Meet Cecil Wainscott, Postsecondary Teacher of the Year finalist
Meet Cecil Wainscott, winner of ACTE’s Region IV Postsecondary Teacher of the Year award. Wainscott’s interview appears as part of a spotlight series on our 2021 national award winners and finalists. This award recognizes career and technical education (CTE) teachers at the postsecondary level who demonstrate innovation in the classroom, commitment to their students and dedication to the improvement of CTE in their institutions and communities.
What is your job title and what do you do?
I am a licensed trades instructor for Oklahoma Careertech Skills Centers Licensed Trades Program (LTP), where I have worked for 20 years. I teach heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC/R), electrical, and plumbing. The Skills Centers operate within the Oklahoma Department of Corrections (ODOC). My students are incarcerated adults.
Two key components of the LTP include the Journeyman licensing piece and the ODOC maintenance internship. The program consists of 1,050 transcript hours of courses and curriculum — which takes eight to 12 months to complete — and a one-year Internship with ODOC maintenance departments.
In addition to classroom/shop instruction, I work with ODOC maintenance administrators and Oklahoma industry employers to build relationships that will benefit my students/graduates.
I work with other stakeholders such as Oklahoma Construction Industries Board and PSI exam services to coordinate state exams, process apprentice and journeyman applications, and conduct continued education training. Further, I assist my graduates in the reintegration process when they are released from ODOC, providing support to find housing, transportation and job placement.
After LTP graduates place in ODOC maintenance or other Oklahoma industry jobs, I continue to provide them with tech support and mentoring.
What was your education experience like in general? What did you study?
I attended Gordon Cooper Technology Center’s HVAC/R Program in Shawnee, Oklahoma, and the International Correspondence School of Air Conditioning and Refrigeration. And I completed these programs while working full time as a maintenance man at a public school.
I drove 80 miles round trip, two nights a week for three hours of training per night, to Gordon Cooper Tech. And I worked on the Correspondence School Curriculum the other three nights. It was great. I loved it!
I studied heating, air conditioning, refrigeration and electrical controls.
Please discuss the role of teaching in your life. Who or what inspired you to teach CTE?
I never imagined being a teacher. I was working for ODOC as the mechanical (HVAC/R) contractor, supervising an inmate crew. A couple of the inmates told me they had graduated from the Skills Centers HVAC/R program. They were as passionate about the trade as I was. On our lunch break, we would dive into the air conditioning and refrigeration textbook. We were all licensed but hungry to learn more, so we started our own training sessions with others who wanted to pursue licensing. We all three had experienced firsthand the impact that CTE can have on a person’s life. And we wanted to share that experience with others. It was rewarding.
One morning, one of the two licensed inmate workers came into my office. His name was Tommy. He handed me a job posting from the Daily Oklahoman’s classified section. It was the Lexington Vo-Tech/Skills Center HVAC/R instructor position. We called it Vo-Tech back then. I told him thanks but there was no way I would be able to get that job. He said I should go ahead and apply anyway. So, I did. And I got it. That was 20 yeas ago. Tommy was released from ODOC a couple of years later and became owner of his own HVAC/R company in Oklahoma City. He continues to hire my graduates to this day.
Don Box worked as the electrical instructor at Lexington Skills Center when I started. He became a mentor to me. I was so green and inexperienced, but he took me under his wing and shared his HVAC/R curriculum with me. He also shared his knowledge and experience of teaching with me each day. He allowed me to apprentice under him as an electrical apprentice. And he encouraged me to take the electrical journeyman exam and then the electrical contractors exam. I loved and appreciated Don, and I sure miss him.
God blessed me with Careertech as a student and an instructor. He has used students and staff members to inspire me, and that makes me want to continue to inspire others as well.
How has COVID-19 affected CTE program activities in your school. How has it affected the wellbeing of your professional learning community at large?
It did slow things down for a while. Although it was not near as productive as meeting in person, the students continued their studies by correspondence through coordination with the ODOC maintenance supervisors.
As an ACTE award winner, you are recognized for your efforts to sustain high-quality CTE programs for all students. What advice would you offer a new teacher?
You must continue to have passion for the trade you are teaching.
Teach, but also serve, encourage and inspire your students. You work for them.
Rely on the experience, advice and mentorship of a veteran teacher.
Focus on teaching the essential, foundational skills of the trade, then build upon that foundation one piece at a time.
Be consistent with always providing service to your students and graduates.
All students do not learn the same or at the same pace. Use techniques that allow the individual student to experience success, not failure. Focus on building their confidence.
Is there anything else you’d like to share?
My greatest reward of being an instructor is when my students/graduates call me and share their success stories. They let me know how thankful they are for Careertech and how it changed their life.
It is an honor and a blessing to represent Oklahoma Careertech Skills Centers. I thank God for allowing me to do what I do and for blessing my students and my program.
