It’s 8:30 on a Thursday morning and Cranston High School East’s level two plumbing technology students are busy creating their initials out of copper pipes. As eleventh grader Alan Monroa, 16, works on his project, he explains he and his classmates graphed their initials on paper, set up the fittings and measured the copper. After their teacher, Mr. Joseph Giorno, approved the designs, students could cut out the piping, flux and solder it.

Giorno, a former New England Institute of Technology instructor and current member of the RI Master Plumber and Mechanical Association, helped create East’s CTE (career and technical education) plumbing technology program in 2019. The coursework explores basic safety, hand tools, power tools, construction drawings, material handling, rigging and communication skills; the program also follows the National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER) and students earn 144 hours toward the RI Apprentice Program school hours. Alongside Giorno is Chris Richard, who teaches some of the plumbing technology classes and has a plumbing/heating business on the side. In Rhode Island, Narragansett is the only other school district offering this specific CTE program.

The plumbing technology classroom once operated as a home economics classroom, and for the first four to five months of the program, Giorno and his students removed stoves, tore out counters and built a working lab, which included a two-level bathroom that is set up like a job site. The top floor holds a toilet and bathtub while the bottom floor represents a basement with pipes lining the ceiling and walling. Giorno said students practice changing the piping – whether it be PVC (Polyvinyl chloride), copper or PEX (Cross-Linked Polyethylene) – and altering the direction that the water flows.

Twelfth grader Selene Abreu, 17, saw the start of this program and helped tear down the old counters and build the stairs for the learning lab. She hopes to go into nursing after graduation, with her top choice being the University of Rhode Island. Abreu said that with the skills she’s taken away from this program, she hopes to use them on the side for fun or if she ever needs to fix a sink or anything else in her house. Her favorite part of the program is soldering.

The students have also used their skills to fix things around the school including lavatory and slop sinks, toilets and faucets. Sometimes the school plumber is too busy, so if the task is simple and can be completed in a class period or two, Giorno and Richard will advise their students on these real-life projects.

“I’m very proud of these kids – they’ve come a long way,” Giorno said.

Giorno said his third year plumbers are just as good as anyone else out there.

“The only thing holding them back is their age,” Giorno said.

Giorno explained that people must be at least 18 in order to work in the field.

Currently, there is a need for plumbers. Cranston East’s Assistant Principal Kaitlin Hitchings saw on a recent NBC10 interview talking about the shortage of skilled trade workers. She said with trained plumbers who are aging out and retiring, there is a tremendous need for younger individuals to enter the industry. Cranston East’s program is preparing that younger generation.

There are 60 students in Cranston East’s plumbing technology program, with 10 percent of students coming from outside the district; 12 of these are seniors in level three and will be the first class to graduate from the program. The high school is offering seven plumbing technology classes this year, four of which are running this semester. Students in the level one and level two plumbing classes meet for 85 minutes each day for half a year, while level three will meet for the same amount of time and days but the entire school year.

Junior Connor Andreoli, 16, entered the program his freshman year and wants to go into the trade business after graduating. So far, he says his experience has been positive.

Students wanting to go into the plumbing technology program apply in eighth or ninth grade; the application process consists of a review of grades, conduct, attendance, motivation and desire to learn. It’s a three-year program where students acquire a total of four credits.

Hitchings mentioned that while the school promotes college readiness, their trade program prepares students for high-wage and high-growth jobs. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics from 2020, the median annual salary for a plumber is $56,330. The top 10 percent of earners make $98,990 while the bottom 10 percent annual salary is $33,460. Additionally, Cranston East has a rising population of immigrant and first generation families and that these high-wage/high-growth jobs can help individuals provide for themselves and their families.

Next up, Cranston East hopes to work with community partners to get students out into the plumbing industry with possible internship opportunities.