HVACTA HVAC Training: Challenges That Build Growth

Danny: It’s an honor and a privilege to have Andrew as part of our team. Ultimately, we wouldn’t be here without Andrew, and y’all wouldn’t be here without Andrew. His ability to teach in the classroom and bring his knowledge—it’s excellent. We have the privilege of letting him do that. That’s a wonderful thing.

Part of what we do here is develop our professionalism. Our own personalities get expressed, and our confidence grows. As Elaine would tell you, we definitely carry and transfer the four C’s—clarity, choice, confidence, competence. That’s true in anything we do. When you go out to a job, you have to know what you’re looking at.

Oh, boy—like a plumber… As you can see, whoever took these pictures did us a little disservice—but it’s fun. We develop that confidence in a way nobody else does.

Elaine and I have the privilege of serving on advisory boards for a couple of colleges that deal with HVAC, so we know what they do. That’s why we do what we do—because we don’t want to do what they do. We do it differently.

Andrew’s been in HVAC for 25 years—ever since he was, you know, twelve. We put him to work real early. And Robert, who should be here any moment, is another primary instructor. He’s been in the business for 43 years. They’re not “teachers” by academic standards; they’re real, working pros who make sure everybody here experiences what it’s like in the field.

Elaine and I take the academic side—especially me—making sure you know the theory. But because of Andrew and Robert, you get the competence. As anybody would tell you, I don’t answer questions. Did I ever answer any of y’all’s questions? My philosophy—and Andrew’s and Robert’s—is: you learn by doing. You ask me a question, I’m going to say, “I don’t know—figure it out.” They’ll help. Chris will help. But our goal is to make a little chaos and frustration in your life—because that’s how you grow.

One of the things we do—well, it’s not a hard requirement, but you do it—is videos. We’re going to see videos from just about everybody here—about three minutes long. It’s always fun because it shows personality. (You’re not supposed to burn the building down—you didn’t know that? Must’ve been the heat from the room.)

We do videos so we can learn. When you first come in here, it’s ten separate individuals. Throw Robert and Andrew in the mix and it’s twelve separate individuals. But by the time it’s over, everybody’s cohesive—and that relationship building is something I’m very proud of.

(Robert enters.)
Danny: Robert came in at the perfect time.
Robert: Water.
Danny: There’s water in there—and in here. Distribute the water and then come up here and say a couple of words, as usual.

Robert’s been with us because of his ability to learn and teach what he knows to individuals of different backgrounds and ages. Not because of formal teaching experience—he had none—but because he can transfer decades of field knowledge. That’s high-quality. Robert, come on up.

And did you notice on the video he had his safety glasses and his gloves on? Yep—PPE. Which reminds me: don’t forget, Tuesday and Wednesday we’re going through the OSHA-10 training. Make it if you can; if you can’t, maybe the next time and we’ll go from there.

So—is Eric… Eric’s not in—oh, there. No. Yeah. Okay. I’m looking for—thinking you and Raphael. Too many people with the same last name; it’s ridiculous. No, just kidding. Don’t confuse me.

I know that when Eric first started—very quiet, very, very shy—sat in the back—and he’s blossomed a little bit. Still’s got a ways to go. And I know that he’s already accepted a job—that was from a couple of days ago—so I’m proud of them.

What’s interesting is they learned interview techniques here. They learned a lot in here—how to answer and respond to interviews. The companies, after just a couple of minutes, know the respect that they have earned as a technician and as an individual—as a professional progressing.

So, with that, I do want to take a look and see what Eric has to say. Let’s check out the video.

Danny: …lot of words. Speaking of words, you’re going to come on up here, accept your certificate, and you are going to say no less than 5,000 words. Good luck.
Rafael: Thank you.
Danny: You’re welcome.
Rafael: So, thank you, Danny. You guys had a lot of fun with everyone here and just learned a lot. I’m really thankful for you guys and what you guys have done. And that’s it.
Danny: Really? Really? That’s what you’re talking about?

Danny: Some people call him what—what is it? Some people call you Mr. Nomenclature. There’s a story to that—maybe he’ll tell you about it in just a second. It has definitely been a privilege having you here—your personality, all of that’s been great. Come on up here, please. Accept this certificate.

Cyntonio: Oh man, I had a good time. But most definitely, we could have made this class more fun without having Mr. Danny here and Mr. Drew and Mr. Robert—just whole lives. Everybody came together and made one big group. This experience is a good experience, you know, so I’m glad I chose Second Chance University.

I learned a lot, you know. Even though, when I first came to this class, I didn’t know anything about the air conditioning system at all, but I learned so much stuff now. I feel like I can—I mean, you know, my level of expertise…

But it was definitely a great experience, and I’m glad I made it. And all I can say is that we all made it, man.