It has been about two years since the idea for the Chester Trades Education Project (CTEP) was hatched. At today’s meeting, we saw the results of the hard work that the Rotary team led by Kathryn Jones did to make CTEP happen. We met three students, two of whom are almost finished with the program. Tomi Jones, a young Black woman, said the CTEP team helped give her the courage to try to do a hard thing. She wants to encourage others in Chester to take on challenges. Darrin Richardson, a middle-aged Black man, said he wandered into a presentation about CTEP. Darrin, who is 53, signed up when he found out that there was no age limit. David Carter, a middle-aged Black man, said he had unsuccessfully tried to get in other trade schools. He wants to start his own carpentry business in Chester. Tomi and Darrin have one more class, a paid internship. They will receive their certification this August.












We met two key members of the CTEP team. Dr. Karen Kozachyn is an administrator at Delaware County Community College (DCCC). DCCC provides the instructors, lab equipment, and certification. Tuition fees are covered by a grant from the Kelleher Connect Fund. Professor John Linder is CEO of Riverside Futures. This agency recruits and selects students for CTEP. Professor Linder teaches the Student Success class and provides mentoring throughout the program. They said they believe CTEP is helping Chester by not only increasing employment but also by building a pool of skilled tradesmen who will work in Chester.
Kathryn Jones told us that six students are still in Cohort I, which will graduate this August. Cohort II, which still has 10 students, started in September 2022. Cohort III is scheduled to start this September. There is space for 16 students in the latest class.
Cohort I had 12 students when it started, meaning half of the initial class dropped out along the way. When asked about this, Professor Linder gave “life happens” as the reason for the drop outs. He said CTEP is keeping in touch with the drop-outs and encouraging them to return. One specific problem that was discussed was transportation to the DCCC campus in Marple from Chester. Dr. Kosachyn said currently it is difficult to get from Chester to the DCCC campus.
The CTEP team plans to help the students with transportation and other problems. Kathyrn said a van will be hired for the trip to and from DCCC. Since many of the students are attending evening classes after working during the day, food will be provided in the van. In addition to free tuition, each student is provided with a tool kit, donated by the Swarthmore and Chester Rotary clubs.
All three students thanked the clubs for the help that they had received. They also all said they want to pass on this help to others in Chester. The impact of our efforts to establish CTEP will spread beyond the individual students to the whole Chester community.
Here are some of the CTEP Team. Warren Sell and
Veronique Young are from Chester Rotary, John Linder, Ken Wright, Kathryn Jones, students Darrin Richardson, David Carter, and Tomi Jones, and Karen Kozachyn