Foundation grants prepare students for construction careers
From outfitting HVAC students with tools of their chosen trade to supplying materials for student projects in masonry and welding, three BC&E Foundation grants are helping Carroll County teenagers pursue careers in construction.
Kent Shamer, the HVAC Instructor at Carroll County Career Technology Center (CCCTC), decided to apply for a BC&E Foundation grant after watching some excellent students face an obstacle to entering the HVAC industry. Some students came from low-income families and simply couldn’t afford to buy a kit of tools to start their first HVAC job.
For example, “one kid is a new immigrant to the country. He has been here two years, he’s smart, he’s learning English and he is phenomenal in his tests,” Shamer said. “But I knew this kid had a challenge when it came to buying tools. He works when he’s not in class but that’s to help support his family.”
So, Shamer who had already put together tool kits for students to use in class, estimated what a full kit would cost a graduate – nearly $1,000, not including a drill-driver combo. The $2,400 grant from the Foundation will enable Shamer to supply two graduating students who show exceptional HVAC skills and meet a financial needs requirement, with a set of tools so they can start their first HVAC jobs.
CCTC’s Mike Campanile, Masonry Instructor and Michael Schweinsberg, Welding Instructor, applied for BC&E Foundation grants to address a common challenge: the high cost of construction materials.
“Students in my program have always done their own projects, which is an important part of their education,” Schweinsberg said. “Money was always an issue but I used to have enough in my materials-of-instruction account to cover the costs. Then supplies tripled in price so the kids couldn’t do projects because the money wasn’t there.”
The $1,750 Foundation grant remedied that situation. Schweinsberg’s students, who learn welding and fabrication, are now engaged in an array of projects.
“They are working on everything from benches and worktables to signs and fire pits. One guy is making a smoker for his grill,” Schweinsberg said. “They are doing ARC, MIG and TIG welding, and they are using all kinds of machinery — saws, shears, punches, drill presses and pipe-benders. They are getting into CMC equipment with lasers and plasma and computers.”
Teaching in a newly renovated workshop, Campanile had a project in mind that he wanted his students to tackle. To save money on the renovation, the school had not asked the general contractor to create concrete-block bins to hold sand and gravel in the masonry workshop. With the $1,400 Foundation grant to cover the costs of materials, Campanile’s students will now complete that task.
“In-house, permanent projects are the best learning tool a masonry student can experience,” he said.
Level 1 students, Campanile noted, “use practice mortar to do small projects. They build something, get it assessed and take it down. And repeat. That happens for probably the first 15 projects. When they can finally move on to using real sand, real mortar, real cement, that makes a big difference. With practice mortar, you can build a project and four hours later you can still tool it and move things around. Real mortar sets up much faster. You have maybe five or 10 minutes to make something perfect or start over. The students need that real world experience to become industry ready.”
A large portion – anywhere from two-thirds to three-quarters – of the CCCTC construction trades students go on to join the industry. Instructors say several CCCTC practices help ensure that students are eager and prepared the join the industry, including the center’s practice of hiring instructors who are experienced industry professionals, the evolution of curricula to match industry needs and the involvement of industry professionals in program advisory committees, job fairs and skills demonstrations.