Ray Hornsby was a judge in the Carpentry competition in the 2015 Skills USA Regional Competition held at Thomas Edison High School of Technology in Silver Spring on Feb. 11.
More than 130 students competed in categories that included carpentry, plumbing, culinary arts, and computer maintenance. Students from Montgomery and Prince George’s County participated and finalists earned the chance to compete in the state finals later this year.
Hopkins & Porter has had a long relationship with Thomas Edison, first when we lost two of our carpenters Chris Haddad and Don Wheatley to become teachers in the Carpentry program at Thomas Edison HS of Technology, and then subsequently hiring several of their graduating students.
The February 11th competition asked students to build two walls at a 90-degree angle, one with a window rough opening and the other with a door rough opening. They needed to construct a rafter for a roof on top and a set of stairs coming out the door. For a full description and video click here. Ray enjoyed his experience, “It is a really good program. Carpentry is a dying trade. I think we need to help the kids along, or we will have no carpenters in 10 years to work on our houses.”
