A Program Unlike Any Other
The National Institute for Construction Excellence (N.I.C.E.) founding principle is that industry cannot be competitive, productive, or profitable without having the strongest base of qualified men and women well trained in math, science, English, and technology education. Our construction education program is designed and has been proven to increase the awareness of students of construction career fields from engineering, architecture, contracting, and the skilled trades.
Knowledge is Power
The traditional pathway to teach students about the construction industry has been typically through the industrial arts classroom, which in the United States, is diminishing. Out of 250 possible careers, high school parents are placing construction at 248. Another method of teaching students about construction had to be developed. The Crayons to CAD Middle School program was created to teach construction education in the main-stream 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th grade classroom.
Looking over the actual curriculum, it is impressive to see both the work of these students and their teachers. Functioning in teams in their mainstream classroom with teachers using carefully developed lesson plans, students are using:
- Math to determine the amount of soil excavated, to determine advantage of wind verses nuclear power, prepare construction budgets, estimate material requirements, and develop project schedules.
- Science to learn about soil conditions, batch concrete, and properties of steel and alloys.
- Communication Arts to discover the vital safety skills, child labor history, writing contracts and awarding the project bids based on quality, safety, and time.
- Most importantly they are researching and learning about high tech career pathways.
What are the Features and Benefits?
This program reaches a great number of students. In nine (9) years of operation, 35,000 students participated in the program. N.I.C.E provides carefully developed lesson plans “mapped back” to the State standards. The curriculum also teaches life skills necessary to succeed on the job.
N.I.C.E strives to reach all middle school students. Its success in reaching across gender has been remarkable. Half of the participants to date have been girls. In truth other organizations have tried to address this problem. However, they often did not include the industry, labor, professional associations, or universities in their programs. Through extensive research it was determined that partnering the school districts with joint labor-management groups through a university resulted in success.
- Teachers are provided curriculum, materials, and college credit.
- School administrators see an increase in their students’ State test scores.
- Students have achieved learning goals through a project based curricula.
- Partnering with industry and skilled trades provides the most current technology in the classroom.
How Does This Program Work?
N.I.C.E. works with each school district and provides as much support to teachers as possible with programs that include:
- Competitions
- Pre-service training
- In-service training
- Workshops
Crayons to CAD provides the opportunity for students, their parents, and teachers to interact with each other and professionals from industry, architecture, engineering and the skilled trades. The students, working in teams, spend weeks preparing academically for the competition. Upon arrival, the students have the opportunity to view interactive construction displays that reinforce the lesson plan. Industry professionals and craftspeople act as judges to the students’ project and provide constructive feedback. The personal interaction with skilled trades workers, engineers and architects provides role models and teaches the breadth of opportunities in the industry. It thereby connects with workforce development in a positive environment.
Teacher workshops provide the opportunity to build a project that takes classroom theory to real-world application.
The Future
For positive economic growth and full opportunities for Americans, our schools must educate students about the highly technical career opportunities in construction. The middle school program has been an important beginning. But, now the career linkage must be taken through high school.
The students who complete the curriculum and competition are inspiring examples of how knowledge and skills, properly developed, can lead to potential jobs in the construction industry—or any technological field. Not all students will want to go into construction—but all students will interact with the built environment. This program gives students an insight into one of the largest industries in the United States and confidence in their own futures.
