New group helps to boost construction trades program
16 Sep 2023
Seguin ISD, News
Dalondo Moultrie The Seguin Gazette
Seguin High School senior Zachary Mica has always liked working with his hands and staying active, which he believes will help him after high school.
He received an additional leg up on his future Wednesday through assistance from a new group set up to support the school. The new Seguin High School Construction Trades Booster Club donated new sets of tools to students in the construction trades class including Mica.
“When I graduate, I want to go into a trade school,” he said. “I want to go into construction. These tools will help me.”
That’s the goal of the new booster club, said Carlos Moreno, president of the fledgling club and owner of Lonestar Home Solutions.
He started working on forming the booster club about two months ago. After recruiting a group of business owners who are invested in the community, the group got together to invest in the children that go to school here and one day will work here, said Moreno.
“I met with the construction trades department and asked how could I help,” he said. “I just started to find out what their needs were. They need tools. They need community support.”
People across many communities form booster clubs to support athletics programs, Moreno said. He questioned why that same sort of model couldn’t be used for construction trades.
In forming the club, Moreno recruited likeminded business owners. The collective includes representatives from Parker’s Lumber, Alamo Group, Joe Cools A/C & Heating, ME Plumbing and several more businesses.
Together, they raised $7,000 and on Wednesday donated a new set of tools to each of the students in teacher Jason Rice’s construction management class. The students keep the tools through high school graduation and leave with them if they complete their Seguin High School obligations, Rice said.
Joe Espinola, owner of Parker’s Lumber, said he had a connection with someone at the tool company Milwaukee and was able to secure tools for donation.
Supporting the booster club is a way of helping Seguin’s future, Espinola said.
“As a local merchant who made his living in building materials for 30 years, it’s just to help the next generation of other people like me long after I’m gone,” he said. “This is Smalltown, America. Literally, these kids are going to help build this community.”
The club hopes to raise at least $7,000 each year and have a similar tool donation presentation annually, Moreno said. The goal is to do that and much more, he said.
He envisions club members donating materials so students in the class can build merchandise to sell to the community. That will help fund the club for other types of donations and expansion of the construction trades course, Moreno said.
“As we continue to grow and do things like this, this program will continue to grow,” Moreno said. “We can then add teachers and continue to grow.”
Trey Pounds, who owns Sullivan Contracting Services in Seguin said he is a member of the booster club for several reasons, not the least of which is making sure access to construction trades remains attainable in the Seguin area.
“I know how important it isle support the trades,” he said. “It’s kind of a lost art. If we can improve the trades, it helps the community. It helps the workforce. … Building these talents here helps us add to the next generation of the workforce.”
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