Volunteer Spotlight

 Derek Mitchell: A Man of Many Talents

Derek (R) and Nathalie Quiroz,Water Meter Shop, at Arlington Middle School STEAM Day

Memphis students’ faces light up with fascination and interest as they learn what makes our utility “tick” from the guy who built all the demonstration props that are holding them spellbound. It’s a STEAM day or career day, and these kids are learning, and really enjoying it. Making it interesting is Derek Mitchell, the guy who built the props. He’s a man of many talents and loves to share them. He’s been everywhere man!!

Starting in Corrosion Control and Cathodic Protection, Derek joined MLGW in July 2006. “Yeah, in 2006, someone called me up, asked me would I be interested in working for MLGW,” he recalls. “Another person saw my application and recommended me. The rest is history.” He has also worked in several other areas in the Division. He moved to Electric Ops as an Electronic Instrumentation Technician, then he went to Power and Reliability as an Associate Electrical Engineer. He was hired by Clint Richardson, now retired, to join Residential Services as a Residential Energy Technician. After working in that department, Derek finally settled where he is now, Water Engineering and Operations as an Electronic Instrumentation Technician.

Before coming to MLGW, he completed a four-year Electrical Apprenticeship at IBEW LOCAL 474, then he continued his education, going back to school yet again. This time he went to State Tech (now Southwest Tennessee Community College), and earned three degrees in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering and Telecommunications Engineering. WHEW!

Before joining MLGW, Derek worked in a very diverse background. He was a Licensed Electrician, working for various Electrical Contractors. He worked as a Paralegal for the Tennessee Dept. of Child Services, and he also worked as a Maintenance Mechanic for the Shelby County Sheriff’s Department. As one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, he also got involved in lots of volunteer work, most notably building 20+ Kingdom Halls, many built in the ‘80s and ‘90s in the Memphis area. Derek also had the privilege of working on and remodeling what is the Assembly Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses located on Cleveland in Midtown (formerly known as the Crosstown Theatre). Each of the Kingdom Halls that he worked on took only four days to build. That’s a great background, and he gained experience in construction and electrical work that he would put to good use in the future.

“I learned about volunteering and helping others when a man named Lawrence Straughter studied the Bible with me as a teenager, around 1979.” Derek remembers how Mr. Straughter loved to do volunteer work. “He also taught me how to do construction and maintenance work along with a host of teenagers, recalls Derek. “I come from a very large family – 15 kids! Mr. Straughter was always there, helping us out and taking us with him to do volunteer work on the Kingdom Hall. That’s how I got into doing volunteer work, and I will always remember and appreciate him.”

“I’ve been to a lot of places,” says Derek. “I’ve even done electrical construction work at our World Headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses in New York City and surrounding areas. Currently, I work with the Tennessee Regional Building Committee, teaching and training Electrical Maintenance and Safety to volunteers in the southwest part of Tennessee. But I have done volunteer work assignments in other states. Some volunteer disaster projects that I worked on entailed going to Augusta, Georgia, helping to rebuild Kingdom Halls and Homes after a flood came through and wiped out several buildings and neighborhoods. I also got a chance to volunteer when Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans. I am very thankful for my wife’s company and assistance during these projects; she has been a tremendous help. We have been at this as a volunteer couple since 1988,” he adds proudly. What a great relationship.

One of his early volunteer experiences before arriving at MLGW was building a wheelchair accessibility ramp in 2000 for a lady named Angela McGowan. She was handicapped and confined to her house, and she had no ramp for her wheelchair to get out of her house. She approached MLGW’s Wil Williams (retired) and Beverly Phillips (deceased, and truly missed) for assistance. MLGW said they would donate the materials if she could come up with a crew to do the work. “What’s a lady to do if she has no crew?” Derek asks.

Angela made a phone call to Derek, and he got busy. He and some congregational volunteers (“Shout out to retired former MLGW employees Lopez Ward and Sheilah Straughter,” Derek adds.) with several teenage volunteers got down to it and built the lady a ramp. “Those same teenage volunteers were clamoring for more projects to do,” Derek recalls. “Teenagers are full of energy and ready to volunteer. We built the wheelchair ramp enabling Angela to attend college as a computer programmer and attend her congregational meetings as a Jehovah’s Witnesses minister. EVERYONE was happy!” It was his introduction to MLGW’s Residential Services area and everyone in the department including Clint Richardson remembered him.

While working in Residential Services, a friend of Derek’s, “Lonzo,” unfortunately became non-ambulatory and needed a wheelchair accessibility ramp built, too. Once more MLGW provided the materials, and Derek provided a crew of volunteer workers from different congregations, having fun and teaching them as they got the work done. The experience would “bode” him well later in his MLGW career while working in Residential Services as he was heavily involved with several wheelchair ramp-building projects for the Division. He has also done a lot of weatherizing, repair and other construction projects with the department, usually helping out people who were in need.

Much of Derek’s volunteer efforts these days involve talking to students at local schools’ career days or STEAM events, explaining the science and engineering while giving advice to those students interested in utility careers. He’s been doing that since he first arrived at MLGW. It’s inspiring to the students – you can see their eyes light up as Derek demonstrates, using those special props he built himself.

“Yeah, I made all the demo stuff for local school STEAM events,” says Derek. A long-term project he’s doing for Beverly Perkins, Corporate Communications, is a “kid-powered bicycle generator” for school kids. “Hopefully I will get to it sooner than later,” he promises. “I built the demo stuff back in 2008. I built items like the ‘Electrical Briefcase’ (Thanks to MLGW’s Brian Wilson of Central Shops!), and a meter box demonstrator which is a trainer for the kids. It shows them how power is consumed and measured. It is so rewarding to help them learn and be fascinated by it all!”

Any volunteer advice for the rest of us? “There’s more happiness in giving than receiving,” he says. “There’s more reward to be had in helping others! I’ve come to learn that a lot of people need help, and there’s a ton of reward in helping them.” Truer words were never spoken……