New Class of Certified Instructors Equipped to Teach and Inspire BAC Craftworkers Nationwide

This fall, nineteen BAC members graduated from IMI/IMTEF’s Instructor Certification Program (ICP), demonstrating their commitment to training the best hands in the business. ICP ensures BAC instructors have the skills and expertise to effectively teach the trowel trades to apprentices and journeyworkers throughout their long and thriving careers with BAC.

“The program teaches us how to not only be technically trained instructors, but leaders with social and interpersonal skills,” explains 2022 ICP graduate Alonzo Freeman IV, BAC Local 3 Massachusetts/Maine/New Hampshire/Rhode Island. For Freeman, mentoring is at the heart of those skills, and key to sparking a passion for the craft in young apprentices and journeyworkers. 

Jorge Lopez de Arriaga, BAC Local 2 California, agreed. Arriaga said ICP helped him develop a more approachable teaching style, thanks in part to the mentoring he received from other certified instructors. “ICP taught me that a successful mentor can influence an apprentice just as much as a role model. We owe it to ourselves to get the next generation ready to become skilled journeyworkers,” he explained. 

In ICP, instructors also learn how to teach according to a variety of learning styles. “The program showed us how to make our lessons more inclusive and accommodating for different types of students and their personal learning styles,” said Robert Gatz, BAC Local 5 Pennsylvania.

For Stanislaw Kulasik, BAC ADC 1 of Illinois, ICP helped build his confidence and qualifications as an instructor. “The training I received during ICP will make it easier for me to prepare myself to teach, plan lessons, and set up the classroom,” he said. 

Many ICP graduates see teaching and mentoring as a part of their personal and professional legacy, like Jackie Townsend, BAC ADC 1 of Illinois. “You will probably never read about me in the history books, but I am proud to know that I am leaving a long-lasting impression on our young adults,” she said. 

Charles Schuett, BAC Wisconsin District Council, also takes great pride in seeing his students’ lives transformed by learning a skilled trade and joining BAC. “I’m fortunate enough to land on a career path that allows me to help tomorrow's future leaders by training the underprivileged youth of today. This career has given me more purpose than I ever thought possible.”

For Rocco Mateo, BAC Local 1 Pennsylvania/Delaware, earning this rigorous certification is a momentous occasion. The five-year program includes 200 hours of coursework and culminates in a teaching portfolio project.  

Congratulations to the class of 2022 ICP graduates, who will undoubtedly help many young tradespeople find their love of craft and carry the union into a strong, bright future.