At 17, skipping college and starting life as a fine woodworker in Bucks County

Like so many high school kids, Ryan Prendergast considered college, but ultimately found a different path.

While at Bucks County Technical High School in Bristol Township he got serious about working with his hands and creating and will pursue the trade he loves, fine woodworking.

Ryan, 17, of Croydon, graduted with the Class of 2024 from the Tech School on Tuesday night at the CURE Insurance Arena in Trenton.

“Cabinets, nightstands, cutting boards,” he said. “I’ve even made custom pens which will sell for $30 each.”

He is among a growing number of young men and women who are skipping college, and spending their teenage years acquiring practical skills that, taken to the market, reward with a good income.

He could go union, or he could open his own business. “Having my own shop is really my dream,” he said.

Blue-collar work is trending.

This week, the Wall Street Journal reports that Gen Z is making blue-collar trade jobs cool. College, with its heavy debt and high-interest loans, confer academic credentials that are no longer are a ticket to a middle-class life. Four-year degrees have become common.

Even so, Ryan considered higher-ed.

“When I was a kid, I was always building things with Legos,” he said. “I really thought I’d go to college for architecture, something I really like.”

But then he enrolled at the Tech School.

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“Your first year at Tech you go through all the shops. You start with automotive … and originally, I thought I was going to be a mechanic. My dad’s a mechanic and I thought I’ll probably follow in his footsteps. I wanted to work in diesel,” he said.

But as he rotated through the school’s programs, the less he was convinced working in diesel mechanics was for him. And it isn’t that he doesn’t like the trade.

“It’s just that I found other things that I discovered that I wanted to do more,” he said. “I tried welding, and I wanted to do welding, and so on. Fine woodworking was the last on my list. I went in there, and I loved it.

His shop teacher, Scott Ribarchik (“Mr. R” as his students call him) convinced Ryan he’d found his trade.

“He said, ‘You work hard here. I suggest that when you finally pick your shop, you put us as your first choice.’ Which is what I did, first choice.”

It’s not just nails and wood.

“We have to learn not only how to read blueprints, but draw blueprints,” Ryan said. “There’s a whole technical end (to be mastered) before the creative part kicks in.”

There is also operating and maintaining complicated machinery that can be unforgiving.

The rewards of fine woodworking are great, the new high school grad said.

“I can’t really explain it, except that you take a rough piece of lumber, something with a whole bunch of bark on it, mill it down, and create a beautiful piece of furniture,” Ryan said.

At Tech, he took a co-op job at the Bristol Riverside Theater, making props and sets.

“It was pretty fun,” he said. “I found that theater building is very intricate work, like fine woodworking. It’s not like carpentry where it’s just a nail up, and that’s it.”

He said the pay for him after high school starts at $20 to $25 an hour.

Not bad for a job you love. And maybe the best part is starting a working life without the millstone of college debt.

JD Mullane can be reached at 215-949-5745 or at jmullane@couriertimes.com.

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Bucks County Tech School grad carves out career in fine woodwork