“Rock” Charts Career Trajectories At Hillhouse

by Abiba Biao

Rodney “Rock” Williams paid a visit to his alma mater — with the goal of inspiring the next generation of Hillhouse High School students “to be bosses,” by teaching them about alternative occupational pathways not taught in school.

Current Hillhouse students Trey Ten Stafford and Mamady Kourouma left the meetup inspired to think about potential future careers as, say, an electrician or in construction.

Kourama praised Williams for helping young New Haveners think about work after school, “’cause not a lot of people have jobs and they are looking for jobs and trying to get a better understanding of what they want to do in life.”

Williams — a Newhallville native, local construction contractor, landscaper, and community activist — paid that visit to Hillhouse last Wednesday. Williams is no stranger to the halls of Hillhouse, having graduated among the class of 1984.

Williams’ visit was part of the larger work of his nonprofit  Rescuing Our Community Kids (ROCK), which aims to provide mentorship and professional opportunities for New Haven teens and high schoolers. Recently, Williams said his nonprofit received a $70,000 grant from the gun-violence-prevention program Project Longevity to run auto body workshops. 

Williams stressed last Wednesday that his school visits aren’t exclusively for recruiting students for these autobody workshops. He’s also gauging students’ overall interest in his nonprofit. Whether they’re interested in becoming a firefighter, entrepreneur, or barber, Williams plans to connect them to mentorship resources across the city that best serve their interests.

Rock addresses a room full of students.

Williams popped into a class led by student-retention specialist Darrell Brown. The class of nine met in an office room in the Floyd Little Athletic Center next to Hillhouse on Sherman Parkway.

One by one, each person received a copy of Williams’ speech, with his email and phone number, urging students to keep in touch. 

When asked about their pathways after graduation, many students around the room cited going to college, with sports management being the most popular major. Many of the students were involved in sports like basketball and football. 

At first, the group was hesitant and slightly distant, listening to Williams, but not really understanding where the conversation was going. It wasn’t until Williams started recounting the multiple construction projects he completed around the city and job as the owner of Green Elm Construction that their attention became rapt. 

It didn’t take long for the atmosphere to warm up, opening up the floor for candid conversations and questions. There was a sense of relatability and rapport established through sharing his journey, even knowing some of the kids’ family members due to his work in the community. 

“A lot of y’all, even if you don’t go to college, I would hope that — especially since I graduated here — my goal is try to help you… you guys want to be bosses, y’all want to own businesses. My goal is [to] create bosses,” he said.

For Williams, being a “boss” is a mindset, gaining control of your life by taking up opportunities and defining your own limits. 

“I’ve been a boss since I was around 21 years old,” Williams said, detailing his first jobs of setting drywall and sheet rock, and beginnings in construction. 

The group also talked about gun violence — with Williams reflecting on the rivalry between the Tre and the Ville during his time at Hillhouse, its current evolution, and impact on youth development and community health. 

“In life, there will always be beef. I think that what we need to figure out is how do we solve beef,” he said. Williams brought up his experience as a father and grandfather to show the importance of family and guidance from elders in the community. “When you guys go out here and you kill each other, what happens is you end the cycle, like their whole generation.”

Kourouma, 17, is a senior at Hillhouse and is interested in being an electrician. He’s also considering the army if his initial plan doesn’t work out. While he’s still reflecting on his next steps after graduation, one thing was for certain: his passion for entrepreneurship and inquisitive nature. Throughout Williams’ speech and after, Kourouma came ready with questions. 

“I don’t really know what I want to do,” he said to Williams in a conversation after his presentation. “Electrician, that’s like a big thing I looked into, and I thought that was really cool. I see you have your own businesses and stuff like that. That’s what I want to do when I grow up…. I want to have electric companies around New Haven.”

While Williams said that becoming an energy provider will have a high barrier of entry, he assured Kourouma that there were other opportunities and skills to generate revenue and build self sufficiency.  

As a sophomore, Stafford has a long way ahead before considering career path. He said that Williams’ lecture gave him the tools to think about his trajectory more clearly. Now, the 16-year-old is considering the trades as an alternative career path if sports don’t work out. He’s even enrolled in construction classes at Hillhouse to get a better scope of the work.

“It’s very inspiring that he took his time out just to come here,” Stafford said about Williams. He said it shows his invested interest in helping New Haven youth.