Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Prize for Teaching Excellence

PRESS RELEASE (03-23-2023)
Eric Smidt, Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Founder

We know that high school skilled trades teachers play a vital role in preparing our country’s future skilled trades workforce. Their classes open doors to great careers and meaningful work. That’s why Harbor Freight Tools for Schools has awarded over $6 million over the last 6 years to more than 100 U.S. public high school teachers and their programs. Thousands of students benefitted as a result.

The Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Prize for Teaching Excellence® has brought much-deserved attention and support to these incredible teachers, students, and skilled trades programs. The prize started as an experiment in 2017, awarding a total of $500,000 to 12 skilled trades teachers and their programs. With so many qualified candidates applying, over the last few years, we more than doubled the annual award amount to $1,250,000.

Over the next decade, the U.S. will be making the largest investment ever in roadways, bridges, ports, and other infrastructure. We also need to make an unprecedented investment in the next generation of tradespeople who will do this important work. So this year, we’ve decided to increase the prize again and will award $1.5 million to 25 outstanding public high school skilled trades teachers and their programs across the country.

In the video below, students and a past prizewinning teacher share the impact of winning the prize and why outstanding skilled trades teachers should apply.



If you know an excellent public high school skilled trades teacher in your community, please encourage them to apply for the 2023 prize at hftforschoolsprize.org. Applications are open now through May 5, 2023.

Thank you for helping share our respect and admiration for these incredible teachers!

Sincerely,

Harbor Freight Tools for Schools is a program of The Smidt Foundation, established by Harbor Freight Tools owner and founder Eric Smidt, to advance excellent skilled trades education in U.S. public high schools. With a deep respect for the dignity of these fields and for the intelligence and creativity of people who work with their hands, Harbor Freight Tools for Schools aims to drive a greater understanding of and investment in skilled trades education, believing that access to quality skilled trades education gives high school students pathways to graduation, opportunity, good jobs, and a workforce our country needs. Harbor Freight Tools is a major supporter of the Harbor Freight Tools for Schools program. For more information, visit: harborfreighttoolsforschools.org

Apply at hftforschoolsprize.org. Stay up to date on the latest Prize news on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter