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Building
Solutions
Together
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Building
Brighter Futures
“Builders In Progress”
Detroit
Public School Project
Management Team (DPSPMT)
Barton
Malow is part of the six-member Detroit Public
School
Project Management Team (DPSPMT),
overseeing the largest construction program
in Michigan’s history — $1.5-billion.
Workforce
and Career Enhancement
(WACE) Program
The
DPSPMT, subcontractors, architects and engineers
train students through the Workforce
and Career
Enhancement (WACE) initiative, coordinated
by Barton Malow employee Lowell Baker.
WACE
offers internships for college-level design
and construction
management students; pre-professional
jobs for high-school students interested in
the business, design, or CM side of the industry;
and opportunities in the trades. WACE students
also receive training in safe work procedures,
job interviewing, and meeting job obligations.
In addition, many participating companies furnish
scholarships and buy students their own work
tools. To
date, more than 100 students have taken part – 100%
minority and 25% female (the highest level of
female participation in such a program). Many
WACE "alumni" are now pursuing careers
in construction, through employment with local
contractors and apprenticeship programs.
Build
Up! Program
Through
Build Up!, jointly developed by Scholastic,
Inc., and the Associated General
Contractors
of America, teachers introduce 5th graders
to careers in construction. The program integrates
well into a school's academic and technical
curriculum
and reinforces the science, math and social
studies skills taught in the classroom.
Under
DPSPMT, Build-Up! has been offered at four
new elementary
schools: Schulze, Charles Wright,
Howe, and Heilmann Park. The contractors building
the elementary schools generously purchased
the required program kits; Barton Malow is
responsible
for coordination.
Barton
Malow’s Public
Education Group advises school districts considering
the Build Up! program
and participates in the Construction Futures
Advisory Committee, which promotes Build Up!
through the AGC Greater Detroit Chapter.
Oak
Park Business & Education
Alliance (OPBEA)
Membership
The Oak Park Business and
Education Alliance (OPBEA), a continuation
of Consumers Energy
pilot project, helps students become part of
tomorrow’s
workforce. This nonprofit organization of educators,
businesses, and government entities is dedicated
to improving the educational experience of
individual students.
As
a member of the Alliance, Barton Malow Company
recently participated in the OPBEA
Community
Recognition Event, and through its Trade Labor
Group, and is exploring ways to support this
worthwhile organization. |
