Philadelphia shop teacher Evin Jarrett hits the road to help students build the future

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — A Philadelphia teacher joins his store class to help local children build a future.

Evin Jarrett hopes to reach more kids out of town, an effort inspired during his battle with COVID-19.

We met Jarrett when he was holding a 101 Plumbing Minicamp in front of the Ricketts Rec Center in Pottstown, Pennsylvania.

But there’s something unique about Jarrett, whom the students call “Dope Teacher,” and his camp.

During the year he teaches business at Mayfair, the only construction program for middle school students in the Philadelphia School District.

In the summer he is a construction trainer and takes his talent to the streets to reach more children.

He has recently acquired a mobile shop RV, which he uses to transport his talents between Reading and Philadelphia.

“I got the mobile home two years ago. When I got the RV I was in the hospital and had COVID. I thought I was going to die,” he said.

“There was a lot of thinking and I said, ‘When I get out of here, I’m going to do a lot more when I get out,'” Jarret said.

“As soon as I got out of the hospital, my wife drove me to West Chester, I got the motorhome.”

It is equipped with stations to teach electrical and plumbing work.

“This summer I scaled it back because the gas is extremely high,” he said.

Even with inflation, he’s still financing it out of his own pocket.

“It comes right out of the muscle,” he said.

Jarrett is sponsored by a number of organizations including Rigid Tools and American Plumbing Stories, which helps keep the summer program free.

Despite material shortages and the burden many teachers face when they need to stock their own classrooms with school supplies, Jarrett says it’s an affair of the heart.

“I love what I do. I love tools and teaching,” he said. “I will not sit here and complain about problems, I will come up with solutions – try to help the youth.”