Apprentice teacher named IBEW instructor of the year

Richard Shine, a veteran teacher in the electrical apprentice program of the Middlesex County Vocational and Technical Schools, has been named instructor of the year for the United States and Canada by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

The award was presented in Washington, D.C., at the 2017 IBEW Construction and Maintenance Conference.

Shine, a resident of Milltown, worked as an electrician for almost 40 years, retiring in 2000, and has been teaching in the apprenticeship program since 1968. He is a member of IBEW Local 456 in North Brunswick.

“They gave me the award before about 1,000 people,” he said. “It was pretty neat.”

“You were chosen because you and your work exemplify everything the IBEW stands for – your dedication to hard work, your leadership on and off the job site, and looking out for your fellow IBEW brothers and sisters,” Matthew Walton, producer of the IBEW “Hour Power” online magazine, wrote to Shine. Walton and his crew filmed a video tribute to Shine that included footage in his classroom on the MCVTS East Brunswick Campus.

 “His dedication to teaching the next generation of workers is what America needs,” said Michael McLaughlin, president of Local 456. “We need people to rebuild the infrastructure of this nation. Without people like Richard Shine, that won’t happen.”

“He’s the gold standard for instructors,” said Joseph Egan, business agent of Local 456 and a state assemblyman. “Everybody who has ever had him in class remembers him because he is so sincere and wants everybody to learn.”

“He is so knowledgeable – he goes for training, he keeps up with his craft,” said Dawn Lystad, MCVTS director of adult education and Middlesex County apprenticeship coordinator. “This award could not have gone to a more deserving person. He is just a good guy – I love him.”

“When I first started, I figured I could give our apprentices a decent background to be a good electrician and a good person,” Shine said. “My goal for them is to be an outstanding citizen, to be a good union member and to appreciate what they have in life.”

Shine teaches first-year apprentices, who work full time while attending classes at night. His son, Richard Jr., teaches third-year apprentices in the program. Shine and his wife of 52 years, Frances, a retired school nurse, also have two daughters, Kelly Consalvo, a teacher’s aide in Jackson, and Kathleen Dailey, a special education teacher in North Brunswick, and four grandchildren.

At 77, he says he has no plans to retire, using his teaching stipends to take annual skiing trips and to follow the football Giants on the road.

“I’m in good shape to continue to do what I can do,” he said.

The MCVTS Adult School offers day and evening programs in practical nursing, and evening programs in electrical technology; heating, ventilation and air conditioning technology; manicuring;  plumbing technology, and skin care, as well as apprentice training in business and office occupations, construction trades and manufacturing industries, and customized training that can be developed to meet the needs of employers.

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4/24/17