Author: Tammy Lane • First Posted: Wednesday, May 27, 2009

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Jackie Tokarchick smoothes the edges of the concrete after the first pouring.

Jackie Tokarchick, who dreams of flying Air Force jets and becoming an anesthesiologist, is building a solid foundation for her future at Southside Technical Center – sometimes literally, like when she and her masonry classmates widened the bus circle in front of the building.

“Out here you realize everything you do, you’ll use in the real world,” said Jackie, a senior at Henry Clay High School, who helped scrape edges after the initial concrete pour last week.

Instructor Bruce Hayden makes sure his students log a lot of practical experience and that they learn how to overcome obstacles, such as a rainy spring.

“When you’re in the classroom, you have a perfect setting. But on the job site, it’s real life,” he said. “You have to make adjustments. You have to plan for the elements, nature, the soil.”

Fortunately, the sun came out in time for their concrete project.

“The bus circle is not wide enough, so we’re putting in a 5-foot extension,” senior Tom Edwards explained, pointing out how school buses had torn up the grass near the Southside marquee as they squeezed around the driveway.

After professionals in a concrete truck poured about a third of the length, the students went to work smoothing the edges, stamping the concrete for texture and adding color for white-and-tan contrasts.

“They have to learn teamwork. Everybody has a role to play,” Hayden said. “When we work together, things work smooth. But when one person’s not doing his job, it affects the whole project.”

Hayden’s students can fill their resumes with tangible accomplishments, including a handicapped ramp and parking lot island at Southside. And the work is not limited to their own campus. Past classes built the marquees at Paul Laurence Dunbar and Bryan Station high schools, for instance.

This year’s group also removed hundreds of brass nameplates from bleachers at the old Lafayette High stadium, which will be reinstalled before the new stadium is completed. Later, “we’ll pour a decorative sidewalk with names of people who buy bricks,” said Hayden, whose students will stamp the lettered names.

Henry Clay senior Robert Tolson said one of his favorite projects was building a patterned brick wall in the masonry shop. “Mr. Hayden takes pictures of all our projects for our portfolios so we can get real jobs,” he said.

Jackie is already using her skills beyond the classroom.

“I showed a friend’s dad pictures of a mailbox and stuff we’d done in the shop, and he asked if I could do a patio,” she said.

And just like that, Jackie lined up a paying job – building a 16 x 12-foot brick patio.