Brick instructor, Chris Gray, and his students were instrumental in creating smiles on the many faces in Shelby County! In the fall of 2017 approximately 17 students were able to participate in a unique Work Based Learning (WBL) project. Henry Jew with the Veteran of Foreign War (VFW) contacted Whitney Young to see if the brick trade students could repair an old brick wall that was erected in the late 1800. Over the years the long crack had gotten severely worse and needed quick attention with a limited budget.

This was a great opportunity for the young energetic men and needless to say they were up to the challenge and repaired the wall in about 2 months but had to stop in December due to the extremely cold weather. The final step was to clean and seal the brick wall once the weather warms to above 40 degrees during the night hours. That’s when a certain stone can be placed into the wall stating the restoration was done by the Whitney Young Job Corps Brick masonry students’ class of 2017-2018.
The mayor of Shelbyville, Tom Hardesty was delighted with the results and stated he is very pleased with their work.
Henry Jew with the VFW said, “The gentleman were great to work with, Chris and his crew did everything we asked and it looks incredible. Their work was affordable within our budget and glad we could partner together.”

Repairing a brick wall that was built in the late 1800 gave the students tremendous experience and recognition in Shelbyville via the WBL program. Many of the folks in Shelbyville have stopped to thank the students for their professional work and stated how great the wall looks after the repairs.

On July 5th, the Mayor of Shelbyville, Tom Hardesty; County Judge Executive Dan Ison; Center Director, Woody Allen; Brick Instructor, Chris Gray; and Henry Jew along with brick trade students from the Whitney Young Job Corps Center were pictured in front of the VFW wall and plaque to be featured in The Sentinel News.