High school program hammers home trade skills for students

BERLIN CENTER, Ohio (WKBN) — More and more students are opting for trade schools instead of college, and local high schools are trying to help those students build a foundation for success, including a group of students at Western Reserve who are brushing up on what they’ve nailed down before graduation.

If you build it, they will come — at least, that’s the goal.

“So often, when it comes to education, we get kind of into that tunnel vision of, you go to school, you get an education and you to go college. and that’s all there is to it,” says Patsy Daltorio, building trades instructor

But for 12 students in the building trades program at Western Reserve High School, they’re getting a hands-on education.

“Not only stuff now at home, but things as they grow up. They need to fix a sink. They have to replace a 2×4. They have to wire an outlet. All these things that they’re going to have to pay hundreds of dollars to do, they’re going to walk out of there with the ability to do,” Daltorio said.

“It makes you really proud to realize you can do that. You can do all the measurements, the cuts. Get it all right in the end and make look good,” said Luke Henning, a senior.

They’re taking the concept of learning as you go and hammering it home, tuning up skills that will pay off not just now, but in the future.

“I definitely think it’s something you need in life. Just to know and build small things. Maybe around your house when you get older, around your house now if your parents need something,” Henning said. “It’s so important because it saves you a lot of money if you know how to do some of these things.”

This week’s assignment? A new dugout for the youth baseball field — their biggest project to date.

“You go from building a birdhouse, a step stool to framing sawhorses, building bookcases, and now being able to build full structures,” Daltorio said.

The school teamed up with Home Depot through a grant and partnered with local contractors for the coursework that laid the foundation for the students to get to work.

“It’s special to be able to build this and have our lasting mark as seniors. Maybe, when I bring my kids here, they’re going to play here and use these,” said Mitchell Butts, a senior.

Their progress has been a nailed-on success, primarily because everyone has started out on the same level.

“You’re not embarrassed to mess up or anything, because other people are messing up just the same amount as you. It makes it a lot more comfortable out here, and you feel like you can learn easier without people looking at you, making a face and being like, ‘What are you doing?'” Butts said.

It’s giving them a solid foundation to build on in or out of the classroom.

“Your craftsmanship — you enjoy doing it. You’re proud of yourself for doing it. You’re saving a little bit of money and you’re seeing what you did, what your hands did and how useful they can be,” Butts said.

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