At Seneca Township High School, a partnership between a maintenance technician and a senior student has grown into something much bigger than anyone originally imagined. For more than a decade, a simple job-shadowing opportunity has helped students explore careers in the skilled trades while building relationships that last long after graduation.

Bob Laycoax, a maintenance technician at the school, never planned to become a mentor. He originally arrived at Seneca after many years working as an electrician. “I originally started working for my father when I was right out of high school, wiring new homes,” Laycoax explained. When the housing market slowed in the late 2000s, a connection led him to do some electrical work at the high school. That short-term work gradually turned into a full-time role maintaining the building.

Today, Laycoax’s job covers nearly every corner of the facility. “It morphed into doing virtually everything,” he said. “Plumbing a little bit, heating controls, doors, anything broken—I’m on it.” After nearly fifteen years at the school, he has become one of the people who keep the building running smoothly for its roughly 340 students.

About ten years ago, the school’s leadership began looking for ways to give students more exposure to hands-on careers. Former principal Mike Coughlin helped start the idea of placing students with Laycoax for part of the day so they could see what real maintenance work looked like.

Laycoax recalled that the program developed naturally over time. “They started placing students with me just so they could see what the real world was like doing a technical job,” he said, adding that he quickly discovered how much he enjoyed working with them. “Being an older man, I enjoy having the students with me. It keeps me young.”

The experience is structured simply. A student spends one class period every other day shadowing Laycoax as he moves through the school, fixing problems and maintaining equipment. The work might involve electrical repairs, plumbing issues, heating systems, or troubleshooting something unexpected.

For Luke Sangston, a member of the Class of 2021, that opportunity became a turning point. During his senior year, Sangston spent an hour and a half every other day following Laycoax through the building. Instead of sitting in a classroom, he helped solve real problems around the school.

“Bob was showing me everything,” Sangston said, explaining that they worked on electrical systems, HVAC units, plumbing, fire alarms, and security equipment. “It was stuff that I wouldn’t really get exposure to without Bob.”

The two quickly formed a strong working relationship. Sangston remembers that some days they became so focused on their work that time seemed to disappear. “We were working and talking,” he said. “One day, I got a call from my dad (school SRO) asking where I was because classes had already switched.”

After graduation, Sangston continued working with the maintenance team during the summer months. Alongside Laycoax, groundskeeper Joe Kern, and maintenance supervisor Jim Harsted, he helped tackle projects across the campus.

The experience also helped Sangston figure out what he wanted to do after high school. “I knew I wanted to work with my hands,” he said. “I didn’t want to sit at a desk all day.”

Other mentors at the school helped shape that path as well. Sangston credits teacher Mr. Witte with introducing him to the possibilities of a career in the electrical trades. “Mr. Witte opened my eyes to going union,” he said, explaining that the class discussions helped him understand the long-term opportunities available in skilled trades.

With encouragement from school leaders—including superintendent Dan Stecken and principal Mike Coughlin—Sangston enrolled at Illinois Valley Community College while continuing to work part-time at the high school.

Eventually, he applied for an apprenticeship with IBEW Local 176. The process took nearly a year, but in 2023, he received the news he had been hoping for—he had been accepted into the program. Just days after graduating from community college, he began work as an electrical apprentice.

Now in the third year of the five-year apprenticeship, Sangston is building the career he once imagined while walking the halls of Seneca High School alongside Laycoax. The connection between mentor and student remains strong. Sangston still calls Laycoax regularly to talk about work and life. “It’s been over five years since we started working together,” he said. “There hasn’t been a week we haven’t talked.”