David Frias of Muldrow High School will be coming down the home stretch next semester of completing the two-year Construction Trades program at Indian Capital Technology Center in Sallisaw after getting an introduction to carpentry from a relative.
“I had an uncle who had a shop and I used to work in it and that got me kind of interested in doing this,” said David who plays kicker and strong safety on the Bulldog football team. “Working in carpentry is a lot like practicing football where you have to learn what to do in certain situations and following blue prints is like using your play book.”
The Construction Trades program is taught by Kasey Duke who is in his first full year at ICTC after spending 12 years working in remodeling.
“We deal heavily with framing and getting the first year students introduced to the tools they’ll be using so they’ll have a leg up on someone who might just walk into a construction manager off the street. Right now there is no state certification for working in this trade so I’m trying to find a national program we could tie into that would give these guys some credibility when they graduate.”
Among the projects that the class works on is building a one bedroom, one bath tiny house at the school and they also have in-shop projects like building chairs. Duke says he is fortunate that the school shop has such up-to-date tools to work with.
“We have great table saws and miter saws as well as advanced planers and joiners and we teach them how to glue-up which has been exciting for some including David. I met him when I got the job right at the end of last year and he was one of the guys coming back and we’ve struck up a friendship. He’s always got a great attitude and if I don’t have an assigned job for him, he finds something to do because he likes staying busy.”
Duke has also established an advisory panel with area tradesmen and businesses that keep him apprised about national trends and things he might be teaching, and they also encourage the students and are eager to employ them when they get done. And David says he’s ready for the challenge.
“I’ve really benefitted from the hands-on training they offer here and I’m considering going into roofing when I’m done.”
