Countywide Mechanical Systems Superintendent Juan Gonzalez has been donating his time to help students at Castle Park High School refine their construction skills. The school in Chula Vista offers an Industrial Arts Program to its students featuring courses like ROP Intro to Construction and ROP Intro to Plumbing. Both classes provide entry-level training and exposure to residential and commercial construction in the building trades.
Students learn to use hand and power tools, as well as practice proper safety practices. Classroom demonstrations and jobsite visits from professionals in the construction industry are an important way to share careers in construction with students -- and Juan plays an important role in this part of the instruction.
Cesar Gamez (instructor) calls on Juan to teach the class for the day where he talks about the importance of the trades. In the pictures below, Juan showed the kids the importance of safety, not allowing the students to participate without a hard hat and safety glasses. For this particular class, he showed them how to install Uponor (PEX) pipe installation. Juan showed them how to cut the pipe and how to expand and install with the proper fittings. He also demonstrated how to strap the piping and the correct way to install nail plates to protect the pipe.
The school sent a big thank you to Juan for his hard work and dedication to making the community a better place. Thanks for being such an inspiration!
