Young builders showcase skills at NARI

Every winter the NARI Home Improvement Show provides attendees access to award-winning Northeast Ohio remodelers and experts, as well as celebrity guests and high-profile exhibits. This year is no different at the 39th annual event taking place Thursday through Sunday at the Huntington Convention Center in Cleveland with a main stage visit by HGTV star Alison Victoria ("Kitchen Crashers," "Windy City Rehab" and "Rock the Block") and the centerpiece exhibit "The Garage Mahal." However, when it comes to the future of the trades, the real stars aren't present, but their work is on display. Students from the Polaris and Medina County career centers will be displaying custom-made mailboxes, which will be raffled off with the proceeds going to the Cleveland Animal Protective League. For the better part of the last decade, Medina County Career Center Construction Trades Instructor Todd Mason, who is also a Hinckley-based custom builder, has involved between 15 and 20 of his students in the NARI Home Improvement Show project. "The kids always come up with new, bright and cool ideas for a good cause," Mason said. "It's really grown from where we started. We're trying to do something different every year." For the first few years the Medina County Career Center students created impressive birdhouses, before switching it up in 2019 with animal-themed corn hole boards, dog dish holders, wooden saddle racks and a big cat tower. When it came time to create something for this year's event, Mason said the kids decided to focus on animal or house-themed mailboxes. "There are a couple of different ones all made out of cedar with cedar shake roofs and a sort of craftsman-style house," Mason said. "Whereas with the birdhouses the kids could use a lot of creativity, the mailboxes are a little bit more traditional because there are some regulations they had to follow. "Still, we have one designed like a skunk. When you open the rear of the skunk, that's where the mailbox is. That was pretty clever. Another one is shaped like a train and another as a barn-style farmhouse." Medina County Career Center senior Aurora Yager said building mailboxes taught her how to use finish skills instead of framing skills. Senior Ezra Henderson added, "Building these mailboxes was a great way to practice our carpentry skills. It allowed us to be creative and explore our abilities at the same time. "Doing projects — such as building mailboxes for the APL — is a great way to find out what we are really good at, and what sort of skills and trades we would like to pursue as we expand our career in construction." Considering this is a school project, the construction trades students have to approach and complete each creation in a professional manner. This includes drawing a design, creating blueprints and determining a material estimate. "Everything we do, no matter if it's a birdhouse or mailbox, is exactly the same as you'd do it in the field — just on a small scale," Mason said. "We do the same thing when we're building houses or doing drywall. It's always the same process so they get used to how it's done in the real world." Speaking of the real world, the reality is the trades are experiencing a labor shortage that is only expected to rapidly grow as more baby boomers retire. That's the message Mason often tells his students who are considering careers. "Right now, we're hurting for skilled workers," Mason said. "I tell these kids all of the time, they can get a job that's going to be paying probably six figures here because they'll be the only ones who will know how to do this stuff. "It will secure their future to be in this business. Going forward, they'll be throwing money at these kids because there won't be anyone else who can do this." Contact John Benson at Ndiffrence@att.net.