Dave Brill (Photo submitted)
Ray Salois (Photo submitted)
WESTFIELD – Tomorrow evening the very first honorees of the Westfield Vocational Technical High School (WVTHS) Hall of Fame will be inducted during a 100th anniversary celebration of the school.
The festivities take place at Tekoa Country Club, where WVTHS graduates David Brill, Class of 1966, and Raymond Salois, Class of 1964, will be honored.
Salois and Brill were selected for the inaugural induction for their advocacy of vocational technical education through continued dedication and commitment to the school and community. Brill is the former owner of Brill’s Auto Sales, and Salois owns Whip City Tool and Die.
Brill said the induction celebration will “be a sweet day.”
Brill credits his teachers at WVTHS for helping guide him in his path, especially John Zarkowski, Norman Johnson and Bill Lawry.
“I had a very positive experience and, as I reflect on my life, I see the influence they had on me and on many other students,” said Brill.
Brill always had an interest in cars. At age 10, a family friend gave him an old Model A Ford to work on. He said his father taught him all about cars and engines and how to take pride in what he did.
“I got my work ethic from my father, who lived to be 101 years old,” said Brill. “When he was 95, he still worked in his woodworking shop.”
Brill enrolled at the former Trade School in the auto program and said he received the skills he needed to later open his own business.
“We were trained in a hands-on fashion and spent one week in the shop and one week in classes,” Brill said. “In the classroom we had regular academics, but it was geared toward our shop, such as the science of automobiles.”
Brill said once he was in the workforce, he used the skills he learned in high school every day.
“As time went on, I realized what a difference this had in my life,” Brill said.
To pay back some of what he received from WVTHS, Brill joined the advisory committee in 1974 and was an integral part of the committee until 1988 when his business became busier.
He was part of the expansion of WVTHS to include the old Westfield High School.
Brill said WVTHS is a great place for students to learn a trade and gain skills to get them jobs right after high school.
“College isn’t for everyone,” he said. “Vocational training gives those kids the skills to go out into the job market, or even on to college if they choose.”
Brill’s advice to young people today is to find something they enjoy doing and make that their career.
“You spend most of your life working and if you like what you do, it makes life a lot easier,” he said.
Brill stayed connected to WVTHS for many years after his graduation, taking on co-op students and employing others after graduation. A few years ago he sold his auto sales business and opened up a small shop.
“I’m a low-profile dealer and I do a little repair work,” he said, admitting he’s the kind of guy who will never stop working.
“I feel good at the end of the day because I accomplished something,” said Brill.
For Salois, WVTHS – or the Trade School as it was known when he graduated – afforded him an education and career he probably would not have received anywhere else.
“If I had gone to Westfield High School, I would not be where I am,” said Salois.
Salois knew at a young age that manufacturing was his calling.
“I always wanted to be in a machine shop – it was a good fit for me. I learned quick and applied myself to the trade,” he said. “It’s been good to me.”
As a student, Salois participated in the co-op program and was placed – perhaps fatefully – at Whip City Tool and Die. He thrived there and said he had opportunities he did not dream of before then.
“I traveled around to other countries and in the United States,” he said, recalling a trade show he attended in Chicago at age 19.
“That was quite an experience,” he said.
Salois took a break from manufacturing as a young man to join the Navy. After spending four years there, he returned, as promised, to Whip City.
“I told them I’d be back and they didn’t believe me, but I liked it there and went back,” said Salois.
In 1984, Salois purchased the company along with two co-workers. Today, he is the sole owner. However, he is retiring this year.
“”Two employees, one of them being my son Brian, are buying the business,” said Salois. “They’re ready, and I’m ready.”
Over the years, Salois continued his ties to WVTHS and employed many graduates and trained numerous students through the co-op program. He served on the advisory committee when it received an award from the Department of Education and said there were several memorable projects over the years.
“A man came in one time looking for a rosary bead machine,” said Salois. “He had the plans to build the machine, but no one to do the project. So, we looked at it and the students made him two or three machines,” said Salois.
While WVTHS’s manufacturing program is arguably one of the best around, Salois said vocational schools overall are not able to give the same kind of education they did when he was a student.
“Vocational education is very important,” said Salois. “Everybody pushes college, but not everybody is cut out for college.”
Salois said the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) is taking away from vocational education.
“I believe the school system, because of MCAS mandates, has taken too much away from vocational teaching,” said Salois. “I had good teachers who pushed us, and there are good teachers today but they are limited because of MCAS.”
Salois said vocational technical education is a life changing experience for many young people today and he stressed the importance of the ninth grade exploratory program.His advice to students deciding on a carer path to “think about what you want to do and where you want to go.”
Salois said he was “surprised and honored” when he learned he was being inducted into the WVTHS Hall of fame, especially when he heard his friend and neighbor Brill was also being inducted.
“It is an honor and I want to thank the teachers I had at the Trade School for their leadership,” Salois said.
WVTHS Principal James Laverty said having a Vocational Hall of Fame is “an interesting concept.”
“Most schools that have a hall of fame are sports-oriented,” Laverty said.
Laverty said Manufacturing Technology instructor Clem Fucci brought forth the hall of fame idea several years ago and this year, the timing was right.
“Our first two honorees are being inducted in conjunction with our 100th anniversary,” Laverty said. “Each year, during Vocational Technical Week, which is in February, we will be honoring new inductees.”
Laverty, who has worked at two other vocational schools, said this is a unique honor.
Brill and Salois will be inducted Saturday night and the next honorees will be inducted in February.
