SPONSORED BY: ASSOCIATED GENERAL CONTRACTORS-
                         NEBRASKA CHAPTER
                         NEBRASKA BUILDING CHAPTER
.........................IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE NEBRASKA STATE FAIR

August 28th to September 7, 2009
Nebraska State Fair Park - Lancaster Building - Lincoln, Nebraska

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Mission Statement

The Construction Learning Center is dedicated to:

1. Educating children and adults about the career opportunities available in the commercial building, heavy and highway construction industry. 
2. Educating the general public of the significance of the infrastructure of the state of Nebraska and the importance of that asset to the quality of life of the citizenry.
3. Educating the general public to the faces of the commercial construction industry in Nebraska.

The exhibits of the Learning Center are intended to create a career interest in construction by offering entertaining, educational and hands-on experience for all attendees.

Exhibit Planning Task Group

Name:                                                        
Curt Smith, AGC Highway Chapter,  csmith@agcne.org
Samantha Porter, AGC Highway Chapter,  sam@agcne.org
Jean Petsch, AGC Building Chapter, jdpetsch@windstream.net
Joe Delgado, TCW Construction,  jdelgado@tcwconstruction.com
Katie Wilson, All Road Barricades,  katie@allroadsinc.com
Wes Oestreich, Cheever Construction Co,  woestreich@cheeverconstruction.com
Don Wrieth, Kiewit Building Group,  don.wrieth@kiewit.com

Activities
The AGC Construction Learning Center features hands-on activities for kids of all ages.  Materials will be available for parents and guardians providing information on careers in construction.

Kindergarten – 2nd Grade
1. Step stool building project
2. Construction coloring books
3. Tattoo station

3rd – 5th Grade
1. Lego building contest
2. Heavy Equipment Simulators
3. Tattoo station

6th – 8th Grade
1. BIM demonstration
2. Heavy Equipment Simulators      
3. Mini Excavator/Backhoe Golf

9th – 12th Grade
1. BIM demonstration
2. Heavy Equipment Simulators
3. Mini Excavator/Backhoe Golf
4. Laser Demonstration
5. Wall Forming Demonstration

Adult Education
1. Wall Forming Demonstration
2. Infrastructure Awareness
3. Informational Videos (Liquid Assets, NCCR, etc.)

ALL AGES
1. Digital photo station
2. 2" RCP?
3. Static display regarding the industry
4. Equipment on display

Nebraska’s Largest Classroom
On Thursday, September 3rd, 8-10 AGC of America “Build-Up Kits” will be raffled off to teachers.  There are a variety of activities included in the kit that will help teachers educate students about construction. 

Volunteers & Staffing Schedule

The Construction Learning Center will be staffed with AGC member volunteers.  A good portion of the staff will be generated from the sponsorship packages we offer – which allows display space to our contractor members in exchange for workers-exclusively to AGC member firms.  The AGC student chapters will also be asked to participate in the staffing of the Center.  Bob Carlson has agreed to be the on-site manager during the fair. 

Click here to view the layout of the Construction Learning Center

Click here to view the layout of the Nebraska State Fairgrounds

Click here for the printer friendly pdf version of the Executive Summary including both maps

Click here for the Sponsorship Opportunities form.

The Nebraska Building Chapter 2005-07 Strategic Plan identifies the following goal:
“The Chapter will develop programs and methods for increasing the awareness of careers in the building construction industry for middle school to high school students during the 2007 academic year.”  

In the updated 2008-09 Strategic Plan the Chapter identifies the following goal for Workforce Development: “The Chapter will build a stable professional and craft workforce for the benefit of member firms and the industry. It will become the conduit for the industry to develop tomorrow’s workforce.” 

Specifically, the Chapter will pick up where the FutureForce Nebraska Pathway has left off.  The chapter activities will work towards providing the following:

• Provide awareness of construction careers in Nebraska to young people.
• Define readiness skills needed to succeed in construction careers.
• Provide awareness, retraining and employee development for advancement or transition to construction careers in Nebraska.

The Chapter Action Plan includes the following activities and will be provided as funding and resources become available:

• Provide classroom teachers with the construction career awareness curriculum and textbooks.
• Develop and provide a speaker’s bureau of college students in school of construction and local construction industry people to speak to the students in the classroom.
• Provide fourth through sixth grade classroom activities to enhance construction career awareness sponsored and presented by the AGC Student Chapter members. This would be limited to the communities close to the schools of construction.
• Support high school student participation in Skills USA by matching participant with mentors/coaches from either AGC Student Chapter members and/or local constructors.
• Produce and distribute a DVD(s) to be used in the classroom to provide a look at the array of construction careers and jobs available in rural and urban Nebraska, along with salary ranges.  In addition the DVD(s) will focus on the skills/education you will need at the different career levels. There will be two DVDs produced, one for use in middle school classrooms and one for the high school classroom.
• Provide on-going leadership, guidance and organization to local level school/community groups to allow them to identify and carry out specific activities to enhance construction career awareness at the local level.  In addition, AGC - Nebraska Building Chapter members will be involved in a leadership/participant role at the local level.

For those individuals who have chosen construction as a career, we will continue to provide the following to support their efforts:

• Continue to support and nurture the AGC Student Chapter’s we sponsor in the state.
• Provide leadership and professional development support for the young people in the construction industry in Nebraska via the Building Chapter’s Emerging Construction Professional Forum. 

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AGC-Nebraska Building Chapter joined the FutureForce Nebraska Steering Committee in December of 2005 to be the industry partner for the Construction Career Pathway. A Construction Pathway Planning Committee was established from a cross-section of individuals involved in education, government, and the construction industry. 
     The Construction Pathway planning Committee established four goals:

1. Provide awareness of construction careers in Nebraska to young people.
2. Define readiness skills needed to succeed in construction careers.
3. Provide awareness, retraining and employee development for advancement or transition to construction careers in Nebraska.
4. Provide awareness of entrepreneurial opportunities and training for people in the construction crafts.

A two-year scope of work was identified and submitted for grant funding from FutureForce Nebraska. Year one was focused on goal # 1 and 2. Funding was received for several activities identified in the plan. Funding was allocated for the purchase of construction career awareness curriculum to be placed in Nebraska middle and secondary schools. Also, funds were used to purchase supervisory training materials that are construction specific and to establish a professional/leadership development forum for younger or new professionals to construction positions. 

Ten Construction Career Awareness Curriculum Packages were funded with FutureForce Nebraska grant funds. Each package includes the following:

• 60 “Hot Jobs Cool Careers” brochures
• 1  “Build Up! Tool Kit” curriculum unit for 4th-6th grades
• 1  “On Site! Tool Kit” curriculum unit for 6th-7th grades
• 17 “Careers in Construction” textbook and DVD to be used in 7th-12th grades
• 3  “Applied Construction Math” A novel approach to basic math to be used in 7th-10th grade

The following communities are using one of the ten curriculum packages:  Gering, Potter-Dix, Cozad, Norfolk and Omaha. We still have half the curriculum materials to distribute at this time.

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A proposal to continue the work of the Construction Career Pathway was submitted to FutureForce in June. Unfortunately, we were notified that there would be no funds at this time to further our efforts. The Executive Director of FutureForce indicated there might be a slight chance of some funding becoming available later in the fiscal year. In the meantime the Nebraska Building Chapter will continue to pursue career awareness activities as part of their strategic plan as funding and resources are available.

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