Every year, through its Craft Instructor of the Year Award, Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) honors a group of top teachers who instill the technical skills and standards for quality and safety that make merit shop contractors so successful. The winner must possess creativity, a positive attitude and a spirit of lifelong learning.
William Fuller, craft development manager at the ABC Greater Houston Construction Management and Education Foundation (CMEF) in La Porte, Texas, is the embodiment of those characteristics as this year’s winner.
With 50 years of experience in the construction industry, including 35 years in the field, he’s known by his students as “Uncle Will” and serves as a mentor to other instructors so they can reach their full potential in the classroom.
“William Fuller is by far the most passionate instructor I’ve ever met. The enthusiasm he teaches with in the classroom is like no other,” says Blair Williamson, CMEF’s director of training and development. “He keeps the students engaged and eager to come back to class each day. William is irreplaceable in my book.”
Equal parts entertaining and enriching, Fuller has his hands full teaching multiple crafts utilizing the NCCER curriculum, including carpentry, scaffolding, rigging, boilermaking, crane, heavy equipment and crew leadership. He has been with the CMEF full time since 2012, and prior to that was an adjunct trainer for a decade during his 28-year tenure with The Mundy Companies in Houston.
“I teach beyond technical data. Most injuries and accidents are not caused because they didn’t know (mind) or because they didn’t have the ability (body), but because they exercised a momentary lapse of good judgment (emotions),” Fuller says.
Fuller received a $10,000 cash prize from the ABC Craft Instructor of the Year award sponsors NCCER and the Trimmer Construction Education Fund.
“My reaction to winning this award is to sustain my commitment to every student and always represent ABC, CMEF and NCCER with the highest level of professionalism I can. My heart and motive is steadfast: helping others reach their goals and potential.”
Fuller was selected from a group of four other finalists, all of whom are passionate educators of the merit shop construction industry’s future workforce.
Jason Ashlaw, an electrical instructor and safety manager with Demco New York Corp. in East Syracuse, N.Y., teaches all five levels of NCCER-certified electrical modules and serves on the ABC Empire State Chapter Education Committee. Not only does he bring a tireless work ethic to Demco—where students look to him as a mentor—but he also sponsors a weekly forum open to all electricians in the area. In a word, he’s indispensable.
David Clements, a master plumber and owner of Red D Plumbing in Omaha, Neb., has taught level one plumbing at the ABC Cornhusker Chapter for 16 years. He has a contagious enthusiasm for the trade, often expressed by bringing new and innovative ideas to class, and has a knack for solving problems and simplifying complex issues.
Roosevelt “Rooster” Norwood, a foreman with Zachry Group in Baton Rouge, La., started teaching level one heavy equipment operations at the ABC Pelican Chapter in 2009 shortly after completing his own training program. He displays an undeniable commitment to students, including voluntarily coming in on weekends so trainees can log additional seat time on equipment.
Eugene Senter, a master electrician and service technician with Facility Solutions Group in Indianapolis, has established himself as a father figure at the ABC Indiana/Kentucky Chapter with more than two decades of classroom experience. As a veteran of the U.S. Army, he runs his class like a well-oiled machine—leaving students with a newly developed sense of professionalism and pride in what they do. He teaches level three electrical four days a week for a total of 50 apprentices annually, as well as engages high school students as a rotating instructor at the chapter’s Construction Prep Academy.
