Master Plumber Chris Sbrocco Pours Out His Passion in Teaching Students Trade Skills

Expert and master plumber Chris Sbrocco has a deep passion and interest in the trade that allows him to have and experience a great living, not to mention that his trade grants him satisfaction for his love for troubleshooting problems and conquering challenges. About two years ago, he began carving out the path for high school students to acquire a certain level of unique appreciation for the skilled trades.

The recipient of Chris Sbrocco’s strong desire to inform young people about trade careers came in the form of a class at Perry High School in Perry, Ohio, a small town near the shore of Lake Erie, around 30 miles northeast of downtown Cleveland. The Perry Local School District, who became the recipient of Chris Sbrocco’s passion for his work, bought a vacant house for $89,000 and empowered students in the so-called Pirate Project to renovate it. The district hopes to transform the home, and when it’s finished, it will hopefully recoup its initial investment.

The district used its resources to buy the house. The payment for the materials and the cost of hiring contractors came from a grant from the Ohio Department of Education.

“It’s a pretty cool project. It is incredible to see how these boys and girls interact and soak it all up. Some students didn’t think they’d like any of it, but after they dug in, they enjoyed it,” said the master plumber Sbrocco as he taught and guided the students through the project.

Sbrocco envisions himself expanding his teaching efforts to develop and grow an online trade school that would help equip more plumbers. He even imagines eventually hiring some of them and becoming employees at his company.

“I think many of these students have indicated they may follow a career path into the trades. But even if they don’t, they’ll at least have more respect for the trades. It’s awesome,” he said.

As someone who started very early in learning and eventually earned through trade skills, Chris Sbrocco is excited to see more people get exposed to trade skills and more people respecting their line of work.

“I pride myself on being capable enough to teach the trades. I’ve had five or six employees leave and form their businesses. I will never knock someone who leaves my company and uses the skills I taught them to better themselves. I’m proud that they’re doing work at a high level,” said the master plumber.

Just like how local contractors instructed him at a young age when he worked with his uncle, he trains about forty students from two different home-renovation classes. He pours out his time and spends two class periods a day at the house. Sbrocco has taught them to perform a wide variety of jobs, such as installing drywall, insulation, new windows, doors and siding; building new walls; doing carpentry and painting; and working on the heating, electrical and plumbing systems.

“Teaching the trades the right way and emphasizing the need to take pride in their work are important aspects of what I teach. It’s disrespectful to the trades to do sloppy work, so it’s important to instill those values,” said the passionate plumber.