The inaugural session of the Building Future Builders Construction Summer Camp was held June 9-14, 2008. 18 students, entering 9th grade this fall, completed the camp program. The campers were instructed in practical construction-related math, career development, environmentally friendly construction, and skills to help them in the workplace. They were led through hands-on construction projects by foremen, superintendents, and college level instructors from the construction industry. The campers constructed five bus shelters that were donated to the City of Asheville's Tops For Stops program, worked on an individual carpentry project, completed a ropes course team building exercise and learned to operate a mini-excavator.

The program had four main goals.

1. To increase awareness of the construction industry and the broad range of careers that it encompasses.
2. To encourage students to consider enrolling in a construction curriculum (when and where available).
3. To acculturate students to the world of construction and to help them to acquire the soft-skills needed to be “employable”.
4. To provide a fun and meaningful camp experience.

The inaugural session successfully accomplished its goals; the exit surveys demonstrated that the campers learned a great deal, and had a very good time while they learned (see the photo gallery). Many of them saw construction as a realistic career choice; the majority of those who thought so felt that they would likely begin by studying construction management in college. The participating school systems – Asheville City Schools, Buncombe County Schools and Madison County Schools – are anxiously looking forward to next summer's session. In addition, an advanced camp program - aimed at this year's participating students - is in development.

The camp is a co-ed program for students who are interested in the construction industry and who expressed a desire to be a part of this exciting program. Funded by our partnering school systems and by area general contractors, subcontractors and suppliers, the camp was offered to the participating students at no cost to them.

The Building Future Builders Construction Summer Camp was planned and executed in partnership with Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College, Buncombe County, Madison County and Asheville City Schools.

We are very grateful to our supporters and sponsors: Asheville City Schools, Asheville Home Builders Association, Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College, Bank of America, Biltmore Company, Britt and Tilson Glass Company, Buncombe County Schools, Carolina Tractor CM Services, Cornerstone Construction, Emory Electric, FIRC Group, Forest Millwork, General Equipment Rental, Goforth Construction, Haynes Electric, HomeTrust Bank, Kimmel & Associates Lowe’s, Madison County Schools, Siegman Associates Inc., Silverman Company, The Asheville Chapter of the National Association of Women in Construction, The Cliffs Communities, The Eblen Center for Social Enterprise, Towery Builders, TP Howard Plumbing, Turner Construction Verizon Wireless, Westall Chandley, White & Williams Heating