Not Your Father’s Shop Class: Fostering Future Woodworkers

In yet another sign of how times have changed, it was social media that brought educator Mark Smith together with Aetna Building Solutions – the company he credits with ultimately saving his high school industrial technology program.

Jon Minnaert, president of the Maywood, Illinois-based building materials distributor, was on the hunt for just such a program to add to the ‘Aetna Gives Back’ charitable division. The good-works initiative already provides scholarships to local colleges, supports area youth teams and organizations, and provides giveaways during the holidays, among other campaigns. While all worthy causes, there was a strong desire to extend the company’s generosity in a way that would directly impact its core industry – preferably at the local level.

Scrolling one day on LinkedIn, one of a number of social media platforms where Smith shares his students’ undertakings at Reed-Custer High School in Braidwood, Illinois, Minnaert stumbled on exactly what he was looking for.

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Reed-Custer High School is an EDUcation member of the Woodwork Career Alliance of North America.

The NBMDA is a Gold Sponsor of the WCA.