I am the Coordinator of the Carpentry Apprenticeship program.
My background in the trade is quite diverse with experience in the residential and commercial settings both rough and finish work. I started working summers in high school with my uncle doing some steel framing and drywall, also with my best friend and his father who was a carpenter from England. I ended up doing my apprenticeship with them, with the focus on additions, renovations and new builds start to finish. Then I moved to a general contractor that did a variety of things including tiling, windows, light commercial and insurance work. I was self-employed for a while with a couple of companies mainly sub-contracting for other generals and doing some cabinetmaking.
When I started teaching in 97’ I joined the Local Carpenters Union to gain some more ICI experience where I worked with a variety of concrete formwork jobs, scaffolding, doors and hardware, millwork and cooling towers.
Every summer since I have started teaching, I still try to improve my skills and knowledge by putting on the tools and trying new things with new products. This trade is SOOO huge, you’ll never stop learning.
“The more you learn, the more you realize how much you don’t know”.
I hope you take as much knowledge as you can from your experience here at Mohawk College. You may be surprised how the theory behind why you’re doing things on the job will make the job easier and go so much smoother.