Department Chair's Corner

So you want to teach? Eyes: how and when to protect them

May 7, 2010

So, you want to teach? You notice I didn’t say, “do you want to be a teacher?” Teachers are born, not made. The BCT teachers are just that, teachers. Most of us come from the Carpentry ranks. We have experience building houses, schools, hospitals, and low water crossings. Add Concrete construction, Framing, Exterior Finishing, Mechanical, Plumbing, Electrical, and Interior Finishing to the list of areas and skill levels that enable a select few to teach in the BCT program.  Cabinet and Furniture makers have created a quality Woodworking program and continuously are working to make the program better. Most of us own or have owned our own Construction Companies.  

The common thread and the bonding agent is that we are all teachers. We did not choose to be teachers, we were born that way. Each of the BCT teachers were selected because one of our teachers recognized the “teaching potential” of a student, or someone who has made contact with us and has expressed a desire to teach in our program.  

The BCT dept is a teacher manufacturing facility. Out students not only get quality instruction, some of them become inspired to seek their true calling, and that is to “teach.”  Notice I didn’t say, “to become teachers.”  They were born teachers! We're always looking for teachers. If you are one, please give me a call at (512) 223-6084.  

—Warren

April 17, 2010
Eyes: How - and when - to protect them!   

Hello All: 

Accidents sometimes just happen! Sometimes they can be outright prevented, or at least the chances of one happening can be reduced. 

The chances of getting an eye injury at the south end of the Riverside campus increases as the air becomes saturated with debris from students using tools. Protecting ones eyes must be a priority for everyone. The faculty and staff of the BCT dept have done a good job of requiring students to wear protection at all times when in class and using tools. Of course there are glitches in the 100% of the time rule. Students will sometimes wear protective eyewear on top of their heads, which will require a reminder from an ACC employee. “Wear your eyewear!” “Put your eyewear on!” These commands from faculty and staff are getting less and less commonplace, which tells me we all want to observe safe behavior in the workforce labs.  Overall I would give our “program” (all staff, faculty, and students) a “B” for eyewear compliance. 

Safe havens are few in our department at the South end of the Riverside campus. Classrooms, restrooms, offices, and hallways should be places free from projectiles (which come from all directions).  Students should be able to get a drink of water from the drinking fountain without wearing eyewear. They cannot because the fountain is in a “caution” zone, which is adjacent to a “danger” zone. Students and staff should be able to move throughout the BCT environment without ACC having to build walls, barriers, or having to install a drinking fountain in a “safe haven”. Wearing protective eyewear is the “key” to solving the problem of avoiding an eye injury. 

Rebecca Cole, ACC’s Risk Manager, has offered to partner with BCT dept to further the cause of saving eyes. We have been  discussing the value of conditioning students from the first contact to wear protective eyewear outside the designated “safe havens.”  Her department will buy at least 250 pair of protective eyewear with lanyards.

This Summer, 2010 each student in each class will be issued (not given) a pair of eyewear on the first minute of the first day of class. Faculty members will be issued 15 pairs of glasses for each class he/she teaches. Along with signing a “safety agreement”, each student will be asked to focus on his/her eye safety and agree to wear the eyewear anytime while venturing outside the “safe zones”.  

Each individual has to be responsible for his/her personal protection. No one wins when an accident happens. Be safe in all things! 

 “See”  you this Summer
— Warren Heatwole

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