Jonathan Burton got his start in the trowel trades the way many did in the 1970s. Unlike most of his 13 siblings, and despite pressure from parents, he wasn’t interested in college. “I did my 12, I’m done,” he said. “I’m just going to go to work and raise a family” was his plan. But his dad made it clear that getting any old job wasn’t an option. If not going to college, his dad demanded he learn a trade. So Burton joined a friend who was going into carpentry on a tour of the nearby trade school. Intimidated by the math skills required for carpentry, Burton gravitated to the masonry program. “Little did I know masonry has just as much,” he chuckled. And thus, a future journeyman tile setter and tile con- tractor started down a career path born out of some magic combination of misperception, lack of direc- tion, and parental interjection. Fast forward 30 years and Burton can name doz- ens of people working in the tile trade in southern Lifelong tile and masonry craftsman lives his passion by recruiting and training California youth TRAINING & EDUCATION ––––––––––––– By Stephanie Samulski, NTCA Director of Technical Services Johnathon Burton started down the road to the tile trades at the urging of his father. Recently, Burton held a four-hour informational event at his shop, a mix of general infor- mation about the trade and hands-on stations for demonstrations and participation. 48 TileLetter | March 2019