Kevin Braddy had spent 12 and a half years in a United Auto Workers factory, then he became a special education teacher. His path shifted into vocational education after another school discovered his construction background. He was finishing his master's degree in administration when Clint Wolfe — now Salem's principal — was just starting his. They'd become friends. One Sunday after church, Clint spotted Kevin at Pizza Man and asked a simple question: "Why aren't you applying to be at Salem High School?"

Kevin thought about it. "Well," he asked himself, "Why am I not?"

Eleven years later, he's still here. Still building. Still teaching young people how to measure, cut, wire, and solve — and how to discover what fits.

The construction program at Salem Community High School begins with Intro to Industry, a freshman-year class where students rotate through electricity, welding, CAD, small engines, and carpentry. Those who find something they love can follow a sequence into Construction 1, then Construction 2, where they take on leadership roles — managing job sites, checking quality, guiding younger students through real work.

Seniors Tristen Doudera and Dafney Winebarger are both learning about construction trades. Tristen is in Construction 2 class and Dafney is in Construction 1. They arrived for different reasons, but both found more than they expected.

Tristen is honest about his initial motivation. "It's just something to get me out of normal classes," he says. He wants to go to college for welding. He likes working with his hands. He's not interested in sitting behind a desk. But somewhere along the way, escape became direction. Kevin started leaning on him — trusting him to oversee tasks, to communicate with the team, to keep things moving without complaint.

"He's very even-keeled," Kevin says. "He never complains. He takes it serious." Then comes the highest endorsement a teacher can give: "He's somebody I would hire."

Tristen doesn't say much in response. He's not a self-promoter. But you can see it land.

Dafney came to construction seeking independence. "I started with Intro to Industry just so I can learn how to do things on my own without always having to ask for help," she says. That desire has sharpened into a plan: she's heading to John A. Logan for construction management. Maybe she'll work for a big company. Maybe she'll travel the world. She's not ruling anything out.

What she does know is that leadership fits her. At KFC, she was quickly promoted to manager — still in high school. Kevin noticed the same qualities in the shop. "She's got the maturity level to take on responsibility," he says. "A lot of students don't have that."

Dafney is also aware that she's a woman stepping into a male-dominated field. Her message to other young women is direct: "Just because you're a woman doesn't mean you can't do anything a man can."

She doesn't need to say more. Her work speaks.

The program's heart, though, beats loudest when the students leave campus. For several years, Kevin's classes have partnered with Mission Salem, a nonprofit that builds wheelchair ramps for people in need — hospice patients, residents with disabilities — at no cost. Students help build the ramps in the workshop, then go out and install them.

Even when it rained, they kept working. It didn't bother them. They were doing something that mattered.

"It means a lot to help people and give back to the community," Tristen says quietly.

Dafney, who hopes someday to build homes, feels it too. At John A. Logan, she'll have the chance — their program constructs houses for people. She's ready.

Kevin has spent his life in service. Twenty years as a firefighter in the Iuka Fire Protection District. More than a decade in a factory. Years as a special education teacher. Now this. He sees the transformation that happens when students realize their hands can change someone else's life.

"The past 24 years as an educator has flown by," he says.  “ I want students to have memories of making a difference for the positive in the community and beyond. Working with Mission Salem is enjoyable because we're doing something for others — not because we have to, but because we want to."

A question at Pizza Man led Kevin to Salem Community High School. Eleven years later, he's still asking his students the same kind of question Clint once asked him: Why not you?

And one by one, they're finding their answers.