CAWP promotes Careers in Construction through Career Academy and Events at Children’s Museum

CAWP Construction Career Academy

While kids across western Pennsylvania are enjoying their summer break, CAWP has no plans to take a vacation from its efforts to promote careers in construction. The Association is sponsoring two important events this summer that highlight the career opportunities that the heavy and highway construction industry provides.

The first is the Construction Career Academy, sponsored by CAWP and hosted by the Central Westmoreland Career and Technology Center. The Construction Career Academy, which will take place throughout July, will help 10th and 11th grade students to gain valuable work experience, improve math skills, and to promote careers in construction.

The four-week academy program will include numerous field trips. Students will have the chance to tour the Operating Engineers Apprenticeship Site and will be given the opportunity to operate five pieces of equipment under instructor guidance. Students will also be visiting the Pennsylvania Turnpike’s New Stanton project and a Mon-Fayette Expressway project, to view first-hand earthwork, bridge building, and concrete operations.

In addition to these field trips, students attending the Construction Career Academy will gain valuable insight from industry professionals. A member of the CAWP Safety and Risk Committee will teach a course on basic safety precautions for construction work. This training will coincide with the students’ project of building a gazebo on school property. Additional CAWP members will be on hand to explain both craft and professional level opportunities in the construction industry and will showcase several interesting projects including the World Trade Center and U.S. Capitol building.

Each student attending the Construction Academy will receive a hard hat with the CAWP logo and safety glasses.

CAWP and Bob the Builder at the Pittsburgh Children’s Museum

With a focus on younger children, CAWP is sponsoring a construction-related summer event at the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh with Bob the Builder’s “Project: Build It featuring weekly workshops throughout the summer. For the last two years, CAWP has teamed up with the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh for Careers in Construction Week in the fall. Building from the success of the interactive workshops presented during that week, CAWP is excited to be a part of this summer’s activities surrounding the exhibit featuring Bob the Builder, the popular animated television show on PBS. During the weeks of June 29-July 3 and August 24-28, the museum’s workshop specialists will utilize CAWP-sponsored Project Build Up! Tool Kits, developed in collaboration between the Associated General Contractors of America and Scholastic, Inc., in conjunction with the Bob the Builder exhibit.

CAWP contractor member Mascaro Contracting, LP is a major sponsor of the event. Representatives from Mascaro Contracting, LP, as well as CAWP contractor members Joseph B. Fay Company and Richard Goettle, Inc. and Bob Gibson, Heavy/Highway Training Coordinator for the Carpenters Joint Apprenticeship and Training Program, will be involved in some of the daily workshops, which enable children visiting the museum to learn hands-on about construction and engineering.

Tool Belt Times are held daily at the museum with sessions from 11:00 A.M. to 12:30 P.M. and 1:30 to 3:30 P.M. on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, 1:30 to 3:30 P.M. on Wednesdays, 10:30 A.M. to 12:30 P.M. and 2:00 to 4:30 P.M. Saturdays, and Sundays from noon to 2:00 and 3:00 to 4:00 P.M.

This event is an important part of the Association’s ongoing efforts in workforce development as it introduces young children to the many opportunities in the construction industry, emphasizing hands-on skills in a way that young children can explore and enjoy, featuring Bob the Builder, a television favorite.

CAWP Sponsored Construction Camps

Already checked off the summer to-do list are the CAWP-sponsored Summer Construction Camps.

These camps, held at the Central, Eastern, and Northern Westmoreland Career and Technology Centers, consisted of hands-on construction-related projects, interaction with industry representatives, and a field trip.

In these week-long Construction Camps, the middle school students engaged in hands-on projects and instructional activities in the industry. The camps culminated in a field trip organized by CAWP.

The Construction Camps were sponsored by CAWP, the Westmoreland-Fayette Building and Industry Partnership, the Westmoreland-Fayette Workforce Investment Board, Triangle Tech, Western Pennsylvania Operating Engineers Joint Apprenticeship Training Program, Eastern, Central, and Northern Westmoreland Career and Technology Centers, Golden Triangle Construction Company, and C.H.& D. Enterprises, Inc.