CTC Instructor Spotlight - Larry Hawkins

From Castle & Cooke Homes Hawaii May 2013 Newsletter Article

 By learning you will teach; by teaching you will understand.
Latin Proverb

Larry Hawkins is working as an instructor with the Construction Training Center of the Pacific (CTC) at the BIA facilities. For six years he has been an instructor for the PACT (Pre-Apprenticeship Construction Training) program. PACT’s curriculum uses NAHB residential construction academy text and programs. This program works with the general public and sponsored by Community and Government agencies.

Larry has taught with the Probationary Department at the Federal Detention Center (near Honolulu Airport) and also taught at the Waianae Comprehensive Health Center with this program.

He is certified by NAHB to lead this PACT Program Residential Academy and is a Certified Green Professional thru NAHB.

Larry has given classes in plumbing, electrical, HVAC, building maintenance and green building fundamentals (sustainability).

As a teacher, Larry Hawkins uses his understanding of the many things involved in the building industry and enjoys relating it to his students. Currently, Larry is teaching Youth Build Programs for the State of Hawaii to about 70 students. In local Youth Build programs, low-income young people ages 16–24 work toward their GEDs or high school diplomas while learning job skills by building affordable housing for homeless and low-income people and participating in leadership development activities in their communities. Since 1994, more than 110,000 Youth Build students have produced over 21,000 units of affordable, increasingly green housing in rural and urban communities across the United States.

Ask him why he chooses to teach he simply says,

“I was given the opportunity to learn all that I could in this industry by very talented and knowledgeable individuals, and I want to pay back to my community and help others find their career path.”

 Someone once said - “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” And Teachers are surely helping to change the world!