PHOTO BY CHUCK HOVEN

Thursday, May 18, 2023; Max Hayes High School, 2211 W. 65^th Street: Max Hayes Construction Program 10^th Grade students Yandi Chacon, Derek Gonzalez and Zahyr Scott were among 19 students who completed a Renovation, Repair and Painting Course. The curriculum for the course was designed through a joint effort by the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the federal Housing and Urban Development department. Sherwin-Williams sponsored the teaching of the course and an additional Basic Painter Training Course led by contractor Bill Allman. Max Hayes Construction Program Instructor James MacDowell says the students learned “how to work in a lead-free environment in a way that is safe for themselves and the occupants.”

Nineteen students at Max Hayes High School recently completed a one-day Renovation, Repair and Painting Course to better prepare them to work in an environment that might contain lead in pre 1978 construction.

   Max Hayes Construction Program Instructor James MacDowell says the course is part of a curriculum designed jointly by the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the federal department of Housing and Urban Development. MacDowell says the course was taught by Bill Allman, a subcontractor working for Sherwin-Williams Paint Company. MacDowell says students learned “how to work in a lead-free environment in a way that is safe for themselves and the occupants.”

   For three days prior to taking the Renovation, Repair and Painting Course, the students participated in a three-day Basic Painter Course offered by Sherwin-Williams. During the course, students painted the walls of the Construction Program workshop at Max Hayes.

   Cleveland has many homes that were built prior to 1978 when lead paint was banned in the United States. Max Hayes Construction Program Instructor MacDowell says the painting instruction will help prepare students who may want to work for a paint company or work for contractors where painting is part of a job.

   This year Construction students at Max Hayes, under the supervision of MacDowell and Instructor Jim Mulgrew, have engaged in some projects in the community. These projects included building picnic tables for the Culinary Program at East Tech High School, working with Food Strong to help teach K-8 students to build wood frames for raised bed gardens at Willson, Charles Mooney and Tremont schools, and building little free libraries for other schools.

   The Max Hayes Construction Program has a special relationship with Cleveland Trade Unions. Curriculum Instruction Specialist Alfred “A.C.” Fenderson helps students explore careers in the different local unions, obtain summer job placements, and learn how to become an apprentice in a local union.