Come for a workout, stay for plumbing lessons: Cantonment gym has free life skills classes
Editor's Note: This story has been updated to include Will Knehr's wife, Felicia Knehr as a co-owner of Anchor Up and to provide information on Benjamin Rera's wife, Emily Rera.
Anchor Up gym co-owners Will Knehr, Felicia Knehr and Benjamin Rera are not claiming to be the experts when it comes to “adulting" basics like testing car breaks, monitoring oil levels, switching out an electrical socket or unclogging a sink.
But what they have learned along the way they are ready to pass along to the next generation through their free “Pensacola Life Skills” course starting this month out of their Cantonment fitness studio.
“I had one of our gym members actually tell me that his daughter had to teach a couple of young guys who were stranded on the side of the road how to change a tire,” Will said. “I thought it was wild that these young people didn't know how to do some of what I consider to be basic stuff. Then I figured that maybe I just kind of took for granted these skills that we had. So, I just wanted to help share them with people.”
Separate from their regular fitness business, the Pensacola Life Skills Program will operate as a nonprofit, hosting free monthly sessions with hands-on tutorials and instruction geared to help prepare the younger generation for adulthood.
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The hour-long classes will hopefully cover a lot of ground when it comes to real-word skills, such as basic plumbing, electrical issues, car repair, basic first aid and managing finances. They will be divided up into small instructional time followed by hands-on demonstrations and learning experiences.
“I want it to be just a free thing that you walk into, and walk out with some knowledge,” Will said. “I don't want to sell you anything. I don't want you to purchase a gym membership. I don't want you to do anything.”
Although it can be simple enough to look up a YouTube tutorial when a problem arises, it’s different when there is someone in-person available to answer questions and see the tools up close and personal, he said.
The first session will be focused on plumbing will be held Jan. 21 at 2 p.m. at the Anchor Up Fitness and Nutrition on 2464 South U.S. Highway 29 in Cantonment. As of now, there is no sign up necessary, but that may change in the future depending on turn-out.
“For the plumbing one, we are going to discuss how does water get into a building? How does water leave a building? Then we will talk about some of the basics of the pipes and venting and that kind of thing. Then we're going to do all hands-on demonstrations from there,” he said. “I'll have physical P-traps for them to look at. Then we will show them how to use the snakes, how to use the plungers, how to empty and loosen the traps — that kind of stuff.”
The classes were initially intended for children in the 12 to 18 range, but the idea seems to have struck a chord with people of all ages in the community who may have missed out on their lesson. The two are welcoming people of all ages to attend.
“50 years ago, if you wanted to own a car, who had to know about how to work on a car, because they broke every single day, all day. Now, things are just kind of more reliable, and they're kind of more done out the box,” he said.
Both with military backgrounds. Will and Rera consider community service a value that they have always held close to them, regardless of what their career path looked like.
When recognizing the present need, they decided they were going to be the ones to make it happen instead of waiting around for someone else to do it for them.
“Ben and I met in the military, so we met doing service. My wife, besides being a Navy spouse and supporting me through deployments, she is a nurse. She gives back all day every day,” Will said. “We, just as a whole group, believe heavily in community. We believe that it's our responsibility to provide and give back to the community.”
Rera and his wife, Emily, have also integrated service into their home lives, where they are both foster parents. By day, Emily works at Northwest Florida Health Network as a foster family support specialist.
Will hopes that the skills will also give his students added confidence in daily life when a problem arises.
“I think it gives you a sense of pride and ownership that you have the ability to maintain your own vehicle, the ability to maintain your house, the ability to maintain some of the other things around you,” he said. “I think that it makes a world maybe a little less scary to understand how these different things work.”
More information and updates can be found on the Anchor Up Fitness and Nutrition Facebook page.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Cantonment gym owners roll out Pensacola Life Skills class for youth
