'Best of the best': Huot sending two students to national trades competition

LACONIA — Last week was a good one for Stephen Mingo-Timmins. He was hired by a company where he has several good connections. And if that wasn’t enough, he won a gold medal at a statewide skills competition, earning him a spot at the national event. Not too bad for someone who has yet to graduate from high school.

Mingo-Timmins wasn’t alone in his success. Jacob Kaempfer also earned a gold, making two Lakes Region representatives heading to the SkillsUSA National Championship, held in Atlanta starting Monday, June 23.

Kaempfer is a high school senior from Newfound, and Mingo-Timmins is from Laconia. They both attend the Huot Career & Technical Center, where the skills they’ve learned have put them in a position to begin their careers as soon as they graduate.

Leveling up

“I’ve always loved learning new things,” said Mingo-Timmins, explaining how he began learning about plumbing and heating at the Huot. He said some friends, who were a bit older than him, recommended he take one of Mike Schofield’s classes.

He said he appreciated his teacher’s knowledge of the subject, and his skill in sharing his experience with his students.

At the state SkillsUSA competition held on April 11, Mingo-Timmins said he “was a little nervous,” though he also felt he had the chops to do well. As a test of the competitors’ skills, students in the plumbing competition were given plans for a half-bathroom, and were told to install the drains and water pipes needed in that room.

There was a set time limit within which students were expected to complete the job, and Mingo-Timmins knew the clock was an important part of any job.

He was able to shake off the nerves once he started his plan. “It was actually fun, a good experience,” he said.

As he and the rest of his competitors toiled, the judges decided they would grant an extra 30 minutes, time Mingo-Timmins used to clean up his workspace, as he was able to finish within the initial time.

Kaempfer has been making things from wood for years, starting with a water wheel he constructed four years ago. For him, his penchant for construction grew alongside his entrepreneurship.

“I started doing odd jobs, then I got sick of mowing lawns, moving piles and raking leaves,” he said. He heard about the building and construction program at the Huot, taught by Matt Towle, and he put his education to work, offering handyman services through his own company, Kaempfer Property Maintenance. He’s also working for a sitework contractor out of Bristol.

“Statewide, I wasn’t too worried. I was confident,” Kaempfer said of last week’s competition. Contestants in the building category were given blueprints for a doghouse-sized shed, and the challenge was well within his skillset. Heading into the national event, Kaempfer said he’s feeling a bit more humble.

“There’s more gravity, it’s the next level up,” Kaempfer said.

There aren’t many plumbing and heating programs in the state as vibrant as the Huot’s, on the campus of Laconia High School. Ask Dave Warrender, Huot director, the reason why, and he’ll simply point his finger at Schofield, a master plumber and gas line fitter who decided to trade his work van for the classroom.

When Schofield started, he had three classes with a total of 17 students. His classes are now at capacity with around 50 students, and he tends to have a student each year who competes at the national level. Last year, Huot’s plumbing program was represented by Hunter Erlick, who finished in fourth place against the best plumbing students from around the country.

When Schofield thinks about the students who have succeeded at the highest levels, he said they have some traits in common.

“One thing they all possess is they’re mature,” Schofield said. “Something particular about Stephen, I compare him a lot to Hunter Erlick. They’re calm, they’re dependable, they go above and beyond project-wise, have a certain leadership quality and work ethic. [Mingo-Timmins] works hard and wants to do well.”

Most plumbing students, when given an assignment, tend to look over the plans with one hand while reaching for tools with the other. Mingo-Timmins pores over the schematics front to back, then asks questions about them, before he picks up a tool.

Towle said Mingo-Timmins and Kaempfer are in for an “unforgettable, lifetime experience” at the national competition, which will fill an arena and event center in Atlanta with 11,000 of the best trade and technical students from across the country. “These kids are 18 years old and competing with the best of the best.”

Towle said as impressive as the field is, Kaempfer has a spot there.

“A lot of the kids his age work hard, but not in the same way as Jake does,” Towle said. “He is beyond his years as it comes to the typical high school student. Once he finishes school, he’s going to take off.”