika truly is a great place to work and live.