Building Our Future
Orange County Education Outreach Prepares Students for Futures in the Building Industry
By Lawrence Jones, Director of Education, BIA of Orange County
The Building Industry Technology Academy (BITA) is a pilot program that provides high school students with practical skills while bringing relevance to high school academic studies and exposes students to the diverse careers that are available within the construction industry.
In the summer of 2003, more than 50 trades came together and completed a $250,000 remodel of the first facility at Katella High School in the Anaheim. These enhancements converted an underutilized facility into a premiere construction program that offers students in-depth construction knowledge and skills training. In 2006, Building Industry Association of Orange County’s (BIA/OC) membership and education community leaders developed a second site at nearby Western High School, at twice the cost.
In 2007, the BITA curriculum began at Valencia High School in Placentia and BITA is also now being taught at Brea-Olinda High School in Brea.
Since BITA began, it has experienced tremendous success and reached maximum capacity at all three locations. The program has involved approximately 2,200 young people who have taken some portion of the four year program.
The BITA curriculum is a four-year program (freshman through senior years) that teaches high school students in-depth construction knowledge and skills training. It provides unique hands-on construction assignments, mentoring, professional presentations, and field trips to active construction sites. Students experience every facet of residential construction, including site preparation, framing, electrical, plumbing, roofing, and more.
This program is a model for private-public partnerships working to better educate local students. Developed by the BIA/OC in the summer of 2003, they completed a $250,000 remodel donated by members of the BIA/OC and turned the underutilized facility at Katella High School into a premiere construction program. This was done with help from the education leaders at North Orange County Regional Occupation Program and the Anaheim Union High School District.
Team effort
BIA/OC leadership has managed to pull together a diverse educational group that has provided support of the program including the Orange County Department of Education, North Orange County Regional Occupational Program (ROP), Anaheim Union High School District, Fullerton Community College, and Orange Coast Community College.
The school district provides the site while the teachers are primarily paid for by the ROP. BIA/OC and the membership provide industry knowledge for curriculum development. The Southern California Building Industry Education Foundation assists in offsetting the cost for tools, equipment, and consumable materials via funds raised at the Annual BIA/OC Wine County Safari fundraiser.
In order to meet the growing needs for additional BITA programs, the BIA/OC leadership has assisted in the formation of the Southern California Building Industry Education Foundation, 501 (c)3. This allows BIA/OC members to make tax-deductible contributions to BITA of tools, materials and monetary donations. Besides providing support for the all the BITA programs, the foundation also provides scholarships to students thorough the Orange County region.
The Southern California Building Industry Education Foundation in conjunction with BIA/OC has allocated $104,500 over five years for scholarship for Orange County students (not only BITA students) in order to encourage individuals to pursue industry related careers.
Allocations have ranged from $500 - $3,000. Students have attended schools such as Orange Coast Community College, Fullerton Community College, Newport School of Interior Design, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, University of Southern California and University of California, Berkeley.
Preparing for the future
The BITA curriculum has been developed by BIA/OC Members (builders, trade contractors, manufactures, and professional services) in conjunction with the assistance and support of Orange County educational leaders. Besides construction theory, the program incorporates basic academic skills such as reading, math, science and history. BITA curriculum incorporates construction knowledge through hands-on activities, mentoring, and presentations.
Examples of some of the skills include: estimating, blue print reading, site preparation, framing (wood and steel), electrical, plumbing, HVAC, painting, finish carpentry, and roofing. The BITA curriculum also has incorporated the new state required California, Career Technical Education and Federal standards.
Students who participate in the BITA program are well-equipped for imperative life choices after graduation. Whether students work directly for a trade, attend community college for further training, attend a college/university in industry-related studies, or go into an apprentice programs, students obtain practical skills that will be useful for all aspects life.
A recent field trip to Warmington Homes exposed the BITA students to how a homebuilding company manages the various elements of forward planning, development and implementation. During the fieldtrip, students toured the offices and had the opportunity to sit down with Jim Warmington, Jr., President of Warmington Homes California, and the heads of several departments. Over lunch, each department gave students an overview of their specific roles and responsibilities within the organization. They also shared their personal background, previous work experience and the steps they took in acquiring their present position.
Students giving back
Each year BITA students do on-campus improvements, Habitat for Humanity builds, and participate in Paint Your Heart Out projects.
In April 2007, the BITA students at Katella High School took on their most demanding projecting in creating a unique entry to the 2007 HomeAid Project Playhouse annual fundraiser. From conceptualization, design, building and completion, the entry provided students with a hands-on opportunity to learn how to create a structure built to scale.
It was not only the first structure to be designed, built and decorated by high school student, but it was the first playhouse to ever receive a California Green Building certification for its effective use of green building materials, a solar panel, and all-LED lighting.
Their structure, titled LuLu’s Diner, was modeled after a traditional 1950’s restaurants and included state-of-the-art materials, features, and aesthetics. The playhouse featured an i-Pod docking station, PlayStation, surround sound, flat screen television and one-touch control panel.
“The kids are involved in every step of the process. They are eager to learn and are enjoying the experience of getting all their ducks in a row for completion,” said instructor John Puckett, who was extremely pleased with the amount of work and dedication the students put into this project.
This design was one of ten that students created for an in-house competition. After the selections were narrowed down to five by the BITA students, the finalists presented their concepts in front of their peers and industry members. Selected by four BIA/OC member architects and a structural engineer, the winning design was the first step in creating their playhouse. KTGY integrated the students’ ideas and merged them with plausible structural engineering and construction practices. To ensure on-time success of the project, North Orange County Regional Occupational Program held a special BITA summer class at Katella High School for the students to work on their entry.
The playhouse was awarded The Spirit Award, The Imagination Award, The Rainbow Award and the Grand Award – 1st Place.
Statewide support
The program has received support and kudos from around the state. In August 2007, Governor Schwarzenegger personally received BITA students as they took their community involvement on the road and joined another construction program in order to build a snack shack on the State Capitol Steps. The structure was later donated to a Sacramento-area girl’s softball field.
Earlier in 2007, Acting State Secretary of Education Scott Himelstein visited Katella High and stated, “Developing partnerships between schools and local businesses is another great way to prepare students for the competitive nature of the work force they will face after high school. By building these public-private partnerships between key industries and career technical programs, students will have increased access to apprenticeships, internships and on-the-job training. It is in the best interest of the business community and private sector to be more involved with their local high schools in order to develop a skilled work force.”
Lawrence Jones may be reached at ljones@biaoc.com.