Students in the electrical program at Happy Valley High School are getting more hands-on learning experience thanks to a donation by an international tool company.

“Over $300 in tools were donated to our program from the Greenlee corporation,” said James Monroe, instructor in the HVHS electrical program.

The program did not have enough tools to go around so students were often having to wait for a tool to become available before they could start working, Monroe said. This is especially true for the conduit benders, which shape the electrical metallic tubing used to protect the electrical wiring, he said. The program previously had two conduit benders, and that number is now doubled thanks to the gift from Greenlee.

According to the company’s website, Greenlee has been providing quality tools to the woodworking industry for more than 150 years and for over 70 years ago the company expanded to include tools for the electrical industry as well.

The donation came to the school following a chance encounter during the electrical program’s visit to the SkillsUSA state competition in Chattanooga in April. At the event, Monroe met Greenlee representative Steve Lehr.

“We got to talking about the program and what equipment we had and didn’t have, and they decided to donate this equipment.”

Greenlee gave the school two new conduit benders in different sizes to help support the program.

“He has contacted us again, and they are going to be donating more equipment,” Monroe said.

The donations have helped the program out, according to Monroe, and the students have appreciated being able to use the latest tools.

“We’re going to write him thank you letters and send them to the company,” Monroe said.