Cooperative Living January 2020 - 15

Surprisingly, many of those " boys "
scaling poles alongside her in training
classes agree. " She is a hard worker
and that's all that matters. I don't see
gender, " says Conner McCready, a
Tangier, Va., native and assistant
instructor at the school.
" I'm not going to lie, she knows
what she's doing, " adds Joshua Clary
of Lawrenceville, Va., part of Boarman's
29-member graduating class at SVCC.
" She's better than half the guys out
here. " Bryant Lockridge of Drakes
Branch, Va., agrees. " She's shown a
lot of us up, " he says with a laugh.
Trailblazers rarely find their paths
absent of naysayers. " A few of the guys
think that I'm going to get in the door
just because I'm a female, "
Boarman acknowledges.
In addition, she's received
more than a few
cautionary notes about
the impact of breaking
a glass ceiling in a
dangerous line of
work.
" My thought is she
is a woman and the men
aren't ready to accept a
woman into a man's role, " says her
mother, Linda Boarman. " I'm keeping
my fingers crossed that she gets her
opportunities and that they allow
her to show what she's able to do. "
That's not going to stop Boarman
from aspiring to new heights. No
stranger to hard work, she says she
often rejects help from her male
Boarman hopes to one day be
looking down at onlookers at
the Gaff-n-Go Lineman's Rodeo.
counterparts. " I don't like when they
try to help me. I can do it all on my
own, " she says.
Josh Ouellette, a 26-year-old
journeyman lineman for CraigBotetourt
Electric Cooperative, is
pleased that more women are
looking to become lineworkers.
" I think it's been something
that's been intimidating to
women in the past. It
really comes down to the
individual; whether they're
male or female doesn't matter.
You have to have a good work
ethic, be able to think on the fly
and adapt to whatever situation
you're put in, and you have to be able
to interact with people, " he explains.
During SVCC's 11-week training
program, trainees get classroom and
hands-on training in safety, climbing
techniques, electrical theory, aerial
framing, rigging, operating utility
service equipment and commercial
driver training.
Those who complete the program
receive five credentials, including a
commercial driver's license, OSHA 10,
CPR/first aid, NCCER Power Line
Worker Level 1, and VDOT Traffic
Controller.
Boarman has proven that she is
more than capable. " Genevie is a
special person, " says Randy Crocker,
coordinator for the Power Line
Worker Training School.
" She's usually the first in line to go
climb the pole and she worked extra
hours so she could get her commercial
driver's license (CDL) early and has
excelled in every aspect of the
program, " he says.
Boarman remembers the moment
she considered linework as a potential
career path. Her father Joseph Boarman
worked for Northern Neck Electric
Cooperative (NNEC) and Southern
Maryland Electric Cooperative
(SMECO).
But the seed was planted at an
industry event for lineworkers.
" I was at the Gaff-n-Go Lineman's
Rodeo a few years ago with a friend of
mine, an apprentice for Rappahannock
Electric Cooperative. I remember
looking up at the guys on the poles
and thinking to myself, 'Why aren't
there any women up there?' "
One day, she hopes to be looking
down at onlookers from high atop a
pole at the lineman's rodeo, so that
young women like herself don't have
to ask that same question.
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January 2020 | Cooperative Living | 13
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Cooperative Living January 2020

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