Northwest heating and air instructors attend annual workshop in Washington
By LaJuan Tallo| 4/1/09

Northwest Mississippi Community College Heating, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Technology Instructors Whit Perry and Josh Buchanan attended the 2009 HVACR (Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration) and Plumbing Instructor Workshop on March 11-13. The annual workshop was held at the National Conference Center in Landsdowne, Va.

Northwest Mississippi Community CollegeHeating, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Technology Instructors Whit Perry and Josh Buchanan attended the 2009 HVACR (Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration) and Plumbing Instructor Workshop on March 11-13 in Landsdowne, Va.  They are members of the Council of Air Conditioning Educators (CARE) who met while at the conference. CARE members are front row (l-r) are Ron Engle, Gadsden Career Tech., Gadsden, Ala.;  Perry; Mike Clem, Limestone County Technical Career Center, Athens, Ala.; Harold Nelson, Mingledorff's Distributors, Norcross, Ga. and  Buchanan. Second row (l-r) Tim Hardy, Gadsden State Community College, Gadsden, Ala. ; Warren Lupson, The Air- Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI), director of education, Arlington, Va.; Joel Owen, HVAC Training Center/Alabama Power, Verbena, Ala.; David Burdette, Southern Union Community College, Opelika, Ala. and James (Sonny) Logan, Shelton State Community College, Tuscaloosa, Ala.

The workshop is an industry-driven event that provides instructors and administrators of apprentice and secondary and post-secondary school instructional programs with technical information and teaching techniques that will enable them to effectively train the next generation of skilled workers for the HVACR and plumbing industries.

“The meeting and workshop were very positive and productive,” Perry said. “It gives us an opportunity to network with other educators and leaders of our industry.” Through networking at the conference, Perry and Buchanan were able to secure the donation of some compressors that will be used for student training. Also, Klein Tools will be donating a 14-piece tool set with pouch and a certificate to an outstanding student each semester. Attendance at the workshop is one of the requirements for Northwest to keep its Partnership for Air- Conditioning, Heating, Refrigeration Accreditation (PAHRA) accreditation, Perry said.

Perry stated that one of the things presented at the conference was information regarding a Tax Credit being offered for the installation of high-efficiency HVAC equipment, and also changes concerning refrigerants used in the industry. “Our meetings allow us to be on the cutting edge of the latest technology as well as the latest laws governing our industry. We are very thankful for our college administrators for allowing us to be a part of this,” Perry said.

Buchanan and Perry are also members of the Council of Air Conditioning Educators (CARE), which met at the conference.

The Heating, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Technology program at Northwest is a pst secondary instructional program that prepared individuals to work in engineering departments or private firms installing, maintaining and operating small or medium air conditioning, heating and refrigeration systems. For more information on the program contact Perry at  662-562-3888 or e-mail wperry@northwestms.edu  or Josh Buchanan at 662-562-3387 or e-mail jbuchanan@northwestms.edu.