Nacogdoches High School students learn masonry with special training

NACOGDOCHES, Texas (KTRE) - When it comes to higher education, students are increasingly considering trade schools as well as college. Federal data shows more than 90% of trade school apprentices start out averaging a salary of $77,000. Couple that with the cost of tuition often being a fourth the cost of college, and it’s an easy decision for many.

The Texas Masonry Council stopped by Nacogdoches High School today to teach students how to mix mortar, spread mud, lay bricks and build scaffolding.

Tradesman Reid Perry is an alumni from NHS and was asked by Texas Masonry to come back to his hometown to teach the students this trade.

“This that TMC is doing now is really important for the younger generation,” Perry said. “It’s a trade where a kid can make a lot of money and doesn’t need to go to college to do it.”

TMC created different stations for students to travel around and learn each of the trades.

Professional tradesmen were there to instruct students on how to perform a task, and then students had hands-on experience doing the trade.

Benjamin Knepp, a junior at NHS, said this is something they don’t do every day.

“Between the different CTE programs, we get to work with, like, engineering and woodworking and construction generally at school, but we don’t have the means to learn or to do brick laying, so this was a neat opportunity to get to learn from professionals,” Knepp said.

Junior Jason Macias said he’s thankful for this opportunity to learn.

“Saying that we were able to have these opportunities to get these hands-on experiences is a really nice thing to have. It is best to just take part in these types of events,” Macias said.

NISD Superintendent Gabriel Trujillo said they have a college career and military readiness program in their district.

“It’s just an exploration of what intices our students,” Trujillo said. “Not every student wants to go in a direction of university or college. They want to go into a vocational or a trade. So, we have an obligation to provide these opportunities to our students.”

Trujillo also said they used today to gauge the students’ interest in masonry and to see if the district should add this trade to their programs.