Building young lives
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on September 17, 2014 1:46 PM
Full Size
News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Carpentry teacher Mike Gurley, left, gives directions to Dannielle Warren, 17, in Carpentry 1 class at Eastern Wayne High School. Gurley, who has been teaching at Eastern Wayne High for 14 years, was recently named North Carolina Home Builders Association Teacher of the Year.
Full Size
News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Jimmy Garcia, 16, uses a table saw while being supervised by Gurley.
One of the occupational hazards of being a high school carpentry teacher is the array of people it brings to your office door.
"I actually know that something is in the works," Mike Gurley said with a laugh.
Those project requests, though, usually turn out to be good learning opportunities for his students, he says -- whether it's to build a house for a cat or stools that will be finished and sold at a harvest sale, or a storage building.
At Eastern Wayne High School since 2000, he had previously worked with his father in the construction industry for 27 years.
Gurley then followed in his father's footsteps into education.
"He started teaching here in 1993," he said. "I actually got his job."
The two had talked about Gurley taking over when his dad retired. That happened sooner than expected, when his father had a stroke a month shy of retirement and Gurley was hired as his replacement.
The shift from general contractor to teacher was not a huge leap, he says now.
"In a business like we're in, you're kind of a teacher even when you're in construction," he said. "We would hire a lot of guys that were young guys, a lot of them untrained, so we actually had to teach them and train them on the job.
"There was a lot of stuff once I started teaching, not only was I teaching but I was a student, also. I learned a lot about the construction industry."
There is a textbook, he explained, with the materials provided by the National Center for Construction Education and Research.
"We teach the same curriculum that's actually taught to apprentices or someone in the construction industry," he said. "It has a national registry. Our students are in that and get credentials."
The gamut of students who sign up for carpentry classes ranges from ones placed there by guidance counselors to those intent upon pursuing a career in construction management or related areas. For others it may just provide an opportunity to learn the basics or the tools of the trade.
"A lot of students think it's just shop class but we actually do teach the fundamentals of building a house or a commercial building," he said. "We do floor systems, wall systems, your roofing systems, hanging sheetrock and some concrete."
But the lessons with the biggest dividends, Gurley said, go way beyond swinging a hammer or operating a nailgun.
"The main thing that we probably try to teach our students is maybe not so much that they can be a carpenter when they get out but that they have an understanding of what it means to work," he said. "If you have that, your basic employability skills, then you can get a job. A person that knows how to work can get a job."
Gurley is himself active in the profession, currently serving as president of the state Carpentry Teachers group, president of the Home Builders Association in Wayne County and director of the North Carolina Home Builders Association.
"When I talk to my fellow members, I ask, 'What are you looking for?'" he said. "Most of them are looking for someone who will come to work and be there on time and have basic skills. They can train them."
From learning how to fill out an application to building a resume, Gurley said he wants his students to have all the tools they need to succeed in the workforce. Including character.
Gurley said in the type of construction work he's done, like remodeling a home, residents think nothing of leaving their valuables and property while the project is being done.
"You've got to have employees that you can trust, that you don't have to watch all the time," he said.
His efforts to build storage buildings while building character have drawn attention. He was recently notified that he had been chosen the N.C. Home Builders Association 2014 Teacher of the Year. The award, which includes $500, will be presented to him in December at the group's fourth quarter board meeting and installation in Asheville.
"I'm not the best teacher in the state, but a lot of it is where I'm looking, we're always talking about job partners, our local and state association on building partnerships for teaching," he said. "One of the things I strive and have been striving for ever since I have been in teaching, is to enhance and to increase or to make that connection between the home builders association and the teachers of the state."