John Helps Launch American Made Advertising
John Ratzenberger has been searching across the planet for folks that get advertising, understand customer service, and actually care about their clients. Enter Ryan Erwin and his team at American Made Advertising. John chose a group of marketers, operatives, and digital folks that take pride in every graphic, every banner, every video, every like, every comment, and every ad they create. In the multi-billion dollar ad industry, this team stands out. Learn more by visiting...
Let’s Bring Back Shop Class to Educate and Inspire
Millennials are the first American generation who have not been taught how to use tools — wrenches, screws, saws, etc. — and that could have a negative effect on the country’s trade industries. Skilled labor is in increasingly high demand as manufacturing jobs trickle back into the country, but as shop class has steadily disappeared from the high school curriculum, there are not always enough skilled laborers to fill the positions, according to the Foundation for America, a nonprofit that invests in creating a skilled labor force. The foundation is run by John Ratzenberger, an actor who has done many voiceovers for Pixar, including Hamm in the Toy Story series. He began his career as Cliff Clavin, the affable postman on the television show Cheers. To demonstrate his commitment to teaching tool use, and the joys of working with one’s hands, Ratzenberger has donated $1 million to the state of Georgia to begin the National Education Initiative. Ratzenberger said in a recent interview that teaching tool skills is about making young people more well-rounded individuals: “It makes you a more well-rounded human being, more capable and self-reliant if you can fix your own screen door. … There are a lot of jobs in manufacturing right now, a lot of jobs in construction, and there’s nobody to fill them because we neglected to teach our children how to use tools and we’ve denigrated the image of manufacturing.” Read the full article at...
My Carpentry Skills Played a Big Role in My Acting Success
We should be teaching our children the power of building things by hand Growing up in the 1950’s and 60’s, I was fortunate to be surrounded by people who actually had real-life-skills. Having a tool box handy wasn’t an anomaly; it was the norm—and kids were taught how to use theirs. This was especially true in the factory town of Bridgeport, Conn., where I was raised. Read the full article at...
Where Everybody Learns a Trade
Georgia receives $1M donation from former “Cheers” star to revive shop class in public schools April 2015 – Actor John Ratzenberger, best known for his role as Cliff Clavin, the know-it-all postal carrier on the sitcom “Cheers” is using his blue-collar ethos to bring back shop class. In his portrayal of Cliff, Ratzenberger dispensed half-baked yet believable theories such as why beer makes you smarter. Now he is delivering funds through the Foundation for America, a nonprofit whose mission is to beat the drum of skilled trades—and their decline, to re-ignite individuals’ passion for blue collar work and boost U.S. manufacturing. The Foundation for America made headlines earlier this year when Ratzenberger donated $1 million to the state of Georgia as a part of a National Educational Initiative to revive shop classes in schools. Read the full article on...