'Not usually that lucky': Two northeast Wisconsin teachers win surprise checks for skilled trades programs
AnnMarie HiltonJay Abitz was putzing around his classroom Thursday morning, waiting for someone to repair the projector, while some of his students, who technically had the day off, were working on projects.
What he thought was just an average morning quickly turned into one of the most generous experiences.
Abitz teaches automotive and collision repair at Freedom High School and is one of 15 winners of the 2021 Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Prize for Teaching Excellence. Although he applied for the grant, finding out he won the $50,000 donation came as a surprise.
"I'm not usually that lucky," he said Thursday after learning he'd won.
Principal Kurt Erickson, Abitz's wife and others paraded into his room for the surprise celebration where he was presented with the prize. Abitz told The Post-Crescent, in a phone interview a few hours after, he was shocked and still smiling "ear to ear." He said it felt special to be appreciated.
But Abitz wasn't the only teacher in northeast Wisconsin to win the piece of the $1 million nationwide grant for skilled trades teachers.
Staci Sievert, who teaches industrial technology at Seymour Community High School, received her own surprise check Thursday afternoon.
The prize money is broken into two chunks: $35,000 for the skill trades program at the school and $15,000 for the teacher.
Already, Abitz is planning a few big purchases with the money that will go to the school. He said he's going to start shopping right away for a new scanner to run diagnostics and evaluate check engine lights. A local business donated its old scanners to the school, but Abitz said it would be helpful to have a new one because older ones don't work with all the newer car models.
The scanner could cost between $2,000 and $4,000, so Abitz is going to use another portion of the money to replace the tire changer and wheel balancer. Students currently work with an "antiquated" one that is from 1996 and doesn't work properly, he said.
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Each quarter, about one hundred students come through the automotive and collision repair program at Freedom, so these new items will benefit hundreds, if not thousands of students in years to come. Abitz said some of the new equipment he plans to purchase could last decades.
In the short window of time Abitz had to think about how to spend a surprise $15,000 on himself, he said, he will likely use it pay down debt or make a "sound investment" that will serve his family for years.
Sievert spent the first 22 years of her career teaching social studies but was retrained to teach technical education after the high school searched for a teacher to fill the role for four years. She took early morning and evening classes — while still teaching during the day — to learn wood manufacturing, welding and machining.
"I am invigorated by the challenge of teaching teenagers how to use and respect equipment while being hands-on, minds-on," she said in a news release from Harbor Freight Tools.
Since Sievert started teaching the trades, there has been a 52% increase in enrollment in technical classes, the release said. Her classes complete projects that serve the school and community such as building a camera stand for the school board's virtual meetings and making 16 cornhole boards for the physical education department.
To better understand what skills are most needed in the local community, Sievert visited local manufacturers and arranged field trips for her class, the release said.
The Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Prize for Teaching Excellence started in 2017 to recognize skill trades in public high schools and the teachers "who inspire students to learn skills to prepare for life after graduation," the release said.
More than 700 people from 49 states applied for the 2021 prize. There were three rounds of judging by panels of experts from industry, education, trades, philanthropy and civic leadership, the release said.
In addition to the 15 prize winners who got $50,000 each for themselves and their schools, there were three grand-prize winners who won $100,000 for themselves and their schools.
Reach AnnMarie Hilton at ahilton@gannett.com or 920-370-8045. Follow her on Twitter at @hilton_annmarie.