A teacher in Port Orchard has won $30,000 for himself and $70,000 for the South Kitsap High School skilled trades program.

Jeff Winn, a construction and carpentry teacher, was one of five grand prize winners of the Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Prize for Teaching Excellence. In all, 25 high school skilled trades teachers nationwide won a portion of the $1.5 million.

“I want my students to feel good about what they’re doing. I want my students to understand that they’re making massive contributions to our community, and I want my students to understand that what they’re doing really does matter,” Winn wrote in his application.

Winn teaches Wood Boat Building and Marine Technology. In his classes, there has been a 125% increase in female students and a 78% increase in students who are underrepresented based on their socioeconomic and/or racial identification. Winn’s program was recognized as a top-three exemplar career-connected learning program and visited by members of the state legislature.

Winn wrote curriculum, served on the steering committee, and directly partnered with statewide construction leaders to develop the first-of-its-kind building controls apprenticeship in Washington. In addition to the core curriculum, Winn introduces little-known tradespeople, including a luthier, who builds and repairs stringed instruments. Students also learn Japanese carpentry and boat-building techniques used in indigenous cultures. Alumni of his program have careers in cabinet making, construction in the military, and with local industries like Boeing, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, and the Washington State Ferries.

The winners of the Harbor Freight Tools competition teach a variety of skilled trades, including welding, automotive, agricultural mechanics, advanced manufacturing and industrial technology. The prize, now in its eighth year, was created to recognize educators who are frequently overlooked and underappreciated, a news release says. Since 2017, more than $8.9 million has been awarded to over 150 teachers and their schools’ programs. This year there are winners from 19 states.

Danny Corwin, executive director of the program, said of the teachers: “They have earned this prize because they are highly knowledgeable about the skilled trades, have a deep belief in the potential of their students, and have built programs that prepare students for a multitude of opportunities after high school.”

This year there were more than 900 applications. The process included three rounds of judging, each by an independent panel of experts from education, industry, nonprofits and philanthropy. Eric Smidt, owner and founder of the tool company, said, “Our future will be built by the students in today’s skilled trades classrooms.”

As for Winn, he uses targeted universalism to inform his instruction, setting universal goals for his classes but using varied strategies to meet individual needs and reach those goals. Through the Core Plus Construction and Core Plus Maritime curriculum, students earn OSHA 10, forklift training and certification and flagger certifications, have access to industry apprenticeships and are prepared to enter the workforce.

After college, Winn was working framing houses and enrolled in a carpenter’s apprenticeship program. While working on a project at a high school, he observed some students, fully engaged in their teacher’s instruction, and realized he wanted to teach. For three years, Winn attended school in the evenings to earn his teaching certifications. He is now the head of his department and serves on the teacher leadership team to collaborate with and learn from other teachers.