Profiles of Craftsmanship

Mike Igo

Carpentry Instructor
Caddo Career & Technology Center

Mike Igo’s love for carpentry is one of his earliest memories. As a young boy, Igo used to build huts and playhouses from anything he could get his hands on, from discarded lumber to sage brush. In high school, he worked part-time as a carpenter’s assistant. When he started college, he began shadowing, learning, and working for free under Harley Womack, a journeyman carpenter in his community. By working with Womack and other community carpenters, he learned immensely and was ready to start his carpentry career.

“Many of the people who inspired me never had a name,” said Igo. “As a boy, I loved to watch things being built. I would hang around job sites and just watch when [carpenters] would let me.”

Igo then worked for several companies before opening a cabinet shop in 1980. After a few years, he was asked to teach carpentry to high school students in the Caddo Parish School System.

Igo currently teaches carpentry at Caddo Career & Technology Center in Shreveport, La., and is an adjunct instructor at Bossier Parish Community College. He shares his knowledge and love for carpentry with more than 100 students each year. Igo is also an NCCER Master Trainer and teaches the NCCER Instructor Certification Training Program in New Orleans and Baton Rouge.

“After 26 years, I have seen successful carpenters and construction entrepreneurs who got their start in my classroom,” said Igo. “There is still joy in seeing young people today who want to learn the craft. It is my belief that with the educational opportunities in high schools, community colleges, and aggressive construction companies, young people have the opportunity to start their construction career with as much knowledge as their grandfathers possessed.”