Mineola High School can't imagine the 'Fab Lab' without him

Paul Sommers never intended to become a teacher, let alone return to work at his alma mater after graduating from Mineola High School.

“I didn’t want to go to college,” said Sommers, 59, of Oakdale. “I wanted to build houses and be a construction worker.”

But after 33 years as a technology teacher, Sommers, his colleagues and students can’t imagine the department without him.

Colleagues said Sommers may project a “tough” persona with his long gray hair and beard, but that quickly falls away once you learn how much he gives to his students.

Since 2018, Sommers and his high school wood shop classes invite 200 kindergarteners for the annual Snowman Workshop, where older students pair with younger ones to construct and decorate wooden snowmen cut to the same height as the child.

“Even some of my toughest kids, they shine when they get with these little kids,” Sommers said.

Colleagues said Sommers collaborates with other teachers in both his department and other schools and welcomes input.

“There’s no ego,” said fellow technology teacher Kathleen Sheehan. “It’s about our children learning and succeeding.”

Sommers has a bachelor’s and master’s degree from SUNY Oswego. He later returned to Long Island, met his wife and landed a job at Mineola High School.

Every eighth grader in the district takes an introductory technology class with Sommers and three other technology teachers rotating among the different trades of the school’s Fab Lab, an open-concept working space where they learn wood shop, computer science, robotics and welding.

Once they reach high school, students can take Sommers’ more advanced technology courses.

Students said his stern but supportive approach to teaching is one of the reasons they revere his classes.

“He’ll show you, but then he expects you to learn it,” said sophomore Austin Jackson, 15. “I give a lot of respect for him.”

Students will often come to Sommers with a new project idea they saw on social media and he will turn it into a lesson using tools like the lab’s large computer numerical control machine, or CNC, router and laser, which utilizes programmed instructions to fabricate parts and cut, shape and engrave materials.

Beyond the classroom, Sommers has built more than 50 sets for school plays, has led the yearbook committee since 2005 and is treasurer of the school’s teachers union.

But Sommers said his greatest satisfaction is when students who struggle academically find their groove in technology class.

The mutual respect shaped his bond with Mineola alum Andrew Desiderio, 20, who died in a hiking accident in 2021. Sommers honors Desiderio by leading the annual Organized Chaos mountain bike ride in Mineola each December.

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