Students earn tools with construction skills
?There were no video games, movies, music or any other item that a typical teenager might have in their shopping cart if they had $50, $75 or more in their pocket.
Instead, Connellsville Area Career and Technical Center (CACTC) carpentry students were filling their Lowe’s Uniontown Store carts and buggies with levels, measuring tapes, drills, hammers and other tools that would be helpful in their trade.
“It is exciting to watch them,” said instructor Jerry Matthews as the more than 30 students made their final selections during the recent shopping spree at the store. “I think they are having a good time.”
The initiative that provided the shopping opportunity began at the start of the school year.
As part of their classroom instruction, the students learned to construct wooden swings and gliders, folding stools and Adirondack chairs.
To improve their skills — as each item requires varied techniques — the students engaged in a fundraising effort that would allow them to practice their woodworking talent and allot the class the opportunity to earn some money.
“It was a good incentive,” said Matthews.
Their time spent was tracked along with the number of completed items.
Over the course of several months, the students took orders for 41 swings, 57 gliders, 101 chairs and 170 stools.
“It got pretty busy in here,” said Matthews. “There was a rush at Christmas because many of the items were going to be gifts.”
The gross sales total for the class was more than $17,000. Nearly $8,700 of the proceeds had to be paid out for materials for the various projects, said Matthews, with an additional $750 spent for prizes and tapes and hammers for those that had secured the most orders and achieved other goals throughout the process.
The net proceeds were then divided among the students with each receiving a “salary” for the amount of time spent on the projects.
Matthews said that the guidelines and expenditures were agreed upon in advance so that all the students would have an equal share of the proceeds.
“We also decided that everyone should get a coat and shirt that had our school logo, so that when we went out everyone would know that we were from CACTC,” said Matthews.
Each student was given a choice to spend as much or as little for the clothing with the amount deducted from his or her “salary.”
“The project and the benefits provided an incentive for them to be here everyday,” said Matthews. “What they would receive would depend on how much time they spent in the classroom.”
The Lowe’s shopping spree was their final opportunity to spend the remaining account balance.
Junior Don Fisch took little time to make his purchases that included a multi-purpose ratchet set and a power tool combination set.
His interest in carpentry began in 8th grade and has continued.
“I like working with my hands,” he said.
Like all of the purchases made by the students, Fisch will have sole ownership of the tools he selected and paid for with his portion of the project proceeds.
“It’s nice to do something and get rewarded for it.”
Senior Adam McKeel, too, was excited about his purchases that included a variety of chisels, a hammer, wrenches, a level and a “cool hat with a light on it.”
“You never know; I might be doing some night work and it will come in handy,” he said.
Senior Jacob Swank had tallied the largest amount in his account and had given much thought to how he would spend the more than $400.
For several weeks prior to the shopping trip he had perused circulars and visited the store.
His decision to purchase a multi-purpose frame nail gun and air compressor would benefit him in the future.
“I plan on doing roofing work and I’m going to need these,” he said. “It’s nice to have this because it would be tough to do it on my own.”
Linda Murphy, CACTC executive director, said that she found the students to be very dedicated to the projects and in achieving their classroom and individual goals.
“The students worked hard and there was never a time that I went into the workshop area that they weren’t happily focused on their work,” she said. “Occasionally, students would pause briefly to describe to me what they were cutting or assembling or to tell me about how high the sales were getting and how much time they had spend working.”
Murphy said that in addition to their hands-on training, students incorporated other skills, including math and reading along with communication and entrepreneur abilities.
“Career and technical centers do not just focus on building, making, repairing and designing,” she said. “In this case, the students also used their talents as smart consumers by spending wisely on tools that may last their lifetime.
“We are very proud of our carpentry students for all their hard work and to their instructor, Jerry Matthews, for making learning fun and showing the students the rewards of hard work.”