JAN/FEB 2026 RETA Breeze

EDUCATION CORNER

To all Members from the Education Coordinator:

Well, another year has gone by.

It seems like yesterday, yet so long ago, that I first entered tech school in 1985 to officially start down my road in this industry. The road has been much different than I could have ever imagined, but it always led to a special place some where in the HVACR Industry. I’ve been a service technician in everything from residential, to com mercial, to industrial HVACR. I’ve worked as a consultant/contractor, PSM/RMP Implementor, safety man ager and instructor, ending here at RETA, now RETA-RSES. I say all of this to share that, no matter where I’ve been in this industry, I was constantly learning something new, and when I thought I knew it all I always got humbled by what I didn’t know. I also want to make the point that every time I got humbled there was always a friend there to help me learn more. That’s why I love RETA RSES. It is that safe place, to not just get our initial learning, but a safe place to go when we have been humbled.

None of us have all the answers and everyone one of us has things to learn, whether it is your first or fortieth year in the industry. I also have learned how important new and different voices are to get the best results. Thus, starting this year, we will be having a rotation of contributors to the Education Corner. You will be seeing articles from Don Tragethon, CIRO, CRST, RAI, our RETA-RSES Education Chairman, Jayson Goff, CMS, our RETA-RSES Education Co-Chair man, myself and possibly others. This will do nothing but improve our message and help us expand the topics that we cover, to reach all our members from RETA and RSES.

where your road takes you and what hardships you face, “Never forget you have friends in RETA-RSES.” It is a simple but true fact that if you put good people together and let them go, good things will happen. Please be part of making good things happen! That includes the greatest of all times, when we go to pick ourselves up and brush ourselves off and find there are friends there with hands reached out to help us up. Nothing feels better than knowing we aren’t alone!

Blessings to you and yours.

Scott Melton Education Coordinator

scott@reta.org 1-509-833-5258

And so, in closing this first article of the year, I just want to say, no matter

10 RETA.com

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026