Ezekiel HOPE Blog

Donnell Boose started his first apprenticeship with Jim Gaillard (master electrician) back in the early 1990s. He also completed four years of apprenticeship through Waukesha County Technical College (WCTC). During this time employers were only paying apprentices about $7.50 an hour. Now a journeyman electrician, Donnell is quick to credit the ‘old school’ Black electricians for taking him and others under their wings to teach them the electrical skilled trades. He said that

At the age of 21, LeSean White had an ‘ah-ha’ moment while serving his third stint in prison. He realized that if he wanted different results, he was going to have to do something different. While in prison he took several classes, including basic carpentry, plumbing, and brick masonry, but they did not interest him much. It wasn’t until he attended a presentation where Jim Gaillard (Master Electrician) talked about careers in the electrical trades that he fell in love with t