“The Handyman Crew” at Destrehan High School was introduced years ago, when carpentry students would utilize their skills to help people and address needs in the community.
However, the venture was eventually retired and left dormant — until last year.
That’s when the Handyman Crew was reinstated in Craig Perrier’s carpentry class, an accomplishment in large part made possible by a $1,000 grant secured through the St. Charles Public Schools Foundation, an independent, nonprofit corporation governed by a voluntary board of directors comprised of business, industry and community leaders, along with retired educators.
The foundation seeks to support and enhance public education by funding and supporting teachers’ innovative projects through providing such grants, which go toward purchasing books, activities, and addressing children’s needs that have a direct impact in the classroom.
Stephanie Ward, DHS career development facilitator, helped Perrier’s request for the grant.
She noted the Public Schools Foundation requires a clear connection between student learning and its application to what the project entails.
In this case, the fit was natural.
“They each had a real world opportunity to demonstrate they had mastered the content (of the class),” Ward said.
The primary project for the Handyman Crew was building wheelchair ramps for the homes of elderly and disabled people in need around the community.
United Way of St. Charles helped direct Perrier and his students to people who would be in need of such assistance.
“I thought it would be great for my kids who are getting certification,” Perrier explained.
“They’ll be able to go in the workforce and get straight to work,” he said. “This enables them to get hands-on training, on the job site, from start to finish. They’ll be able to see what it’s like outside of a lab, in the real world, how a job can get started and completed.”
The grant money was primarily used to purchase portable tools, which would be used to install the ramps.
“They had tools and knew how to use tools in their workshop, but the work off site required tools we didn’t have,” Ward noted.
She added that the opportunity to serve the community made pursuing the grant a no-brainer.
“We value the chance to get our students engaged in the community,” Ward said. “What better way to do that than an education-based opportunity like this. The students find success in the class room and then immediately are able to show what they’ve learned and make a difference along the way.”
Perrier said at the project’s inception he hoped to see it expand, and so far that’s exactly what’s happening. For this year’s class, there are plans to build more ramps, but also to repair the fence at Destrehan Plantation.
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