Written on: June 20, 2023 by ICM
L to R: Bolobanic, Lawrence, Maroney, Devine, Huber, O’Brien and Mannino
The National Oilheat Research Alliance (NORA) has recognized the five trainers to complete the inaugural NORA Accredited Instructor program. Joseph Maroney, RW Beckett Corp; Christopher Bolobanic, Electrical Training Center; Wayne Lawrence, Petro Home Services; Ronald Mannino, Technical Heating and Robert O’Brien, Oil & Energy Service Professionals, all completed the course at NORA’s Research & Education center in Plainview, NY, on June 8, under the tutelage of professional education trainer Brenda Huber.
Michael Devine, NORA President, stated, “I am extremely proud of the commitment of these educators who completed this three-day workshop with the goal of improving their training skills.
“They prepared lessons, studied best-training techniques and then were evaluated by their instructor and their peers,” he continued.
Devine concluded, “I have no doubt when they return to the classroom, their students will benefit, as will our industry.”
The NORA Accredited Instructor program was developed to ensure technicians trained in NORA schools, unions, and by companies in the heating liquid heating fuels industry have been provided with an education that positions them, their customers, and their companies for success. The service professionals in the liquid heating fuels industry are the first and most important contacts with customers. They are responsible not only for ensuring the heating system is operating at maximum efficiency, safety and reliability, but also with how customers perceive their liquid fuel heating, their adoption of renewable fuels and how comfortable they are with staying with their liquid fuel heating system.
The class began with a prepared presentation by each of the participants. These were critiqued by the instructor as well as others in the class to establish a baseline. From there, the instructor took the participants through the teaching process to elevate their lessons from simply conveying facts to creating a meaningful total-learning experience for the students. The NORA Accredited Instructor program’s emphasis is to present the curriculum in such a way that students “own” the information and not just hear it. Huber, the instructor for the course, commented, “I was impressed with the trainers’ willingness to hear critiques from their peers and make improvements to their teaching.”
Devine also noted that in an Industry concerned with a shortage of qualified service technicians, the best way to have qualified personnel is to hire and train them. “These newly accredited trainers made a commitment to improving their own teaching skills.”
These first five Accredited Instructors will be posted on NORA’s website, as will all additional trainers who complete the course.
If you are a learning institution or trainer and are interested participating in NORA’s Accredited Instructor program, please contact NORA’s Director of Education, Bob O’Brien, at robrien@noraweb.org.
