Montecito High construction teacher Nicholas Jordan wins $50K prize from Harbor Freight Tools for Schools
Montecito High School construction teacher Nicholas Jordan on Thursday said he was “surprised and amazed” to discover he won $50,000 in the Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Prize for Teaching Excellence awards program.
The prize was announced at a schoolwide assembly that included educational leaders and Ramona Chamber of Commerce members. School leaders for a week had kept the award a secret from Jordan, who thought he was going to a Character Assembly.
Harbor Freight selected three first place winners to receive $100,000 each; Jordan was among 15 finalists awarded $50,000 each.
He will receive $15,000 of the prize, with $35,000 going to the school.
“I’m just thankful and honored to bring highlights to our town and school,” he said during the event. “It’s very rewarding.”
High on his priority list for the money will be using it toward building a state-of-the-art construction shop on campus. He also plans to put some of the winnings into a SkillsUSA fund so students can participate in the organization’s competitions. SkillsUSA promotes training programs in the trade, technical and skilled service occupations and holds regional, state and national competitions annually to showcase students’ technical skills.
During the ceremony, Kathryn Worley, a teacher at West Hills High School in Santee, congratulated Jordan on his win. Worley was one of three grand prize winners in last year’s Harbor Freight Tools for Schools contest.
Worley said the Prize for Teaching Excellence award was created as a way to spotlight and honor outstanding high school skilled trades teachers and their programs across the United States. The company’s aim is to salute the creativity and intelligence of people who work with their hands, she said.
“Our country is looking to make major investments in infrastructure while at the same time facing a major shortage of skilled trades workers,” she told the crowd. “It is clear that high school skilled trades teachers will be front and center in this unique opportunity to train the next generation of skilled trades professionals.”
As part of the application process, Worley said candidates read materials and watch videos that are based on current skilled trades trends, then write essays about how they might apply the topics in their classrooms. Candidates also submit videos of themselves that describe their strategies and philosophies about teaching, she said.
Worley said winning the prize is no small achievement. This year, the company received applications from 726 skilled trades teachers in 49 states. The applications went through three rounds of judging by experts in career and technical education, industry and philanthropy.
“I see myself in my students and value my ability to relate to them,” Jordan wrote in his application. “I was not scholastically inclined and doubted my self-worth and failed to see opportunities based on my strengths. My students need someone to focus on their strengths and provide them with insight into opportunities and experiences they may not have elsewhere. When a student gets excited at the end of the day after seeing the product they have produced, that is where the magic happens!”
Two of Jordan’s construction students gave kudos to their teacher.
Montecito senior Mario Rendon, 17, said Jordan offered the students opportunities that nobody else would have.
“There’s no one like Mr. Jordan,” Rendon said. “If it wasn’t for him most of us would have dropped out. There isn’t anybody else who can teach construction like Mr. Jordan. We look up to him. I aspire to be like him one day.”
Montecito junior TJ Leech, 16, said it will be “cool” to watch the school’s construction program and community grow with the award.
“This is awesome,” Leech said. “It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. I’m just glad to be here to witness it.”
Ramona Unified school board President Bob Stoody was among the attendees. Stoody said large sums of money are sometimes given to the auto trades and to individual students, but it’s gratifying to have funds go to other areas of career technical education.
“It’s nice to see this diversify a little bit,” he said.
Former Montecito High Principal Dave Lohman, who retired three years ago after six years as the school’s leader, was another attendee. Lohman said he hired Jordan to run the construction program after students overwhelmingly said they wanted construction classes.
“Nick has done a phenomenal job engaging all the students and building relations with the students,” Lohman said. “That’s key to their success. He values them and respects them and in turn they do great things. It’s an incredible journey.”
Montecito Principal Pauline Leavitt, who helped with the application process, said the prize is a huge blessing from Harbor Freight Tools for Schools that will be used to improve the construction program.
“We’re really excited and super proud of Mr. Jordan,” Leavitt said. “We can’t wait to see what the students will build with all of this money.”
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