It’s not every day that we have the opportunity to reflect on the cumulative impact that 25 years of teaching has had on students. Today, the Ogden-Weber Applied Technology College stopped business as usual to celebrate for its longtime carpentry instructor, Tom Halliday who is retiring. Curtis Nielsen, Program Director for the College summed up the feelings of Halliday’s colleagues, former students, and family when he commented that, “Carpenters like to measure things. We like things to be precise and tangible. Today, we simply can’t measure the impact that Tom has had on the thousands of students he taught. He has been not only an instructor, but a true friend to his students.”

Halliday started working for the College in 1981 when it was known as the Skills Center North. He started in an 8 x 10 foot office and built houses in the parking lot. He had no curriculum and had challenging students in those early years. His friends and family enjoy recounting interesting stories from that period. His daughter, Kim Halliday Monkres remembered getting collect calls from the jail in the middle of the night, from students who used their one phone call to reach her dad.

Halliday has witnessed the maturity of an institution, and many changes in technical education. In those early days, Halliday had to obtain permission from three contractors before his students could build a house to demonstrate that he was not competing unfairly against them. Through those experiences, he helped many students, including Justin Zabrinsky who completed the carpentry program and now has a prestigious job overseeing construction for the State of Utah. Halliday considers every student who finishes a program a success, but some stand out as especially touching. Over the years he has taught many deaf students a carpentry career, helping them make a good living for their families. In his second year, he taught a group of Laotian refugees to build homes. Since he did not speak Laotian and they did not speak English, he designed curriculum using pictures of tools and words. They got the idea and finished the house.

Halliday’s favorite project was working on the OWATC “White House,” which is now used as the Corporate Training Center. They gutted the entire structure and worked with cabinetmaking, bricklaying and electrical to create a beautiful facility that is now used extensively as an elegant meeting center.

One of Halliday’s most meaningful contributions was two decades of work the Skills USA program, formerly known as VICA. He helped multiple teams take national titles, and helped with this competition year after year.

After retirement, Halliday will begin work on a long “honey-do” list of projects, and plans on getting the chance to fish again. He will continue to teach a cabinetmaking course and being a substitute for OWATC’s instructors. He also looks forward to a trip to Ellis Island in New York City to do genealogical research and working on a cabin in Island Park.