The night of April 1, two intruders snuck onto campus, breaking into the shed where the construction class keeps their tools. Working through the night, they ransacked the shed leaving all but one vacuum cleaner.
The following morning, construction teacher Gene Tallon opened the shed, and, to his dismay and confusion, he saw all of the program’s tools had vanished. Security cameras located on the scene were able to see two adults, but aside from that, no other information was discernible.
The class needed these tools, worth several thousand dollars, to do their day’s work, and every day the tools were missing, the class was just sitting idle, falling further and further behind schedule.
Students such as junior Caelan Wood were upset. “I think it’s unfair to the students, that they would do something like that to us, and we can’t work without the tools that they took,’’ Wood said.
Local news outlets published the story, and almost immediately donations began flooding in. People all over San Diego County donated tools that they no longer needed, and even some brand new tools were donated. Within just a few days, construction had all of the tools it needed and even some to spare.
“That’s the best part of when bad things happen, right? How the community responds. It was an outpouring of support for the school from individuals and the local community,” Assistant Principal, and a creator of the construction program, Michael Gizzo said.
The construction program is unlike any other in the district, and this is its second year of existence. In it students can learn to operate power tools and collaborate to build things ranging from bird feeders all the way to tiny homes. Even though the class was temporarily affected by crime, they are right back on track.
“It has brought a lot of awareness to the fact that this program exists. I think a lot of people didn’t realize that there was a construction program going on at the school. So even thought took place and theft is a negative thing, looking at the result, it turned out to be kind of a positive,” Tallon said.
