Ep 102 | How do you fix that? Not Your Grandfather’s Shop Class

SPEAKER_01 0:00

How many shingles do we, bundles of shingles do we need for a roof? How many gallons of paint do you need to buy when you go to the store to be able to paint your room? So, you know, all of this math, it it equates right back to them being able to take their algebra and their geometry EOCs at the end of the year, right? Because there are certain times when you put hands-on experience to a problem, boom, all of a sudden it makes sense to them. So they're able to be successful in other classes because of what we do in our shop class.

SPEAKER_00 0:45

Welcome to the Voices United in Education podcast. Each week we showcase the teachers, administrators, and community members who go the extra mile to contribute to the success of every student in Escambia County. You'll meet the real people behind the titles and learn about the amazing resources to support every student's success. Anyone who's built a home or replaced a roof lately knows there is a shortage of skilled labor workers. And anyone who's had to use YouTube to look up how to fix something also knows about some of the fundamental knowledge they may be missing. So, how do you set up the next generation to be better positioned for both in-demand employment and, you know, adulting? My next guest is the building construction teacher at Northview High School. And today he's going to share how the Building Technologies Academy is not the shop class you remember. Bringing lessons to life, working with his hands, leading with his heart. Chad Sherry. I'm so glad you're here.

SPEAKER_01 1:48

Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_00 1:49

I think it might be good to start with a little shop class myth busting. Because this also ties into your teacher origin story. Because you thought the shop class was um bird houses.

SPEAKER_01 2:02

Yeah. So it interestingly enough, when it was presented to me about Chad, hey, why not be a shop teacher? That was my first thought process is I don't want to teach kids how to build a birdhouse because unfortunately none of our students are going to grow up to raise pigeons, right? So it's it's not necessarily a what I would say a usable skill. Um, but at that time, the individual talked with me and told me that, hey, this is building construction. We'd be teaching students about safety, about carpentry, about electrical, plumbing, anything and everything it takes to build a house. And that is my passion, working with my hands, building something, turning something from nothing, or fixing things. So being able to teach the kids those uh necessary skills is is what it's all about for me.

SPEAKER_00 2:54

And people would always tell you, oh, you should be a teacher, you should be a teacher. So that the teaching part of the skill set that you're so passionate about, that was a natural fit.

SPEAKER_01 3:03

It was a natural fit. And I will give a huge shout out to our superintendent at the time, which was assistant superintendent of HR, uh, Mr. Keith Leonard, because he's the one that approached me. He's the one that said, Hey, Chad, have you ever thought about this? And so tying everything back into we are all united for one, you know, in education for the success of students, he was able to see the skill sets that I've had in the school district and put me or direct me into a position that does allow students to learn more because you have the right people in the right position.

SPEAKER_00 3:42

And this is just the second year of this program, is that right?

SPEAKER_01 3:45

That is correct. I've been in the school district for 18 years, um, doing everything from our capital improvement crew where we go through and renovate the building we're in, the pace building, the administrative building. We renovated all four floors, including the basement, uh, and then moved on to be a uh building life safety fire inspector for the district, cruising around our campuses for uh compliance, one, and two things that could cause issues down the road so that we could get those fixed. But yes, second year as a teacher, uh, both of them at Northview High School. So shoot huge shout out to the chiefs, right? But I absolutely love it being able to connect with the students and show uh my passion because if we can show our passion for something, it equates to them wanting to learn. And that's the that's the hardest thing that we have nowadays is getting students engaged so that they want what we're trying to give them.

SPEAKER_00 4:45

Enthusiasm is the secret sauce.

SPEAKER_01 4:47

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 4:47

And you definitely have it when it comes to your passion for talking about, you know, practical outcomes and skill sets, because when you're teaching these kids the um the curriculum for this academy, it includes elements from their other classes, right?

SPEAKER_01 5:06

Oh, absolutely. So as we go through and we talk about the different certifications they're able to earn, uh, part of the first one being the core. Um, and let's just start with that, right? Safety is the number one component of anything because if we can't teach our students to be safe, we don't want them doing the job that they're doing. Um, we need them to be able to walk out into the shop and be able to work on a project and be safe. We want them to be safe at home when they're not in our presence. So just providing that structure for them so that they have those OSHA standards, they have the just general site safety uh skills is the one thing we want to teach them. But then we go into construction math. And I tell our students, I'm teaching you very basic elementary math skills. But what they don't realize is how difficult it can be because we're gonna hand them a slide ruler. And now they have to look at blueprints. They have to be able to use that, convert those quarter inches to an inch, and be able to do all of the necessary conversions so that they can tell me how much flooring do we need to for this room for this house? How many shingles do we, bundles of shingles do we need for a roof? How many gallons of paint do you need to buy when you go to the store to be able to paint your room? So, you know, all of this math, it it equates right back to them being able to take their algebra and their geometry EOCs at the end of the year, right? Because there are certain times when you put hands-on experience to a problem, boom, all of a sudden it makes sense to them. So they're able to be successful in other classes because of what we do in our shop class.

SPEAKER_00 7:01

Well, yeah. I mean, and and it elevates the importance of it. The they feel good that they know how to answer the question. They feel good that at the end of that question, they not only just have the right answer, but they have a project that they can point to and say, I did that. And that's a huge confidence builder.

SPEAKER_01 7:20

Absolutely. We we do various projects throughout the year and them being able to look back at what they've done and be able to take ownership of that and say, I did that, you know, that is it boosts their morale so much. Um but also part of that is understanding what failure is, because we all were not successful throughout our entire life. It took being knocked down, it took understanding that project, what went wrong, hmm, how do I fix it, analyzing that, formalizing a plan and moving forward from there so that as they either tear it apart and redo it or have to do it again another day, they realize what the problem was at hand and how they needed to um, you know, change things so that they they they are successful the second time.

SPEAKER_00 8:16

Well, critical thinking skills really is what you're talking about. 100%. That's amazing. You mentioned they feel proud of what the projects that they do. What projects have they done so far?

SPEAKER_01 8:26

So little things. Uh students come in and uh, you know, it depends upon the time of the year, certain things that I ask them to do. Um, as we start the year off, and as it starts to get a little bit colder outside, we need to talk about what we need to do to rent winterize our homes, winterize our pipes, so that we don't have those problems. But what do we do in case we do have a problem in a pipe burst? So we go through how to glue up PVC, we go through how to uh solder copper pipe. So what we do is I give them explicit instructions. I want a 10 by 10 square with this on it so that after they weld it up or after solder it up or after they uh glue up the PVC, then we can actually put it on a water hose and test it. And so they get the comical portion of watching some of them that didn't do it properly, it exploding on top of me and getting me all wet, and they get to laugh about it. But they also get to be able to see those that did everything right and there's no leaks. But when you then turn around and ask them to drill very smile, small tiny holes around it to turn it into a working sprinkler. They get to see how different things come to life and how different things can become something and use their imagination with that. So, interesting story, past student, you know, was able to come up after winter and and and tell me, hey, we we had a pipe break and my dad was out of town, and I told my mom, as long as I have this stuff, I can fix it. So they were able to go through because we had already demonstrated that in the classroom as a hands-on project, being able to problem solve and fix things because of being in that class. So that's those those are the success stories. Those are the stories that I like to be able to share with people.

SPEAKER_00 10:21

I mean, any parent listening to this can think, oh yeah, I want my kid to have these skills, right? Because you, as a parent, I imagine, you know, you get, you survive, you survive, you survive. They graduate, oh, good. And then you worry, and then you worry, and then you worry. So this is one less thing that they would have to worry about.

SPEAKER_01 10:42

Yeah, absolutely. And I had a mom a couple months ago come to me. And so hearing it from students, but then when you hear it from a parent, it just means a little bit more because they've recognized their success. And this actually was a young lady that they had uh bought a bookcase, I think it was. And it's not the simple fact that I taught this young lady how to use a hammer or uh a screwdriver to put a bookcase together, but it's that I taught her the simple fact of try. Just try. And her mom had come home and this bookcase was put together, and she was amazed. And she asked her about it, and she said it's simply because we had it, you know, exposed her to you may not be successful, but if you you'll never get it put together if you don't try. So just getting them to understand, hey, I gotta step out on the ledge sometimes. I gotta get out of my comfort zone, and I've got to just try.

SPEAKER_00 11:41

That's so I love that so much. Is it you said this in this example, the student was a girl. Is it still still like it was back when I was in school, where this sort of class is primarily boys?

SPEAKER_01 11:55

Interestingly enough, my classes probably consist of about a 50-50 markup of uh male versus female students. And I don't expect that 50% of my students will go into a skilled trade. Um, but I do expect that every one of my students end up one day owning a home. And so we go through different problems that you might have in a house, different things that you might have to hire somebody to come in and take care of. And so the common problems that you might have, and we discuss those because these young ladies, uh, you know, and I've got to give a shout-out to a couple of mine because they rocket. Um, they sometimes put these little uh these gentlemen to shame, right? Uh they're out there and they're pulling a toilet up and they're changing a wax ring seal so that one day they know how to change a toilet if need be. Um, so even though we're preparing them for a workforce environment one day, we recognize the fact that a lot of them will not go into a skill trade. But every skill that they learn is a usable skill one day as they own a home. And so if we can just help them, even in that aspect, we've done our job.

SPEAKER_00 13:16

Do the students graduate, if you will, from this academy with any employably recognized certifications?

SPEAKER_01 13:25

Yeah. So the HBI Home Builders Institute, we allow our students to certify. One is the core that we kind of briefly spoke about. Then we go into building green. So we want to teach our students why it's important to build green, reduce our carbon footprint, to reduce our natural resources that we use. But in the long run, it's also building a home so that it's energy efficient. Uh, if we can relate that to it's going to save their pocketbook in the long run with the bills that they have to pay, because right now mom and dad does that, right? And under let them understand the importance of it, it it strikes home a little bit. But they're able to earn carpentry certifications, electrical certifications, you know, several others that allow them when they do enter that workforce, they can show an employer, hey, I have these certifications, and it shows them that they're working into it, not with just your basic knowledge, but a little bit gives them a little bit leg up on the other competition that they might be facing.

SPEAKER_00 14:30

So they would stand out among the other applicants. Absolutely. Is there any crossover between other trade schools like George Stone? Any double dipping of credits?

SPEAKER_01 14:40

Well, I uh and and and you're gonna get into a portion that I'm not quite sure of, I'll be honest there. Um, but a lot of my students they get what they need or they get a sense of all of these different trades. And maybe one of them says, hey, I really enjoy this plumbing aspect. What I hear more so than anything is I I love this electrical side of things. And so I have students from last year that are attending Georgetown this year, going through their electrical program so that they can become an electrical apprentice working on a job site.

SPEAKER_00 15:18

How how receptive is the workforce in Escambi County to these um certifications and to this experience that a student would have on their resume?

SPEAKER_01 15:30

So it's it's so important to our employers that our students are getting what they need. We hold roundtables throughout the year to where we allow employers to come in and they give us guidance on what they are looking for. Really? What is lacking in our workforce? And a large portion of that boils down to um employability and resume writing and how all those soft skills in order for them to get hired. Um, because certain places that hire people, you can only place them in a position if their resume shows that they have those skills. So we we go through that portion because even though they're not gonna all go into a skilled trade, every one of my students hopefully will go on to be good community partners and will have a job. So we work through, even if they're gonna be a doctor, how do you make that resume stand out from others? And these are back to those myths of a shop class, you wouldn't think about writing resumes, that ELA portion of it, right? Helping our students out in that aspect of school.

SPEAKER_00 16:46

Yeah, you said employability. So aside from resume, does that include like interview skills or what else is included in that?

SPEAKER_01 16:53

Yeah. So we we go through uh because in our nowadays of phones and texting, you know, that's not my generation, but it is theirs. And, you know, we talk about if you're running late for a job interview, what should you do? And, you know, most of them's like, well, I can snap them, or I can no, no, no, really?

SPEAKER_00 17:13

That is not you release it. No, it's not good.

SPEAKER_01 17:19

But it is good because we get to point out why and that that's gonna look unfavorably upon you because people are looking to even hire people my age because we get to show employees how they should be, right? Like, I don't need my phone attached to my hip. I don't need my phone to do my job. And so, yeah, it goes through interview skills, how to answer questions, how to dress, um, all the soft skills and etiquette that they should have in order to move forward and make them stand out in in in that crowd of of other people that's opting and looking for the same job that they are.

SPEAKER_00 18:02

I would have never guessed. I would have never in a million years guessed that just one of the certifications, you said this is the core, that would include everything from OSHA safety to interview skills. That's incredible. Yeah. And I think I read that this is at four schools in Escambia County. Is that right?

SPEAKER_01 18:21

That would be correct. We do have four that teach this same building construction. That's correct. And I think that's important to note too. Thanks for bringing it up, that our school district as a whole has recognized that this is vitally important to our community. This is invitally important to our students' success after they, as we're fixing to, have some graduate, right? They're gonna walk out, they're gonna be looking for those jobs. So we've done this throughout our district, all the way from South End schools to the north end schools, so that we're able to hit all the different uh areas and not just one group of students, but they all get to be successful if this is the avenue that they decide to take.

SPEAKER_00 19:07

Before we close, is there anything else that is top of mind for you that you want to be sure parents know about this academy?

SPEAKER_01 19:14

I think it's important for parents to know that our school district is working to produce students of all calibers, depending upon not just my skill trade, but there are tons of other academies out there, whether it be a health academy and nursing, right? We are doing our part to help the community produce students that is ready to go forth and work. And the only thing that we could ask of parents is to encourage your students. That is the number one thing. If we can encourage our students to do well, if we can present them with, in my case, um hands-on projects so that they can learn easier and it develops and gets their interest, they will learn much more and they will go further in life.

SPEAKER_00 20:10

Well said. Well, thank you so much for being a part of that. I'm sure there are many, many students who will look back and go, oh, that was my favorite teacher, Mr. Cherry.

SPEAKER_01 20:22

I've obviously this is the end of the year. We got five more days of school, I think. You know, not that we're counting. No, not at all. Not that we're counting, but I can tell you with the yearbooks and all that coming in, we I I hear that so much. And I feel the love of my students. And as I do tear up, I hope that they feel the same love from me to them because building those relationships is what it is all about.

SPEAKER_00 20:51

Yeah, absolutely. Well, you are killing it. Thank you so much for sharing today.

SPEAKER_01 20:55

Thank you. I appreciate y'all.

SPEAKER_00 20:58

Thanks for listening. Be sure to subscribe and share. Voices United in Education is a production of Escambia County Public Schools.