Learning about electricity

The Electricity Career Development Event for FFA is taught by Mr. Hayes at Prairie Grove High School as an after-school event. The event is a four-person team and consists of learning about the electrical trade, learning about the National Electrical Code, learning how to wire a wiring board consisting of a series of consumers such as plugs and lights and then also wiring switches and sometimes a dryer plug.

You also get to learn how to read paragraph instructions and then use those instructions to draw a wiring diagram showing all the parts of wiring a house. Within the event there is tool ID where you have to learn the different tools and materials used in wiring a house, then prove you know what they are.

Then there is also floor plan and you have to show several different circuits within that room, along with special plugs that would be used for a specific consumer such as a washing machine, hot water heater or some other big appliance. For this assignment, you have to know the national code pertaining to the spacing of plugs and how to figure out wattage or voltage or amps using 2 different values so you can determine the plug that you would need to put in.

Then after your specific event there is a 50-question written test to test your knowledge of electricity. The event and test are judged and graded by officials to determine team scores and individual scores to determine winners.

The electricity CDE is not just about the competition and physical aspect. It is also about team building and shows you how to learn as a team and teach each other and make sure your whole team is comfortable with each event, making sure that each member of the team can compete and help bring the team to victory.