Carpenter, who teaches at Butler Tech’s program at Hamilton High School, has won this year’s Ohio’s Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) “Outstanding Educator in Community Service” award.
His close call years ago, his foot snagged a roof brace keeping him from plunging three stories, instantly solidified a desire that had already been inside him to teach teens rather than pursue a career in construction.
The incident, said Carpenter, is now a cautionary tale he shares with his Hamilton students.
“My boss yelled up ‘are you all right?’ and I said ‘yes, but I’m going back to school’ and that week I signed up for my classes at Miami University.”
His sterling record of success at Butler Tech has seen his students over the years build a variety of projects that are used by the public in Hamilton.
From picnic tables at the Hamilton’s Urban Backyard venue on Main Street to flower boxes at the downtown Benison Event Center to local park shelters, his students have lasting monuments to their construction career learning.
“I always tell my students that one of the greatest things about construction is being able to drive around and tell your kids ‘I built that,’” he said.
“So for my students to be able to do that at a younger age, where they can tell their boyfriend or girlfriend or their parents ‘hey, I built that,’ it’s some instant gratification for them to see what they have accomplished.”
And Carpenter has also accomplished much and is deserving of the statewide award, said his colleagues.
“Tim’s program is extremely popular, particularly with the school and community at large, that his students are entrusted to design and construct multiple projects that benefit so many facets of the both the city of Hamilton and the school district,” said Amy Webb, satellite supervisor of the Hamilton High School Butler Tech program.
“Not only do his students engage in community-service projects, they are also learning life-long skills that benefit them after graduation, including being servant citizens. Mr. Carpenter also ensures his students obtain multiple industry credentials … as well as compete in the career tech student organization SkillsUSA,” said Webb.
Also winning statewide honors this year was Butler Tech Counselor Tracy Donovan at the D. Russel Lee campus, a veteran of the career school who earned the ACTE’s Career Guidance award.
Donovan, said her colleagues who nominated her, “is a true collective thought leader. She has creative ideas that always put students first.”
Rachel Conley, fellow counselor at D. Russel Lee, said of Donovan, “she also works very closely with therapists, social workers, and other community agency leaders to ensure that her students’ needs are being met.”
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