SVHS construction classes prime students to enter red-hot job market

(This is the finale of a of a multistory series that explores Career Technical Education pathways at Sonoma Valley High School.)

Sonoma Valley High schoolteacher Drue Jacobs isn’t the least bit reluctant to mention a problem he has with students in his construction technology classes.

“One of my biggest battles in class for most students is to get them to stop working on their stuff and clean up before class comes to an end,” he said. “I will say that it’s a great problem to have.”

Jacobs, a 1992 alumnus of SVHS, began teaching at the school in August 1999. He now teaches four classes with a total of more than 100 students in the Residential and Commercial Construction Pathway, part of the Construction Trades Sector in the Career Technical Education program.

In 2021-22, the classes rebooted after COVID-related closures during the previous two years, but they lacked some supplies and equipment. This year, they have been “a full go from the beginning” with a well-supplied shop and eager students, Jacobs said.

“I think our shop classes are benefiting many students,” he said. “Knowing how to do things is empowering. I watch students walk in and they are afraid to use power tools, but by the end of the school year, they are helping others.”

Raul Chavez Orozco, a senior, has been learning skills that apply not only to construction, but also to life in general.

“I wanted to learn about the construction world so that I would one day be able to use the skills I learn in this class to build,” he said. “One of the main things I’ve learned is that safety and measurements are essential when building something you plan on using. When measuring something, make sure you do it right or the whole project will get ruined. Safety is a major part of wood shop and a major part of one’s health.”

SVUSD has offered wood shop classes for many years, and a few years ago a K-12 Strong Workforce grant from the State of California helped it to develop into a construction technology class. The grant money enabled SVUSD to restructure and re-equip the class using Paxton Patterson curriculum and equipment, which teaches students all disciplines in the construction process.

“The benefit I have seen switching wood shop to construction tech is self-confidence in students,” Jacobs said. “We have a society where people don’t know how to fix a screen door, change out a faucet and the list goes on. These students have those skills when they walk out of this program.”

Gianna Chiotti, a junior, decided to participate in the Residential and Commercial Construction Pathway to learn such practical skills.

“I thought it would be good for me to have some basic knowledge of construction,” she said. “That way, later in life I will be capable of doing things that most people would have to hire help for. We do most tasks ourselves rather than watch someone do it for us.”

Senior Nicholas Gutierrez, who first took a construction class as a junior, has learned more skills than he expected.

“I chose this class to learn basic woodworking trade skills and because it was a fun choice for an elective,” he said. “I have learned basic plumbing and electrical skills, along with woodworking techniques. What I liked most about the class is that there is never really any downtime in which we are not working on some sort of project.”

The Residential and Commercial Construction Pathway offers classes in Foundations of Construction Technology and Construction Technology. Over the course of two years, students in the pathway have opportunities to do traditional wood shop projects as well as those focusing on blueprint reading, drywall, electrical work, finish carpentry, green construction, use of hand and power tools, HVAC, roof framing, surveying and site planning, plumbing and wall framing.

“It is all about giving students exposure and opening doors of them in both academic and technical fields,” Jacobs said. “Maybe we spark their interest or maybe they try something and realize they want to take a different path post-high school.

Junior Mark Neves already has found an open door — an internship at Peterson Mechanical, a 107-year-old Sonoma HVAC company.

“I’m taking a construction class at Sonoma Valley High School because I want to go into the construction industry,” he said. “The thing I like most is that it is a hands-on class.”

Before COVID, SVUSD offered night construction classes to graduating seniors so that they would be prepared to enter the work force, but it later decided to allow students who have interests in those areas to explore them during daytime hours, too.

“Not every student is going to college, and we were clearly not giving students a glimpse into the building trades,” Jacobs said. “There are union jobs out there that would enable students who go through an apprenticeship program to make a six-figure salary before they are 23 years old. There is huge demand for workers entering the trades.

“I have over 20 years of experience in the building trades, and my friends are constantly asking if I have anyone coming out of school looking for a job.”

Wendy Swanson, who oversees the CTE program as the work-based learning coordinator for the College and Career Center at SVHS, emphasizes the abundance of available construction jobs in Sonoma County, in particular.

She notes that after the devastating wildfires in 2017, the Sonoma County Economic Development Board estimated that the county would need to add 6,300 construction workers each year to meet the demand to build 30,000 more housing units to replace homes that were destroyed.

“The housing deficit, along with the lack of younger skilled workers replacing older workers leaving the industry, has made for a large skilled worker shortfall,” Swanson said. “The construction industry offers a pathway to a high-need, high-wage career in Sonoma County, but many students graduate without training, knowledge of, or exposure to this career field.”

In a development that could help entice more youth to the industry, Santa Rosa Junior College was recently awarded a $7.12 million grant to construct the North Bay Regional Construction and Building Trades Employment Training Center on the SRJC Petaluma campus, which is almost 20 miles closer to Sonoma than the main SRJC campus.

“With poor transportation options to the main SRJC campus, this opens up so much more opportunity for SVHS students,” Swanson said. “Unfortunately, construction of the SRJC center has been delayed, but it is currently slated to open in 2024. Our construction tech program will provide a great foundation for students who continue to study at the center.”

Jacobs says that efforts are also underway to establish an advisory board and more community partnerships for the Residential & Commercial Construction Pathway this year. He also has ties to the North Bay Construction Corps, which helps outgoing seniors get jobs.

He feels he can empathize with the needs of his students who are seeking alternatives to desk jobs.

“There are only so many people who can sit behind a computer and make money,” he said. “One of the reasons I became a teacher was so I could still do construction in the summertime. I loved the balance that it provided, and I really want to help those students who don’t thrive sitting at a desk. I’m living a dream right now with these students!”

Reach the reporter, Dan Johnson, at daniel.johnson@sonomanews.com.