Harbor Freight Nonprofit Offers $1.25M for Trade Teachers

There is a skilled trade worker shortage, and several states and industries are scrambling to pump resources into the situation. Some states have expanded apprenticeship programs to help bridge the gap between job seekers and companies looking for workers. In Philadelphia, robot makers say the robotics industry’s primary challenge is finding the skilled workers they need to get the job done. In a recent effort to promote educators and reinvigorate classes toward skilled trades, the nonprofit Harbor Freight Tools for Schools, a program created by Harbor Freight Tools owner and founder Eric Smidt with The Smidt Foundation, last week announced it will give $1.25 million to 20 skilled-trade educators and their programs.

According to the news release from Harbor Freight Tools for Schools, applications are open from March 23 through May 20. The “Prize for Teaching Excellence” is the flagship program for the organization, which has been doling out funds to teachers annually since 2017 with a mission to elevate understanding, support and investments in skilled-trades education across the U.S. In 2022, five educators — up from three in previous years — will be rewarded with $100,000 as grand-prize winners. The prize is divided up with $30,000 for the teacher and $70,000 for their program. Fifteen others will be awarded with $50,000, giving $15,000 to the teacher and $35,000 to their program.

The release said the prize rewards teachers of skilled trades whose programs best inspire kids to learn a skill set that readies them for post-graduation opportunities, and particularly those that include project-based learning and leadership and collaboration skills. Since its inception, the prize has received in excess of 3,300 applications, with the organization issuing nearly $5 million in prizes to 88 teachers. The release said that an evaluation of the winners revealed that the prize directly correlated with increased enrollment in the winner’s class, as well as local businesses seeking collaboration possibilities.

“Our country is making a massive investment in infrastructure, such as roads, bridges and broadband. In order to make those investments, we must rapidly expand our ability to train the next generation of skilled trades workers,” Smidt said in a public statement. He added that the prize is a way to spotlight educators teaching a skilled trade in a way that might be replicated in other schools.

The release said winners receive an invitation to the annual three-day conference, Let’s Build It, an event run by Harbor Freight Tools for Schools in which teachers share new ideas and strategies that have helped their programs. Previous winners have worked with students to help rebuild homes ravaged by hurricanes, manufacture components for aerospace companies, and run auto-repair shops on school grounds.