SPECIAL TO CONTRACTOR

LANSDOWNE, VA. — Richard Carrington received the 2007 Plumbing Instructor of the Year award March 30 during the 2007 HVACR & Plumbing Instructor Workshop here. Carrington, a former plumbing contractor, is the founder and an instructor of the Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors of the Greater Sacramento Area Plumbers Unilateral Apprenticeship Program in California.

Bob Miodonski, publisher and editorial director of CONTRACTOR, made the presentation. CONTRACTOR sponsored the award in cooperation with the PHCC Educational Foundation.

"He began teaching for the the PHCC-GSA PUAC when classes were still being held during the evening from 6 to 10, while still running his own plumbing business,"

Miodonski said. "When the PHCC-GSA PUAC program converted to a daytime, fulltime training format three years ago, he was active in making the new concentrated training program a success."

Guy Letrick of the Monmouth County Vocational School in Freehold, N. J . , received the 2007 HVACR Instructor of the Year. Mike Kahlenbeck of GE/Regal Beloit presented the plaque.

More than 300 HVACR and plumbing instructors, sponsors and exhibitors attended the three-day event, which was the 12th workshop in the series. Participants came from 38 states, the District of Columbia and Canada and included HVACR and plumbing instructors, administrators and counselors in secondary, post-secondary and proprietary programs as well as HVACR and plumbing apprentice programs.

The workshop featured HVACR-and plumbing-specific technical sessions, ranging from seminars on right sizing hydronics, new joining processes for copper and its alloys, and well and storm pumps to sessions on digital electric motor theory, ground source heat pumps, using simulation software in teaching and building science. General sessions focused on teaching techniques and technologies, reaching the adult learner, distance learning, updates on career and technical education and recruitment strategies. Seminar presentations can be found at www.foundation.phccweb.org/powerpoints/.

In addition to opportunities for networking and an "I've Got an Idea" session, the workshop brought together 31 company and nine sponsor exhibitors with tabletop and eight technical mini-sessions.

Besides the PHCC Educational Foundation, other sponsors are Air Conditioning Contractors of America, Air-Conditioning & Refrigeration Institute, Council for Air-Conditioning & Refrigeration Educators, Gas Appliance Manufacturers Association, Heating Air-Conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International, North American Technician Excellence, Refrigeration Service Engineers Society and SkillsUSA.

Exhibitors include American Standard Bath & Kitchen, Bradford White, Carrier, Cast Iron Soil Pipe Institute, Delta Faucet, Emerson Climate Control, Ferris State University, Field Controls, Fieldpiece Instruments, Future Tek, HRAI/SkillTech Academy, Hussmann/IR, Lennox/Service Experts, Mitsubishi HVAC Advanced Products, Moen, NIBCO, Penn College, Rheem, Simutech, Testo and Trane.