Proud to have taught building trades

I read with interest the article that was recently published in your paper about the questions and comments that were discussed about the Building Trades program which is now located, run and partnered by the Storm Lake School system and B and B Construction.

I am an owner of one of the homes that was built by the Building Trades class when it was in Alta, and I can not tell you how much we love our home. I have had many students that worked on our home stop by and ask if they could come in and see the home again after we moved in. You can tell that they have real pride in what they helped construct. They often specifically reminisce with me what they constructed or helped build or do in our home.

I often ask these students what they are doing now. Many of them who took this class have taken jobs related to the class or are owners of their own business that is in some way a part of the trades that they learned in that specific class. I also have one student who is now an instructor for the building trades program at Iowa Central Community College.

My wife is also an educator and has been for over thirty years. She was shocked at the comment made by the high school principal in Storm Lake. We think all students have the ability to learn and should be able to articulate what they have learned, but I guess it might depend on which student you asked.

We realize some students are in education to learn, while others are not. We also know that some students learn at slower rates than others and need more time to learn in order to articulate what they have learned. We believe students and adults get out of something what they put into it.

She also goes to her principal if she is having difficulty with a student in her classroom especially if she has tried to get them motivated and has not been successful. She was under the understanding that sometimes we need new ideas to help get students motivated. I guess that is not the feeling of all principals. She feels to have been truly blessed to have taught where she has because she feels that support was A POSITIVE from the administration.

I am sorry that the principal of Storm Lake does not have very positive feeling for me as an instructor, but I take real pride in all of the students that I have taught over the years. I feel good inside when I visit with one of them and see what a success they have become to someone's community. I doubt that any educator can say that they have reached all of the students that they have educated, but I do know that I have made a positive impact on many of them.

I hope the problems that Storm Lake is having with the Building Trades program can be worked out. As for the students that were taught in Alta, their success can only be measured by the number of students who have been successful by becoming contractors, plumbers, and electricians. Others can take pride in fixing things in their own home because of what they learned in that class.

We can only hope to gain out of something from an endeavor in which we have committed our enthusiastic effort.