Gathered at the Cosumnes River College for the Construction Industry Education Foundation competition, with over 40 different high schools gathered, the Building Institute Technology Academy team of 17 students were involved with the task of building a shed in two days. Individual students from schools were also available for the chance of winning awards with scholarships, like Brooke Steele who won the $1,250 scholarship at the CIEF.
From April 30 to May 1, students spent eight hours each day building their projects, with half hour lunch on both days. As part of the competition, there were two categories that schools could’ve chosen to enter. One category is the open division, where teams from schools are allowed to construct any structures, which expand the students’ creativity, which BITA competed in last year. For this year’s competition, they had chosen to compete in the division where all the participants were building the same structure, which was a garden shed.
“The whole CTE mindset is to work together as a unison group and through that achieve amazing things together,” BITA teacher Mr. Bret Hunter said.
Hunter said he made sure to get his students the best prepared they could be by building sheds in class. Students in the BITA III class who participated in the competition built the basic framework of sheds, which included the walls and the roof structure. Each team has a limit of no more than 17 students, with some students having their own individual roles. One student must be a project manager, another has to be safety manager, and only 10 of the students are allowed to work on the actual structure at one time. Students may take on shifts after lunch breaks to work on the project by switching out with another team member.
“That little bit of practice helped us so we weren’t just going completely off the drawing and having some experience of building it,” Laz Paniagua Enriquez said.
Although many students were returning to the competition, for others, like Steele, the experience was a first. The event provided a lot of opportunities for new students, such as getting to work with industry professionals such as Precision Builders.
“I was most excited for interacting with the industry partners, meeting with our sponsor, and just being able to connect with all these people,” Steele said.
Along with developing connections in the construction industry, the competition was also a bonding opportunity for BITA students. Both days, teams were given a 30 minute lunch break provided by Beach Hut Deli and Chick-fil-A.
“I really liked whenever we went to lunch as a big group,” Steele said. “We were just laughing, making jokes, hanging out, and throwing Gatorade bottles.”
Although the class did not place overall, many individual awards were given to members of the program across different schools. Steele was awarded a check for $1,250 by the Construction Industry Education Foundation and Hunter was presented with an Award of Merit to recognize his contribution to construct
ion education.
by OLIVIA BOYD, TRINITY KIM & NICOLE PARPAUTS
