July 7, 2026

Building Trades Instructor, Uponor Partner Mr. Jarrett Shares the Importance of Skilled Trades Education

By Maddy Dolby

Evin Jarrett, also known as Mr. Jarrett, sat down with Appetite for Construction podcast co-hosts John Mesenbrink and Tim Ward to discuss the impact exposing students to skilled careers at an early age can have on them.

Jarrett is the Building Trades Instructor at Mayfair Elementary, the only middle school program in the Philadelphia School District that exposes kids to careers at an early age.

GF has donated Uponor AquaPEX^® Blue pipe and ProPEX^® multi-port tees, along with related plumbing products, to support Jarrett in providing his students with valuable hands-on learning experiences in his classroom.  

In the episode, “Man on a Mission,” Jarrett talked about what a typical day in his classroom looks like, why middle school is a critical window to introduce skilled trades to students, and broke down some of the misconceptions about careers in the construction trades.

“Kids need this,” said Jarrett. “For me, I’m doing it to try to save lives. That’s my passion for it. If you give a child a skill versus not having a skill, something they can lose, they’re going to do everything possible not to mess that up.”

The podcast episode, produced by Mechanical Hub, was recorded at the inaugural GF Flow Symposium in Nashville, Tenn. The symposium featured keynote presentations, panel discussions and nearly 40 breakout sessions focused on the challenges and opportunities shaping construction, infrastructure, water, energy, AI, data centers, workforce development, prefabrication and building systems.

To listen to the full episode, click here. If you’re interested in seeing what’s going on in Jarrett’s classroom, make sure to follow his Instagram account.