Home Depot's youth workshops draw big crowds

PONDERAY — He comes to work on weekdays in his regular guise — Ty Henson, lumber department associate for Home Depot Store 1810 in Ponderay.

When Saturday rolls around, he puts on the familiar, bright orange work apron and steps into his alter ego — Mr. Ty, Captain of the Kids’ Workshop program. If that doesn’t exactly sound like a super hero, try watching this captain in action sometime.

“He’s got a whole bunch of fans who are all under four feet tall,” said store manager Ken Sawle. “The kids come in looking for Ty. He’s energetic. He goes out of his way to help them learn.”

He is also considerably larger than any of his young workshop attendees. Standing well over six feet tall, the broad-shouldered Henson stacks up as the dream customer for any big and tall menswear store. But to watch him kneeling next to a child as he helps them hammer a finish nail into a woodcraft project, the picture that comes across is one of a very gentle giant.

The greatest joy in leading the kid’s workshops, according to Henson, is the sense of pride and accomplishment the youngsters experience when they build something with their own hands.

“To see their little faces light up is really something,” he said. “They’ll show what they made to anyone who will stand still long enough to take a look at it.”

At the Ponderay Home Depot store, the Saturday program will hit the two-year mark on Sept. 7, though it has been going on at older stores in the corporate fleet for longer than that.

“The kid’s workshops have been in place for multiple years,” said Darryl Chitwood, associate support department supervisor for the retailer. “It’s one of the many ways we give back to the community.”

All materials for the projects are provided free of charge and, once a child has a parental permission slip that allows them to handle a limited number of tools, the game is on.

“We give them an orange apron and they write their name on it,” Henson said. “I try to teach them the different uses of tools like a hammer, screwdriver, paintbrush and sandpaper. We keep a close rein on safety and teach them that a tool is not a toy.”

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The workshops are “not a drop-off” environment, he pointed out, and a parent is required to be on hand for each session. On a recent Saturday morning, most of the adults in attendance were mothers and grandmothers, but a few fathers and grandfathers occasionally get in on the action, as well.

Every completed project is rewarded with a pin for the child’s work apron. At 10 projects, they receive an “I did it!” pin that calls out their progress in an obvious way.

“I have one kid who needs just two more pins to get to the 50 mark,” said Henson. “He’s got the most so far.”

Some of the most popular workshops have been the race cars that were built and raced in March — a gathering that drew more than 100 children to the store — as well as the Fire Safety Month session in October, which attracted 116 kids last year.

“This year, we’ll be building a fire rescue airplane as our project,” Henson said. “And the fire department comes to educate kids and parents on safety issues.”

The first Saturday in September tracks the sports world’s calendar with a focus on football. For that workshop, Henson will show the young woodworkers how to build a ring toss game made from dowels, a board and football-shaped rings.

The Ponderay store may serve a smaller community than some Home Depot locations, but it has one bragging right the others can’t claim, according to the store manager.

“The Kid’s Workshop program was actually designed to take place once a month,” he said. “But due to our success, we have rolled it out on a weekly basis.”

There are two reasons the program has taken off in Ponderay — and they both have the name Ty attached to them.

“He’s the best fit for that position,” Sawle said. “He enjoys doing it. It’s his drive and his passion.”

Multiple projects come down from the corporate level, complete with the necessary materials to get them done, but running the workshops every week means that additional ideas must be pressed into service.

“Ty has taken the initiative to come up with those things on his own,” the store manager said.

For Henson, it goes beyond the transitory satisfaction of watching a child learn to wield a hammer effectively, or seeing their surprise when they realize that wood scraps and glue can be used to repair the hole from a stripped-out screw.

“I think getting kids away from video games and into the workshop is a goal of mine,” he said. “Hopefully, they’ll like it and continue on — either as a hobby or as a career.”

The Ponderay Home Depot store also hosts tile, paint and do-it-yourself clinics on Saturdays and Sundays, along with a Do-It-Herself workshop for women on the third Thursday of every month.

The Kid’s Workshop takes place on Saturdays from 9 a.m.-noon. Workshop and clinic times and topics for all sessions are posted on a schedule board next to the service desk near the store entrance.