Keys Education Program Becomes Model for Houston

From the Key West Keynoter, October 18, 2000
By BRANDI SIMPSON

What started as a way to help kids get employable vocational skills in the Keys has become a model program fro 37 high schools in Texas.

Marathon High School and Key West High School both boast new construction-technology labs, just installed this year. Houston officials visited in September to find out how to employ the program in their schools.

The Marathon classes, which incorporate the use of 16 construction modules, are designed to teach a variety of job skills that would have a career path, said Mark Hooper, the Monroe County School District's coordinator of vocational services.

"The construction [module] is not only designed to provide students with a career path after high school, but also give kids the chance to learn very practical knowledge," he said.

Job-related skills such as electrical, plumbing, heating, venting and air conditioning, cabinet making, carpeting, tiling, telephone and cable installation, masonry, small-engine repair and sheet-metal work are taught over a one-year course.

There is a three-year track for interested students, said John Andola, director of vocational services for the Keys School District. The first year, students get basic skills in construction trades. In the second year, students work on major projects within construction trades. In the third year, students are assigned to internships with contractors in the community.

"This class came about because we realized that throughout the district we had these old-fashioned woodshop programs," Andola said. "We wanted to get rid of those and come into the 21st Century and offer classes that were more practical and would help kids get jobs."

Funded through the School District's budget, the class caught the attention of the Houston School District.

The director of career and technology education for that district and others under his direction came to the Keys to tour the construction lab classrooms, in hopes of duplicating the same programs at all of Houston's 37 high schools.

"I was extremely impressed with the [district representatives] from Houston," Andola said.

Hooper said the directors from Houston were impressed with the county's program and said they were going to continue speaking with the company that supplies the materials, Questech Inc.

Questech supplied the Keys district with individual modules, workbooks, audio tapes and other things to help the class succeed.

return to top

---

Building For the Future

From the Key West Citizen, September 27, 2000
By TOM WALKER
Citizen Staff Writer

Gone are the days when shop class meant making bird houses and fashioning crude foot stools destined to end up in the back of a closet.

Now, Key West High School students enrolled in a building-trades course can gain valuable hands-on experience in the wide spectrum of career opportunities in the construction industry by using the recently installed Construction Zone.

The Construction Zone is a series of training modules developed by Questech, a Michigan-based company that engineers educational products.

"These modules will give our kids a taste of a lot of different trades," said teacher Ed Klimowich, better known around the campus as "Mr. K."

Klimowich said the construction-trade lab was introduced this year as a new vocational program to enhance the basic skills needed to obtain post-graduation jobs in construction.

"Once they complete the course, the students will have a solid background of some good, basic information," he said.

Klimowich said his students work in pairs at each of the 16 different stations — including cabinetmaking, plumbing, drywall, cement masonry, electricity, tile setting — to undertake a specialized curriculum requiring 10 days to complete.

"At the end of 10 days, they rotate to a completely new and different trade," he said.

Eddie Stress, a freshman, was busy in one of the modules trying to tackle a task he is confident will help elevate him into the world of architecture.

"I think these things are pretty good," he said, as he flipped through the pages of his lesson plan. "These skills will come in handy when I'm an architect."

George Emanoil, president of Questech, was at the high school Tuesday.

"We're trying to promote the students' understanding of different crafts," he said.

Emanoil was hosting a contingent of school officials from Houston who chose to observe the Key West lab and a similar one at Marathon High School with the intent of instituting a similar curriculum in the fifth largest school district in the nation.

"We're looking for a better way to teach the construction trade," said Ronald Johnson, executive director of career and technical education for the Houston Independent School District.

"Construction is booming in the Houston area and we have a tremendous need for workers in the industry at many levels."

But Johnson agreed that not all of the 211,000 students in the 285 schools in his district will go on into the construction trade business.

"Maybe not," he said. "But they'll surely have some life skills they can use around the house."

return to top

---

Construction Education Newsline, Spring 2000

The National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCRE) published the following article in Construction Education Newsline (Spring 2000):

Questech and NCCER - An Education Partnership

An NCCER partner since the fall of 1998, Questech, Inc., based in Farmington Hills, Michigan, is a manufacturer of career exploration modules for middle and early high school students. Their Construction Zone product line introduces students to approximately 25 different trades, and is an excellent precursor to NCCER's craft training program.

"NCCER has revitalized the building trades program in our schools, and our hands-on modules provide a front-end program that excites young students about the opportunities in the construction industry" state George Emanoil from Questech.

Each trade modules is a six to ten hour experience, with grade-appropriate curriculum and audio tape. Students work in teams, using professional tools of the trade. Skill development, safety, standard trade practices, and projected salaries are presented in an easy-to-understand format. The Construction Zone is not designed to make students proficient in any one trade, but enables them to explore the basic aspect of each craft and understand how the different trades work together o n a construction project. Typically a school purchases 15 different modules to accommodate 30 students.

"Its' been an exciting partnership" claims Emanoil, "and the highlight has been working with NCCER and its partners. We all believe in craft training and together we can offer the schools a package that not only meets the students' needs, but fills the industry's need for future skilled tradespeople." Contact Questech at 800-229-0018 or visit their website www.questechzone.com.

You may view the Spring 2000 edition of Construction Education Newsline at NCCER's Web site (www.nccer.org).

return to top