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Show 20 Cabinetry teacher builds a legacy of excellence By Lacey McMurry Aaron Reary knows what it's like to build something out of nothing. Twelve years ago, there wasn't a single cabinetry cabine-try class to be found in the Uintah Basin Ba-sin Applied Technology College course offerings. That's when the Lapoint man talked to administrators about letting him teach cabinetry classes a couple of times a week. Administrators agreed, but told Reary there would never be enough student interest to allow for a full-time program. Now, it's 2007, and enrollment in cabinetry classes is bursting at the seams. Reary teaches seven classes a day to approximately 125 students. The UBATC program is known statewide state-wide for its success, with students from the Basin consistently netting top honors hon-ors at state competitions and landing lucrative scholarships. The secret to this success, Reary says, is all about expectations. "When a lot of people think of wood-shop, wood-shop, they have this mentality that they're going to be building speaker boxes or bats or checkerboards," he says. "Usually, woodshop is a class people take because they think they're J' J )LLL7 J BuySeH 'Trade Loan Payday, TftBfc and Pawn Lo Hours: 8:30 - 6:30 Mond 8:30 - 5:00 Roosevelt i v -tiizta I 722-0404 Vernal 789-4394 630 W Main "I think my main accomplishment accom-plishment is having students who have so much excitement and interest in what we're doing in class. " - Aaron Reary, UBATC instructor going to get an easy A. But my program isn't like that. My program is a lot of hard work and it's designed to weed out the kids without the desire and work ethic needed to succeed in here." Reary got his woodworking start in a high school class, where he began learning the art of cabinetry and furniture-making. Later, helping his parents remodel their house only cemented in his mind the skills he had learned. "I'm not a book worm," he says. "I've always liked to do things with my hands. I fell in love with woodworking in high school, and I knew if I ever got a chance to teach it, I'd jump on it." Students in Reary's classes have to demonstrate their willingness to put in the hours of time that are a prerequisite prerequi-site to success. Before being allowed to work on complicated furniture projects, students have to take an introductory course where they learn the basics, complete required bookwork, and demonstrate dem-onstrate correct safety procedures. Advanced pupils are given much UBATC instructor Aaron Reary helps Nick Bastian on his cabinetry project. Reary has been teaching the class for 12 years now. His students consistently place first in statewide contests. more leeway, and by their senior year in high school, they are designing and creating their own elaborate projects completely from scratch. Brady Arnold, a senior at Union High School, has been enrolled in Reary's cabinetry classes for four years. Like many high school seniors, Arnold has spent months working on a complete com-plete bedroom set for his final project. Arnold said participation in Reary's class hasn't just given him the skills of the woodworking trade; it's impacted him in other ways as well. "Mr. Reary is a perfectionist, and he demands the exact same from us," Arnold says. "I gained that atti tude in his classes and it's now carried over to Continued on page 21 m m ( f 721 E 200 N Roosevelt, UT 84066 722-3533 vnifw.nwestrealestate.com www.coldwellbanker.com E-mail Rswestubtanet.com Each o ffice is independently owned and operated. If Tony Ivins Bob West Lane Yack 724-1288 724-3533 724-0928 Jayanne Ivins Carlina Bertoch 722-7236 823-2099 Ross Feed and Seed Main Street, Myton, Utah 722-3441 Good luck class of 2007! 1 J f ' Featuring our Farqous ; "As good as ever" .oV. Established 1933 Ay ? 57 E. Main - Duchesne !f738-5609 In Business Ove 35 Years |