Elementary and Junior High School Programs:

It has become clear to us, that in order to attract young people to the construction industry, they need to be approached before reaching high school. We would like to arrange a program of lectures, jobsite visits, and some hands-on learning-through-fun activities to make elementary and junior high school aware of how things are built.

There are a number of ways to provide learning-through-fun experiences to the schools. We hope to create a "Math in Construction" contest in the Buncombe and Madison Counties area of Western North Carolina. The contest will be run along lines similar to the well-known Odyssey of the Mind Contest.

Another idea that we think to explore is creating, or collecting, educational kits that demonstrate (at age-appropriate levels) how things work and/or how things are built.  These kits, sponsored by companies that logically tie-in to them, will be made available to school systems free of charge.

One possible implementation is an idea for kindergartens.  We could approach a heavy equipment manufacturing company  to sponsor Mike Mulligan and Marry Anne kits, which would consist of the children’s’ book and a model of Mary Anne.  Kindergarten teachers, who had been made aware of these kits through our public affairs efforts, would be able to request this set for their classrooms.  The children will have an enjoyable experience with a classic story of everyday heroes. Building Future Builders will expose children to construction. And the sponsoring company will benefit from some excellent publicity.