By Hope J. Gibbs, Techniques Contributing Writer
America is facing a skilled labor shortage in the construction industry. Predictions, like those from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, are that things may get worse. Retiring construction workers must be replaced if this industry is to grow. The estimate is around a quarter of a million replacements are needed each year.
But, how do you attract young people into a profession that has been stereotypically looked upon as menial and low paying? One school has accepted the challenge with industry support, and the future builders of tomorrow are walking its halls.
People will always need places in which to live and eat, work and play, meet and learn, shop and be entertained, or receive care and rehabilitate. But without an adequate skilled labor force, who will build such facilities? In the third-largest school system in the nation, the first high school ever backed by the construction industry opened its doors for the 2004-2005 school year.
Chicago’s ACE Tech Charter High School is the brainchild of a group of construction industry leaders who are aware of and concerned about the growing shortage of skilled craftsmen necessary to keep their trade viable and workforce replenished. ACE Tech was created to prepare highly qualified inner city youths to fill the future growing employment needs in the construction industry.
Across the nation, there is an emergence of charter schools, each with its own focus and unique mission. ACE Tech’s mission is “to provide the highest levels of instruction, academic achievement and exemplary character development to prepare students for college or apprenticeship education.”
A charter school may set its own policies for curricula but is held accountable for student academic achievement by the board of education, which provides a percentage of the school’s funding. Additional funding often comes from special interest groups and fundraising. ACE Tech has the backing of the building trades such as plumbing, pipefitting, carpentry, engineering and construction. For instance, the Chicago-area International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) and National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) jointly contributed $100,000, and a labor management association, Construction Industry Service Corporation, donated $50,000.
Community organizations, foundations and even universities have sponsored charter schools, but to see the building trades come together as they have to “construct” ACE Tech is inspirational. This has given career and technical education a boost, the building industry hope, and most importantly, the possibility of a promising future for the students who attend ACE Tech.
The world always looks different through different sets of eyes. Chicago’s inner city youth may view education as a way out, but like many kids across the nation, they still may not know exactly what it is they want to do occupationally, and finding a place to fit in can be problematic. Schools such as ACE Tech can give students a head start for entering a career or going on to college. The school’s administrators are hoping that prospective students will see that there is a bright future for those who want to work hard, and that entering the fields of architecture, construction or engineering can be rewarding.
Attracting young people to the construction industry is a challenge, however. There is a negative image about skilled labor careers. Many young people view such jobs as “below them,” menial and low paying. This is far from the truth.
For instance, according to the Occupational Outlook Handbook, pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters make up one of the largest and highest paid construction occupations. In 2002, this group made a median hourly earning of $19.31. The report also indicates that as skills increase, wages increase. Another plus is that the young and inexperienced apprentices receive the same benefits as experienced pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters.
The most significant point made by the handbook about this group was that job opportunities should be excellent, because not enough people are seeking training. This is an open invitation to young people who are considering the diverse options building trades offer, and ACE Tech is hoping that by exposing students to the various aspects of the construction industry, it will help them make informed decisions about their future careers while simultaneously preparing them with life skills that will aid them professionally and personally.
Organizations like Chicago’s Mechanical Contractors Association (MCA) and United Association’s Local Union 597, one of the largest pipefitting local unions, have joined together in aggressive campaigns to change the perception that the youth of today have about the building trades. One of their most creative programs has been the “Tomorrow Team.” A comic book and a CD contain colorful characters such as Service Tech Dude and Pipefitter Chick, “just two ordinary citizens who pursue exciting careers in the piping industry.” The goal is to attract more people to enroll in apprenticeship programs.
One of ACE Tech’s goals is to prepare students for such a program. It is a very imaginative way to present the industry to young people of all ages and is presented in both English and Spanish.
The need for skilled laborers alone does not qualify students for the jobs. As much as the building trades industry would like to fill the many existing and impending vacancies, they want applicants who are interested in the field and who are prepared. ACE Tech has adopted rigorous academic and character development courses, offering an accelerated college preparatory curriculum that includes the equivalence of six years of math, four years of science and eight years of language arts. In addition, all ACE Tech students are required to take the ACT and SAT college entrance exams.
“ACE’s aim is to provide its students with ‘Options Plus’—the option to attend college or be exceptionally prepared to score well on the apprenticeship entrance exams,” says Pablo Sierra, ACE Tech’s chief educational officer. “Equally important to its academic mission, ACE has a very structured and highly disciplined character development program in place.”
Among some of the unique elements of the program are:
- the ACE Advisory, an all boys or girls guidance session that is part of the core curriculum and is designed so the teacher loops with the same students for all four years
- a merit/demerit system in which teachers issue demerits for violating any of 15 “non-negotiable” policies
- a Homework Resource where students are required to stay one-and-a-half hours after school if they do not do their homework
- a student uniform policy that stipulates no gym shoes, the ACE logo polo shirts must be tucked into dark blue dress slacks with belts, and no excess jewelry or earrings on girls with none allowed on boys
- freshmen only admittance because the ACE curriculum is structured to provide a seamless full four-year program that does not allow for transfers from secondary schools
“An example of ACE’s character development efforts can be seen when one knocks on a classroom door on any given day,” explains Sierra. “A randomly selected student greeter eagerly welcomes each visitor with intense eye contact, a firm handshake and a proper salutation. This is followed by an explanation of the daily lesson and an invitation into the room. This script is played out at every classroom visit.”
Sierra notes that, although some may view these gestures as somewhat artificial and put on, the “greeter program” as well as other institutionalized rituals are designed to instill discipline and strength of character in ACE students.
“In fact,” Sierra says, “the ACE Tech administration sees this as an integral part of the curriculum that is on equal footing with other core subjects. The ACE mantra is that students can’t control many of the external variables that affect their learning or count on having dynamic self-sacrificing teachers. They can, however, count on themselves. The discipline to learn and succeed must be nurtured and internalized.”
“Initial results seem tentatively promising,” notes Sierra with only 12 weeks into ACE Tech’s first year. “The main goal has been to establish the core base of academic essentials and discipline so that students will be well prepared to ascend to the specialized world of construction-related trades and professions. These curriculum tracks are still on the drawing board as ACE looks to develop the programs in time for the promotion of its first-ever freshmen class to sophomore year.”
Reports show that ACE students have increased their math scores by 10 percentage points since their initial ACT entrance exams last July.
“There have been zero incidents of such common high school ailments as fighting, cutting class or gang-related activities,” says Sierra. “ACE students are universally acknowledged as well mannered and well dressed wherever they visit. Racially diverse and having quickly garnered a reputation as a ‘no excuses’ regimented learning oasis, ACE Tech has become the school of choice in the troubled Southside Chicago neighborhood it calls home.”
- Techniques January 2004 Issue - 
