Future Craftsmen build skills, hone entrepreneurial plans

Visit any technical school in Maryland and you will find truly impressive young people who are excited to learn welding, carpentry, electrical, HVAC, engineering and other construction skills, and who are eager to pursue careers in this industry.

This year, it is the honor of the Building Congress & Exchange Foundation to recognize and support three promising high school seniors with Future Craftsman & Design Awards and $3,000 worth of scholarships to help them develop their craft.

Logan Bankert
Francis Scott Key High School
Carroll County Career And Technology Center
Concentration: Welding Technology

A senior and honor roll student at Francis Scott Key High School, Logan Bankert has not only developed a vision for an entrepreneurial career, she’s already lining up clients.

Bankert became fascinated with welding in the nineth grade and enrolled in the welding program at the Carroll County Career and Technology Center. Since then, she has steadily expanded her skills, learning how to use a MIG welder, CNC plasma cutter, bandsaws, grinders, drill press and other equipment. She has learned to do vertical welding, earned her OSHA 10-Hour Construction Safety and Health Certification and begun to complete a wide range of welding projects from fabrications and equipment repairs to welded sculptures.

“I enjoy welding because I have an artistic mind and I love working with my hands,” said Logan, who has crafted a boot rack from horseshoes and rebar, a blanket ladder from tree bark rebar and firewood racks with intricate, plasma-cut designs on each end.

Bankert – who tutors other students in algebra, geometry and biology – intends to start a job in the welding field as soon as she graduates from high school and also grow her own business.

“I want to turn my truck into a welding rig and start by doing small jobs just to get my name out there,” said Bankert, who has already lined up gigs to do welding on boats and boat trailers and provide welding services on farm equipment.

Colton Hardisty
South Carroll High School
Carroll County Career and Technology Center
Concentration: HVAC

A senior at South Carroll High School, Colton Hardisty enrolled in the HVAC program at the Carroll County Career and Technology Center because he loved the complexity of HVAC systems and how the work required skills in electrical, welding and plumbing.

Through his coursework, Hardisty has set up gas and electrical water heating equipment, learned sauntering and completed ductwork installation. He has also competed in Skills USA.

HVAC Instructor Kent Shamer describes him as “an outstanding leader in his abilities and accomplishments” who has achieved high academic grades, demonstrated strong work ethic and consistently been responsible and respectful throughout the HVAC program.

Hardisty plans to seek a job with an HVAC company upon graduation and hopes one day to take over his father’s plumbing company and expand its operations into HVAC.

Tyler Knox
Severna Park High School
Center of Applied Technology South
Concentration: Electrical

Tyler Knox, an honor roll student at Severna Park High School, has also already embarked on an entrepreneurial career. Since 2020, Knox has generated work for himself power washing patios and sidewalks, mowing lawns, rehabbing and reselling weight equipment, and marketing his services through social media.

Since 2020, Knox has also been a student in the electrical program at the Center for Applied Technology South in Edgewater.

“I love working with my hands and solving problems,” he said. “My favorite thing about doing electrical work so far has been troubleshooting and the fulfillment I get from doing good work.”

The center’s principal and electricity teacher describe Knox as an exemplary student who is highly motivated to advance his own education, inquisitive and thoughtful in his approach to classwork and a young man who demonstrates leadership skills, a calm demeanor and a consistent interest in helping other students when they struggle. Knox plans to pursue an electrical career upon graduation and certification as a journeyman and master electrician.