Imagine stepping up to a bucket truck and peering into the world of a real-life lineman. This was the experience Wake Electric brought to the children who attended the Future Me Fair at Marbles Kids Museum in Raleigh, in collaboration with North Carolina’s Electric Cooperatives.

The event, held earlier in March was designed to introduce children to different professions through hands-on activities and interactive exhibits. During the event, Wake Electric set up one of its bucket trucks on Hargette Street in front of the steps of the museum, where kids were shown what it’s like to work high above the ground on power lines. The kids who attended were able to climb into the bucket, try on real lineman gloves, rubber sleeves, and a plastic hard hat, and hold some of the tools lineworkers use on the job.

For many children, it’s their first time seeing the equipment and the tools that lineworkers use every day up close. “Seeing their reactions when they get in the bucket is the best part,” said Earbie Goodman, job training and safety coordinator at Wake Electric, a former lineman himself, who volunteered at the event. “They light up and start asking all kinds of questions about what it’s like to do linework.”

By volunteering at events like the Future Me Fair on behalf of North Carolina’s Electric Cooperatives, Wake Electric not only helps create curiosity about a vital career but also makes good on the promise to fulfill the cooperative principle of Concern for Community.

“If a child walked away from the event and all they took from it was a little curiosity about how the lights stay on, that’s a worthwhile reason to do these events,” said Goodman.