Evin Jarrett ahead of his first class of the school day at Mayfair Elementary in Northeast Philadelphia. (Photo: Rasheed Z. Ajamu)

If you need an example of building a community, look no further than Evin Jarrett. The Germantown native who teaches everything he knows about construction and carpentry to anyone who wants to learn.

“I want to expose everybody to the trades,” Jarrett said. “Because I know what it can do.”

In childhood, Jarrett originally wanted to be a police officer. Instead, he landed at Cheyney University to take up teaching before leaving a couple of years in to work in construction. He says it wasn’t necessarily construction itself but rather the workplace he occupied that allowed him to excel in the trade.

“A lot of times, if you get with the wrong company, it sets you up for failure,” he explained. Jarrett had the opposite experience, as he says the environment he was exposed to helped him “fall in love with [construction].” 

Eventually, Jarett went to work at West Oak Lane Charter School to work as a building engineer, where he says kids were often sent to work as punishment. But, he shifted punishment into purpose, making it an experience for students to learn and grow.

After 20 years of teaching and building his trade skills, Jarrett eventually felt that he was missing something, leading him back to teaching.

Over the years, he landed various jobs, starting as a night program adult instructor at New Orleans Tech before making his way to Pottstown High School, which he didn’t initially think he would get.

“I built that program up, then COVID happened,” Jarrett said, thinking he was done teaching. “[Then] one of the guest speakers that I had said, ‘I think you’d be a good fit for a program they’re doing in Philly.’”

And he was. Now, Jarrett has spent the last few years taking all his experience in plumbing, electrical, masonry, and carpentry and giving it to the 4th through 8th graders at Mayfair Elementary in Northeast Philadelphia.

“We have the best trades program in the city,” the teacher declared. “My kids are earning high school certifications in middle school.”

“I learned electric, solar, and plumbing,” said 8th grader Jamiah Washington. She says Mr. Jarrett and his class have “showed [her] some things [she] didn’t know.” 

The 8th grader says those skills came in handy one day when her younger brother stuck something down the toilet, and they needed to get it out.

One 7th grader, Rey Biedrzycki, says learning these skills now will help him “have a chance to use them in the real world.”

Washington and Biedrycki also help produce the Dope Student Podcast, another way Jarrett seeks to connect students with alternative career advice. The Germantown Info Hub attended Jarrett’s class for a taping. 

Each student also plays a role in creating it, so they not only build skills in the trades but also reach a peak in audio and video production.

“It’s just trying to change lives and try to help the students of Philadelphia know it’s okay to work with your hands. It’s okay to earn a living with your hands,” Jarrett said.

Though Jarrett already has a full-time schedule, traveling between home in Pottsgrove and work in Philadelphia, he still extends his time trying to offer his skills to adults. Recently, Jarrett posted about a course he is offering in a local Germantown Facebook group.

The course, valued at $800, will be a four-week intensive, where folks will meet two to three times each week. Half is due upfront, and the other half is due after the first two weeks.

“[Registrants will] be getting [an introduction] to safety, plumbing, electrical, carpentry. If the weather’s permitting, we’re going to do masonry,” Jarrett explained. “You’re going to be able to earn your OSHA 10.”

Jarrett hopes there will be more opportunities for him to teach courses and classes in Germantown, saying he’d even like to own his own maker space.

He points out the “old Dunkin Donuts” that sat at 5701 Germantown Avenue, now a convenience store, for what he’s always envisioned as part of his dream.

“I wanted the second floor, even though it had a lot of steps,” Jarrett said, saying people advised against it. “I wanted people to actually see in those big glass windows, people actually working. It’s a busy intersection, and you can actually see people that look like you in here working, learning to trade.”

Jarrett says that while he is interested in obtaining it, he has had trouble finding a contact who can help him do so.

The “Dope Teacher” himself has no plans of slowing down, though. This summer, he has plans to bring the Dope Teacher Mobile, his self-financed RV that he uses to provide mobile courses, to Mayfair for students to work on.

Jarrett says that while some people might believe he is overextending himself, he refutes that, making it clear that doing the work isn’t a strain; hearing about how much he does, however, is.

“The kids deserve my best every day,” he stated.

Until his next calling, Jarrett remains steadfast in his crusade to share the love, teach the trades, and provide “the key to the middle class,” as he calls it.

“I just want to open everybody’s eyes,” Jarrett ends.

Anyone interested in the Mayfair students’ work can always check them out on Instagram at @mrjarrett_constructiontech. They can also listen to the Dope Student Podcast at mrjarrettconstruction.com.