Terrell Taylor’s eyes widened in shock as he walked into the freshman lecture room Tuesday at Merrillville High School.
Inside, his students, family, staff members and officials from tool supply company Harbor Freight clapped and waved purple and white pom poms.
Then, Taylor saw his name and Merrillville High School on an oversized $100,000 check.
He took a small leap and put his hands on his knees as the surprise registered. Taylor was one of five national top winners in Harbor Freight’s Tools for Schools Prize for Teaching Excellence.
The prize includes $70,000 for MHS and $30,000 for Taylor, who’s been teaching construction trades classes for seven years after a career building homes and managing major projects nationwide.
Harbor Freight’s foundation also awarded 20 teachers and their schools with $50,000 each.
Taylor said he had no clue about the celebration and the award even though his wife, Marnita Taylor, executive director of curriculum and instruction, helped plan it.
“I didn’t know how to process it,” said Taylor about the surprise gathering. “I saw that child right there,” referring to his grandson Stephen Taylor. “And I started losing it when I saw that man right there,” he said of his father, Ezell Gainer of Lexington, Ky.
Taylor wiped tears away as Danny Corwin, a Harbor Freight executive, presented the award.
“At Harbor Freight, we believe in the dignity of school trades and teachers who work with their hands,” Corwin said.
He said there were more than 1,000 applications from 49 states and two rounds of judging. Tuesday’s awards to U.S. public high schools totaled $1.5 million, he said.
Secretary of Education Katie Jenner praised Taylor in a video address.
“Congratulations for helping students find their purpose and find their values. Your example is proof of what is possible for all students,” she said.
Superintendent Dexter Suggs said Taylor’s construction class had six students when he began teaching six years ago. Taylor taught them how to build dog houses.
“He looks to the future, and he doesn’t allow anything to stand in his way,” said Suggs.
“We’re looking at a hero, not only in our school system, but in our community,” said school board president Alex Dunlap.
About 220 students are part of Taylor’s program with many gaining industry-recognized certifications. About 98% qualify for direct entry into the carpenters’ apprenticeship program through an articulation agreement with the union, according to a Harbor Freight release.
Senior Marquell Shelton, 17, said Taylor’s compassion and caring make a difference.
Shelton is studying carpentry and framing, and he plans to work in the trades for about a year before going to college to study construction management.
“He cares. He teaches and loves us like we’re his family. It’s real effective. He cares about us,” said Shelton.
Gainer said he wasn’t surprised his son earned the honor.
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“I knew he had the leadership. He’s always looking forward to things getting better,” he said.
Gainer spent 27 years in the military, so his family moved about every three years, he said.
Born in Gary, Taylor spent his early years there before the family began a series of moves that took them to Seattle, Germany, and other posts. He graduated from Anchor Bay High School in New Baltimore, Michigan.
Mary Hoffman, of the Merrillville Education Foundation, said Taylor inspired its inception 24 years ago.
“He is the founder,” she said.
The foundation has given back $440,000 to support teacher-led innovation through classroom grants, she said.
Taylor’s students work on real-world projects from framing walls and school remodeling to building community structures and he said they gain confidence from overcoming their mistakes.
The projects not only teach students craftsmanship but provide portfolios of their work.
Students study scaffolded construction in a project-based learning setting, laid out by Taylor, to prepare them for apprenticeships or immediate employment.
Officials said Taylor’s program has a 95% attendance rate and 98% graduation rate.
“They are my children, you know,” said Taylor. “We can’t complain about their direction or their trajectory, you know, unless we involve ourselves to change.
“And I’m not a role model. Some days, I’m a good example. Some days, I’m a bad example, and I’m real with them about it… I don’t want them to be like me, like I want them to be better,” he said.
Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.