Crafting Space for Veterans

How a partnership between NBSS Community Education and the Boston Vet Center is bringing local veterans together at the woodworking bench in a series of veteran-taught classes

Last winter, Kyle Lawson saw a posting through the Boston Vet Center for a free North Bennet Street School woodworking class for veterans. He’d heard good things about the School since a recent move to Boston after 15 years serving in the Marine Corps and decided to give it a try.

By the end of the two-day class, held over a weekend in February, Kyle had crafted a wooden box, which now sits on a shelf in his apartment. But the best part of the experience by far, he says, was who shared a workbench with him. 

“I sat next to a Vietnam-era Army guy who did the same job as me—helicopter crew chief, so in charge of everything in the back of the helicopter,” Kyle says. As a Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) veteran, Kyle says it’s not every day he gets to be with veterans of a different era, let alone one who did the same job. 

Kyle shares, “By the end of class, we were bouncing stories back and forth and getting into the nitty gritty of our experience. We could understand one another.”

The Series

The class is part of a series of Community Education workshops for veterans developed through a partnership between NBSS and the Boston Vet Center. The Center provides no-cost, confidential counseling and referral services for veterans, service members, and their families and focuses on connection, camaraderie, and community. The NBSS classes were free of charge thanks to funding from the Vet Center, and, with the success of the programming, future classes will be funded through a gift from the CNR Foundation, given in memory of Framingham-native Judy Camilla Larocque (Oct. 27, 1950-Sept. 11, 2001).

“It was awesome that there was no cost to us,” Kyle says. “And doing anything with your hands is great because it takes you away from everything else.” 

The series began last fall with a spoon carving class taught by NBSS alum and Army veteran Brennan Simpson CF ’18. Six veterans, all new to the School, attended. Since then, the School has held three other weekend workshops: Woodworking 101 with Marine Corps veteran Kolin Schmidt CF ’21; Introduction to Wood Carving with Navy veteran Mark DeVeber CF ’21; and a family Build-a-Birdhouse class with Brennan. In total, 32 local veterans, ranging in age from their 20s to 70s, took part. 

John O’Connor, a married father of two boys ages 11 and 13, is a former Army Infantryman and National Guardsman. He signed up for the Build-a-Birdhouse class after hearing about it through the Boston Vet Center. 

“One of my friends from the Center has a son of a similar age as my oldest, so we decided to bring our sons together,” John says. “We went out for breakfast in the North End beforehand and then for lunch afterward. It was a nice father-and-son outing. My son got a big sense of accomplishment from the class.” He hopes to bring his younger son along to the next family class.

“Experiences like this expand someone’s view of what’s possible,” John says.

‘A Natural Fit’

Given the School’s more than 100-year history with the veteran community, the partnership was a great match, says Brittany Carlson, Director of Community Education. “Our Director of Admissions & Enrollment Rob O’Dwyer has a strong connection to veteran organizations in the local area. Thanks to his work, veterans are heavily involved in our career training programs. When the Boston Vet Center reached out to Rob with the idea for these workshops, we saw a natural fit within our Community Education department.” 

The School not only helps veterans transition from military life to meaningful careers but also values the skills and experience veterans bring to the table. Today, nearly 20 percent of NBSS students and alumni are veterans. This factor made it possible to have the Vet Center classes taught by skilled craftspeople who are also veterans, which “felt important,” Brittany shares.

Mark DeVeber CF ’21 has been working with active military members and veterans for decades. He served in the Navy for 28 years and currently volunteers at the Wood Hobby Shop at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, located in Kittery, Maine. 

Mark taught Introduction to Wood Carving for the veteran series at NBSS. “We focused on techniques like lettering then moved into small relief carving of a traditional New England sculpture, like a seashell,” he says. 

“I also talked about what carving has meant to me,” Mark shares. “In woodworking, there is no multitasking. I’m laser-focused when I’m doing this type of work. That focus allows me, in many ways, to clear my mind. It gives me a mental break. Everything else evaporates and time vanishes. Hearing the sound of wood being cut against a sharp blade, hearing soft music playing in the background, being focused on something—it gives you more than the piece you’re trying to make.”

At the end of the class, Mark invited his students to visit him anytime at the Wood Hobby Shop. “As leaders in the military, we are taught to look out for our troops, and going into the class, that was still on my radar. It never really leaves us as leaders.” 

One of Mark’s students took him up on the offer—and is now a frequent visitor at the shop. “This is exactly the effect we try to achieve, helping our active duty and military veterans as they find new paths and opportunities,” Mark says. 

Reconnection Through Woodworking

Dr. Marika Solhan, Director of the Boston Vet Center, says the NBSS classes have been some of the easiest activities to recruit for at the Center.

“That stood out to me,” Marika says. “As soon as we started telling people about this, they instantaneously wanted to sign up. We work with a lot of first responders and these folks can have a hard time getting two days off in a row. But they wanted to do this and found coverage. That is a testament to the culture and reputation of North Bennet—it made a big difference in helping people be open-minded to something like this.”

Cliff Coy, Outreach Specialist at the Boston Vet Center and Army veteran, sat in on the classes. “There was an overwhelmingly positive response to the facilitators—they were clever, they were cool, and they were engaging,” he says. “And that helped veterans who might be struggling with avoidance or to regularly connect with the community to have that welcoming space created for them. Many participants described feeling like they were back with their team or unit in a way that felt comfortable and natural.”

Marika notes, “Anything we can do that fosters a veteran’s ability to reconnect—with themselves, with their family, with the veteran community, or the community in which they live—all of these we view as in service of their broader transition to civilian life.”

Kyle, the helicopter crew chief, says he will tell friends about his positive experience with the class. “I had never made a box before or used many of those machines, and our instructor Kolin made it all very easy to understand,” he says. “I want other veterans to know how helpful something like this can be and that it’s okay to try something outside your comfort zone. Word of mouth goes a long way.”

He adds, “Woodworking is cool, and I will definitely look into doing more, especially because of the people involved in this experience.”