LAKEWOOD, Colo. — As more Colorado schools incorporate career skills into classes, a math and construction class at Green Mountain High School is getting national recognition. Harbor Freight Tools for Schools awarded Green Mountain shop teacher Alex Adkisson $100,000 for his program. Adkisson was one of five grand prize winners in this year’s competition.
“We pretty much have most of that money earmarked, we’re getting a sander in I just ordered which is awesome,” Adkisson said.
Adkisson helped expand the wood shop at Green Mountain with the help of a bond that Jefferson County voters passed in 2018. The prize money will help pay for new tools and supplies to continue projects like a Habitat for Humanity tiny home that’s being built on site at the school.
Adkisson also created the curriculum for a math and construction track at Green Mountain, where students apply algebra and geometry to real-world projects. He had to create a two-minute video about his programs for the Harbor Freight Tools for Schools application.
“It’s a little daunting to come up with a two-minute video to showcase all the things you do, but I was lucky enough to be selected as one of the grand prize winners,” he said.
Along with Adkisson, Harbor Freight Tools for Schools also awarded $50,000 to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Early College manufacturing teacher Glenn Harrison. In total, the program awarded $1.5 million in prizes to 25 skilled trades teachers nationwide this year.
