Program teaches the math, science and craft of building trades

A long-time math and science teacher who put himself through college by working construction and still operates a small home-improvement business, Jason Smith describes his current job as a perfect marriage. Smith is the construction trades instructor at Milford Mill Academy.

Four years ago, he joined the staff with a mission to rebuild the flagging trades program. He revamped the curriculum, acquired new tools and, last year, secured a $2,000 grant from the BC&E Foundation.

The result, Smith said, is 100 percent of his graduates to date have earned OSHA 10 and NCCER CORE certifications, several have entered careers in construction trades and some are HVAC apprentices.

The three-year program engages and supports students in multiple ways. Students spend a foundational year learning basic construction skills and earning their OSHA 10, and then spend one semester each focusing on four construction trades – carpentry, plumbing, electrical and HVAC.

Those focused semesters expose students to the history of the trade, major trade terms, unique safety considerations, unique tools of that trade and a hands-on project.

With the BC&E Foundation grant, students in the plumbing semester constructed two, elevated, 10-foot by 10-foot bathrooms, and installed complete plumbing and electrical components.

“One bathroom had a shower, the other had a bathtub and they both had working toilets and sinks,” Smith said. “We used copper, PEX and CPVC so they got a little bit of experience with each of those types of supply lines. We hooked up a garden hose to pressurize the systems and the bathrooms were fully functional. They all drained and filled.”

Projects in other semesters have included building a studded wall and installing 11 electrical stations with different configurations, turning 16-gauge sheet metal into ductwork and then transforming that ductwork into toolboxes for the students, building dog houses and, due to community requests, chicken coups.

The program teaches soft skills students will require in the workplace. It also teaches a lot of industry-specific math and science.

“Because of my background, I relate a lot of things in class to the science behind them,” Smith said. “We talk about chemical reactions in concrete mixes, thermodynamics in HVAC, electrons in the electrical unit, and there is a lot of time spent on math. To get their certification, students have to complete a huge amount of math and it is definitely the thing they struggle with the most. So, I talk about that from day one. I start preparing them for that test and give them math homework throughout the year.”