Kevin Finan wins $50,000 for Atlantic Technical College and Technical High School
Congratulations to Kevin Finan, a machining teacher at Atlantic Technical College and Technical High School, for being named a winner of the 2022 Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Prize for Teaching Excellence. He was awarded $50,000 for his program.
Finan is one of 20 prize winners across the country who were surprised today (October 4, 2022) with the news that they had won.
The mission of Harbor Freight Tools for Schools is to increase understanding, support and investment in skilled trades education in U.S. public high schools.
“We cannot overstate the impact that high school skilled trades teachers are having in the classroom. Hands-on skilled trades classes are making a comeback, and we couldn’t be prouder to celebrate the accomplishments of these remarkable teachers and their programs,’’ said Danny Corwin, executive director of Harbor Freight Tools for Schools.
Overall, there are winners from 15 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Nebraska, New York, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin.
The winning teachers come from a variety of skilled trades career pathways, including automotive, construction, carpentry, industrial technology, welding, agricultural mechanics and machining.
“For the past 10 years, Mr. Finan has established and maintained an unprecedented relationship with our school’s manufacturing industry partners and the business community that supports it,” said Atlantic Technical College and Technical High School Principal Neeta Rancourt. “He continues to enhance the level of skills of the students he trains, helping them to gain a competitive edge leading to employment and paths to careers in high-wage, in-demand fields in South Florida.”
The valuable input Finan has provided to Atlantic Technical has led to the advancement of technology within the industry and raised the level of quality of its employees entering the manufacturing field. While Finan serves as the teacher for the machining technologies program, he also continues to provide direct support to the machining apprenticeship program that he helped develop in alliance with the South Florida Manufacturers Association.
Finan has also proven invaluable with his skills for securing the necessary funding needed to maintain a quality machining program that rivals anywhere in the state of Florida. He has been instrumental in earning grant awards from various sources for both equipment and supplies. This has included an apprenticeship grant from the Florida Department of Education that awarded the school with more than $500,000 used to purchase state-of-the-art machining equipment.
The Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Prize for Teaching Excellence was launched in 2017 by Eric Smidt, the founder of the national tool retailer Harbor Freight Tools, to recognize outstanding instruction in the skilled trades in U.S. public high schools.
“We deeply appreciate the work skilled trades teachers do to prepare and inspire our next generation of tradespeople,” Smidt said. “Their work is urgently needed because while our country’s need for building and repairs is growing, our skilled trades workforce is shrinking.”