Feature Story

COMING HOME

by: R.D. Gibson

For many, coming home can mean different things for many different people. It can be the physicality of returning after a long time away; it can be returning to a feeling of belonging, safety, and rest; it can also represent the culmination of hard work and perseverance.

Every home has a story, and the GCA Trades Academy is seeing a new one coming to life right before them. Even in the midst of a pandemic, they have begun writing a new chapter in their story with their new facility in Barrigada.

The GCA Trades Academy has been searching for a place to call ‘home’ for a long time. According to Dr. Bert Johnston, Education Director at the GCA Trades Academy, the plan to be in their own building has been in their original plans for nearly 15 years. The goal was to ultimately be in their own space within 10 years.

Initially in 2008, Dr. Johnston reminisced how initially GCA Trades Academy was told they were not ready for a federal grant to build a facility. It wasn’t until the Economic Development Administration reached out to Johnston in 2014, after they reviewed the Trades academy accolades, accomplishments, and publications, when they pushed for GCA Trades Academy to apply for grant funding for their facilities.

It came down to working with Social and Economic Development Strategies Programs (SEDS) in Guam and securing more funding. Then came the search for a location; the facilities across from John F. Kennedy High School in Upper Tumon and Ukkudu were on the list of potential places for the GCA Trades Academy to set roots. However, after several “delayed decisions” and “learning curves”, the building finally set roots in central Guam behind the Guam Department of Education.

For the facilities to even get off the ground, it took a lot of patience; moving ahead and stopping temporarily. Construction could not begin until they received the Notice to Proceed in the later part of 2019, after they started the building permit process in April that year.

“Then in March of 2020, everything shut down.”

For the GCA Trades facilities in Barrigada, the construction continued through the pandemic, but Johnston stated the biggest issue was with supply chain. “Prices went up, the lumber the contractor had bid on, the price tripled…” forcing them to amend the price of the contract.

Johnston stated that COVID-19 Pandemic disrupted their classes completely. However, on the brighter side of things, he pointed out how it helped them and gave them time to figure out and utilize the space without further disrupting classes. At the time of the interview, the second building hadn’t been finished, but GCA Trades Academy was already utilizing the first building since early January 2021.

Johnston stated with 16 classrooms - 750 square feet classrooms, complete with new air conditioning units with UV treatments for ventilation - the possibilities for growth are endless. “Prior to this, we only had five.” And Johnston has already seen trades students utilizing the facilities since they opened. One building has shop spaces; the other building has classrooms and office space.

At the heart of a home is the people in it. These are the people who help build each other up, help each other dream. This includes the shared office space with the Guam Contractors Association. As our community crawls out of these uncertain, unprecedented, and

disconcerting times, the Trades Academy is using their home as a place to share and build knowledge for a growing number of trades students.

One of the biggest items to point out is the increased enrollment, according to Johnston. He stated that due to the pandemic and the long wait period over ten months of waiting, the Academy was worried about whether or not trades students would come back. “We also didn’t come back with an automatic start,” Johnston stated, adding how they’re staggering classes due to the ongoing health emergency. “We got one foot out the door, one foot inside the door, so if we need to back up, we’re going to back up real fast,” said Johnston, citing the safety and well-being of students and staff as a high priority.

In the last ten months, many have learned the value of efficiency, growth, and expansion. Johnston stated it may be too early to discuss the potential expansion of trades program curriculum at the Trades Academy, but “there are several things in the pipeline...still in discussion.” However, he added that if these discussions gain traction he anticipates full class rosters for them.

Given the concept of remote learning, as well, Johnston stated that their trades curriculum has always had an online component to it, but before the pandemic they “never saw a need for it.” He stated how their synchronous model - using Zoom and textbooks - was not necessarily effective for trades students and faculty. They piloted interactive online classes, which had some success, but he emphasized the face-to-face instruction, particularly in the construction industry is a proven model of learning.

“We’re going back to face-to-face,” he added, but they’ve also made the online learning option available. “Most of the students have opted for face-to-face”, as Johnston also shared they are still looking at a hybrid model of learning: having students acquire knowledge remotely before practicing in a face-to-face environment.

“[Having the GCA Trades Academy facilities built] has been a challenge, but, you know, there are huge opportunities out there,” stated Johnston. He added that it’s a matter of making students are taken care of and offering the best learning opportunities for them.

Sometimes through our hardships, the storms we go through in life, we find where home really is; how it’s meant to feel. It’s in the people we build it with, the support that comes together for one another, and the dreams that are born and realized there. That is the home the GCA Trades Academy is building. Welcome home, GCA Trades Academy!