Nothing beats hands-on: Texas teacher stresses importance of teamwork

Masonry Construction, March, 2006 by J. David Holt

Victor Santillan came to masonry naturally, learning the trade from his father and working with him for many years. Conversely, he came to masonry instruction the round about way.

During an economic downturn in the early 1980s, Santillan decided that it was a good time to complete college. After graduating with a history degree in 1988, he began looking for a position that would provide extra income, and found a job teaching algebra at Harlingen High School, which was his alma mater. At the time, he didn't realize the school had added a masonry program after he graduated.

After that first year, Santillan switched to teaching history and masonry. In the 17 years since, Santillan has sent nine students to the National Masonry Contest held annually in Kansas City, Mo., which is held in conjunction with the SkillsUSA National Leadership Conference. A stand-alone facility dedicated to masonry instruction was opened this school year to serve the needs of the growing program.

The masonry program, now in its 33rd year, serves two schools (Harlingen High School and Harlingen South High School) and enrolls approximately 20 students each semester.

"I've had a lot of success recruiting masonry students because I get to know the kids as their history instructor. I recruit the ones I think will succeed," said Santillan.

"The program involves a lot of hands-on instruction. We do more practice and less book time than some other masonry programs," Santillan continued. "I like to help the students get small jobs in the summer where they can gain experience and earn some money. This past summer some of my students worked with me on a residential project. As a team, we laid 10,000 brick on the exterior of a home constructed by Trinity Custom Homes."

It's not surprising to learn that the general contractor and owner of Trinity Custom Homes is none other than Victor Santillan. "Sometime you work hard to find, or even create, meaningful employment and experience for these young people," Santillan explained.

"Through these summer jobs, students realize they can make a good living, but they also learn that masonry requires hard work and that practice makes them better. They also discover what I think is a most important attribute of good masons:

While masonry is an individual skill, to be successful you have to work with other people and function as a team," Santillan concluded.

When asked about his most challenging student, Santillan reflected on what he had learned from that student. "I had a special education kid in my class. I doubted whether I could teach him in a way that he could learn masonry. I quickly realized that I could teach him by patiently concentrating on just one job at a time. No multi-tasking. He is not a mason today, but does own his own landscaping business. That's a real-life success story."

The fact that not all of his students go into masonry doesn't faze Santillan. "Some do enter the masonry trade, but most seek other lines of work. The wage scale is not real good here, so some of the kids move to bigger markets and take up the trade there.

The first student I took to the national finals now owns his own company (Framing and Masonry Inc.), Dallas. I'm proud of Frank Martinez, just like I am all my former students."