Hands, Heart and Soul

May 1, 2026

New Catholic trade schools equip young men for manual work while providing vibrant faith formation and fraternity

By Scott Warden

May 1, 2026

Santiago Catholic Trade School instructor Jeff Rice (foreground) oversees students constructing a confessional. — Santiago Catholic Trade School instructor Jeff Rice (foreground), who also serves as a district deputy in Orange County, Calif., oversees students constructing a confessional during a build in March. (Photo by Juanito Holandez Jr.)

At 6 a.m., before the sun has risen, a group of young men gathers in silence for prayer. By midmorning, they are wiring electrical systems, framing walls or welding joints. Come evening, worn out from the day’s labor, they share dinner before returning to prayer, ending the day as it began.

For many of them, this rhythm marks a departure from the lives they left behind — lives that often felt uncertain, even directionless.

Among high school graduates of Generation Z — those born in 1997 or later — something is shifting. As the cost of college rises and confidence in the traditional undergraduate path declines, more young men are searching for something that has eluded many of their peers: purpose, clarity and a sense that their work matters. Enrollment at trade-focused institutions in the United States has increased nearly 20% since the spring of 2020, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.

Over the past several years, innovative trade schools that form young men in both a craft and Catholic discipleship have begun to take root. These programs offer a structured alternative to the traditional college path while responding to a desire for formation and fraternity, guiding students toward lives of meaningful work, strong families and active faith.

The Knights of Columbus’ emphasis on charity and fraternity aligns naturally with the mission of these new schools — and in at least one case, is built directly into them.

“Students are choosing these schools because they want to become craftsmen,” said Kent Lasnoski, president of San Damiano College for the Trades in Springfield, Illinois, and a member of Holy Family Council 4179 in Chatham. “But you can’t become a good craftsman until you become a good man.”

While a growing number of hands-on Catholic vocational training schools — as well as technical high schools — are emerging across the United States, three in particular — Santiago Catholic Trade School in California; Harmel Academy of the Trades in Michigan; and San Damiano College for the Trades in Illinois — are led by Knights and have also attracted students who are Knights.

SANTIAGO CATHOLIC TRADE SCHOOL

Situated in the rugged foothills of the Santa Ana Mountains, about 50 miles north of Los Angeles, Santiago Catholic Trade School was co-founded in 2023 entirely by Knights. Over the course of its two-year program, small cohorts of about 15 young men live, pray and work together as they learn construction — not in theory but by building real projects.

“At Santiago, we not only form young men in their Catholic faith, but we also teach them how to build from the ground up,” said co-founder Mark Padilla, the school’s headmaster and a former district deputy and chapter president. “We teach them framing, roofing, electrical, plumbing and auto mechanics, as well as theology and philosophy. The goal with our young tradesmen is to build the kingdom of God.”

Students also benefit from a unique formation experience: learning agricultural management and animal husbandry on a 300-acre farm and ranch with cattle, bison, goats, turkeys, chickens, quail and bees.

“Eventually, second-year students declare what kind of trade they want to specialize in,” Padilla said. “And then we assist them in getting certification in that particular trade.”

Mark McElrath, executive director of the Santiago Retreat Center, where the school is located, said students’ lives are structured around prayer from beginning to end — morning and evening prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours, daily Mass, and the rosary before bed.

“That rhythm,” said McElrath, who is also a co-founder of the school, “is something we’re hoping to inculcate — something that will carry them not only through these two years, but long after they leave.”

One way Santiago ensures that formation is lived out is through membership in the Knights of Columbus. All students are invited to join Santiago Catholic Trade School Council 18585, which was chartered in 2024 and includes administrators, staff, volunteers and local tradesmen.

Jacob Kliatchko, 22, studied to be an electrician at Santiago and served as the council’s charter grand knight. He said his involvement in the Knights has been a vital part of his formation, giving him examples of men striving to live as faithful Catholics.

“Living in community with a bunch of Catholic guys has been phenomenal,” Kliatchko said. “I think Blessed Michael McGivney would be very pleased with what’s going on here, since his whole idea was to help young men and give them a support system to grow in their Catholic faith.”

He added, “That’s what we’re doing here: creating a support system of guys studying together, going to Mass together, praying together. They become brothers in no time.”

For McElrath, the goal is not simply to produce skilled workers but virtuous men whose faith shapes how they live and work.

“‘You’re going to give me a man that doesn’t lie, cheat or steal?’” McElrath recalled local business leaders saying. “‘I’d hire that guy all day long. I can teach him anything, but I can’t teach him to be ethical or moral.’”

HARMEL ACADEMY OF THE TRADES

Students at Harmel Academy of the Trades in Grand Rapids, Michigan, follow a model that blends hands-on training with intellectual and spiritual formation. Founded in 2020, the academy immerses young men in a rhythm of work, study and prayer while exposing them to a range of trades.

Rather than specializing immediately, students rotate through disciplines such as welding, automotive work, construction and machining, while also studying philosophy and theology and working part-time jobs that reinforce practical skills. The goal is not simply to train laborers but to form men who understand the dignity of work and their own aptitude within it.

“There’s a real crisis of meaning with young men — even Catholic young men from good families,” said David Michael Phelps, Harmel’s president and a member of Sacred Heart of Jesus Council 13641 in Grand Rapids. “They don’t have a vibrant and pragmatic sense of what the adventure is they’re called to in the world.”

For many students, that uncertainty is personal — and, without clear direction, can linger well beyond high school.

“I couldn’t see myself going through four-plus years of higher education toward an unknown end,” said Abe Forget, 19, a student at Harmel who recently joined the Order online. “Without a clear view in mind, I would be in a state of uncertainty about any future career. My knowledge would be a know-what, not a know-how.”

For Jonathan Bargenquast, a recent graduate who now works as a machinist, the lessons he learned at the school continue to guide his vocation.

“You start to see work differently,” he said. “Instead of work being just a means to a paycheck, you see it as a way to co-create with God.”

Phelps (right) stands with student and brother Knight Abe Forget (center) and Andy Beach, director of manufacturing services. — David Michael Phelps (right) stands with student and brother Knight Abe Forget (center) and Andy Beach, director of manufacturing services, in one of the school’s workshops. (Photo by Kyle Monk)

His father, Jason Bargenquast, previously served as grand knight of Sacred Heart of Jesus Council 13641 in Grand Rapids, and Jonathan recognized in the Knights of Columbus the same fraternity he experienced at Harmel.

“It’s a continuation — you see men living this out at every stage of life,” he said of his brother Knights from Msgr. Hugh Michael Beahan Council 7719 in Lowell.

According to Phelps, students come to Harmel already inclined toward manual work, but searching for deeper meaning in the trades.

“What we try to do at Harmel,” he said, “is to show that this isn’t simply about earning a paycheck or even providing a service. There’s something cosmic in collaborating with Our Lord in the creation and redemption of the world.”

SAN DAMIANO COLLEGE FOR THE TRADES

At San Damiano College for the Trades in Springfield, Illinois, which welcomed its first students in fall 2025, young men take part in a program that integrates apprenticeships, a liberal arts education, and daily spiritual formation into a unified vision of work.

“From the cross, Christ told St. Francis of Assisi, ‘Rebuild my Church!’” said president Lasnoski. “At SDC, we’re answering that call, one living stone at a time.”

The trades taught are carpentry, electrical work and church restoration, including stained glass and organ restoration. A unique course is casket-making, led by master carpenter Marcus Daly, founder of Marian Caskets and a Knight.

“You start to see work differently. Instead of work being just a means to a paycheck, you see it as a way to co-create with God.”

“For work to be meaningful, you have to realize that you’re being worked on by God and by his grace,” affirmed Lasnoski. “Any time I go to work, I’m either becoming a better man or a worse man because of the way I work.”

For students like Joseph Lee, 21, a member of Teutopolis (Ill.) Council 2874, that perspective brought clarity to a path that had once felt uncertain.

After high school, Lee discerned a possible vocation to the priesthood or religious life, enrolled in community college, and worked a series of jobs — from factories to concrete work — but found himself searching for direction.

“I was trying to figure out what to do next,” Lee said. “Be a missionary, try college again, or get a different job.”

San Damiano student Joseph Lee (left), observes as instructor Joseph Williams applies gold leaf to a statue of St. Jude. — San Damiano student Joseph Lee (left), a member of Teutopolis (Ill.) Council 2874, observes as instructor Joseph Williams applies gold leaf to a statue of St. Jude. (Photo by Tim Vizer)

At San Damiano, he found a way of life that integrates prayer and study with manual work.

As Jonathan Prabhu, a fellow student, explained, “It provides a seminary-like environment where you can focus on what it means to be a man and practice virtue alongside other men who are there to build each other up.”

With the school completing its first academic year, its leadership is looking to deepen relationships with local Knights of Columbus councils — not only as a source of mentorship, but as a way to help students integrate into parish life and the wider Catholic community.

“I want to see these guys end up as Knights,” Lasnoski said, “living out the mission and taking these skills where they’re needed.”

In workshops and on jobsites, in chapels and around dinner tables, these young men are learning what it means to live as brothers — to challenge one another, to support one another, and to pursue a common good.

Indeed, across a new generation of Catholic trade schools, a shared vision of lifelong formation and fraternity is taking shape.

“They’re not just forming us for the time we’re here,” said Jacob Kliatchko, who graduated from Santiago Catholic Trade School in January and is now a member of the staff. “They’re forming us for what comes next.”

Editor’s Note: Earlier this year, the Knights of Columbus released Into the Breach: The Dignity of Work, a five-part video series exploring the relationship between labor and holiness and the vocation of Catholic men. Visit kofc.org/intothebreach.

*****

SCOTT WARDEN is editor-in-chief of Today’s Catholic, the news outlet of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Ind., and a member of Holy Trinity Council 12741 in New Haven.

Brandon Harris settles into the starting blocks for a practice run prior to a race at the K of C Indoor Games in Saskatoon on Jan. 23.

Hands, Heart and Soul

SANTIAGO CATHOLIC TRADE SCHOOL

HARMEL ACADEMY OF THE TRADES

SAN DAMIANO COLLEGE FOR THE TRADES

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