Former HCC instructor shares history of Apprenticeship program
By S. Sara Tubbs
Feb 12, 2015
Jake Freund says he has been retired for 18 years, but his colleagues at the Houston Area Sheet Metal Training Center might argue that. The former Houston Community College Sheet Metal instructor says the training center is his “second home” where he still occasionally pokes his head into a classroom, tinkers in the workshop, and enjoys talking with others in the business.
“My father wanted me to be an electrician, said Freund. “But I always liked working with my hands and building things.”
At 87 years old, Freund is the only living member of the original charter that formed the Apprenticeship Training Association of Texas (ATAT) in 1969. The ATAT created with the support of J.B. Whiteley, the first HCC chancellor, has had a four-decade partnership with the community college.
“Jake’s background is the stuff legends are made of,” said Douglas Posey, HCC director of apprenticeship programs. “He was the catalyst that made things happen in so many areas.”
ATAT Apprenticeship programs have grown and have been recognized by the Department of Labor and World Trade Organizations as producing the best quality workers.
The HCC Apprenticeship Program today is a 3-5 year program that mixes on-the-job training for skilled trade and craft workers with classroom instruction. The program trains sheet metal workers, carpenters, electricians, millwrights, pipefitters, welders, masons, stationary engineers and glaziers.
Eddie Gonzalez is Marketing Representative at the Sheet Metal Workers Union and was an apprentice under Freund from 1999-2003.
“Jake ran a tight ship and never expected anything but the best," said Gonzalez. “His dedication is unbelievable.”
Freund admits even after all the years of teaching, he never stops learning from the apprentices who come through the program.
“The amazing thing about Jake is not that he has been around a long time; but it’s about all the things he has done to make HCC graduates successful on the local and national level,” boasted Posey.
To learn more about the HCC Apprenticeship program go to hccs.edu.