Three teams of Lebanon County Career and Technology Center students from various programs competed against each other at the Lebanon County Home Show last week to decide who would represent Lebanon County in next year’s district competition by building mockups that were judged by industry professionals.
One mason, one carpenter, one plumber, and one electrician had to put together the mockups in around 10 hours.
All of the participating students are juniors, so plumbing, heating, and air-conditioning instructor Doug Kless said he’s especially proud of the group. They’ve only been learning their trade at the CTC for several months.
“They really challenged themselves, but they really came through,” he said Saturday, the last day of the show. “We couldn’t be more proud because when one team would be done with something and another team needed help, even though it’s a competition, they were always willing to jump in and help out a fellow tradesman.”
The winning team will go on to the district competition next year when they are seniors. The winner of the district competition will move on to the state level, and the winner of that can move on to the national show in Atlanta, Georgia.
Eric Derr, electrical engineering instructor, said they introduced the competition to their classes and asked for volunteers.
He said there was some trepidation, but they eventually got on board. They ended up with more volunteers than they had space for on the competition teams.
“Some were a little bit more reluctant than others because, to their estimation, they didn’t have the experience that they thought was necessary,” Derr said. “We expressed to them if you’ve never done it before, you won’t be able to say that tomorrow.”
Students who didn’t make it onto the final competition teams, he said, still helped out however they could in the classroom by doing some of the preparation work back in the classroom.
Beyond the basic hands-on skills they developed throughout the experience, he said it was also an experience in learning how to effectively communicate and work with people of other disciplines on a worksite.
Kless said the CTC classes haven’t competed this way for several years, but the group of newer instructors wanted to bring it back.
“We like to give the kids as much opportunity as possible to showcase their talents, whether it’s in the individual programs that they’re in or the teamwork competition,” he said.
At the Home Show were also various local employers. CTC students could walk around, introduce themselves, and network.
Carrie Boyer, project manager at Woodland Contractors, said she had many students coming up to her throughout the several days they were there. One even applied to be an apprentice over the summer.
“When I stopped over to see how they were doing, they were pitching themselves to me,” she said. “They make themselves known.”
She said she has had great experience hiring out of the Lebanon CTC and local CTC programs. Some have stuck around for decades.
The main benefit the programs offer the students is background information and some hands-on knowledge. Juniors and seniors from all Lebanon County high schools have the opportunity to spend half of their school day learning their preferred trade. When they get into the workforce, they have information and skills that can be built upon.
“Just the amount of work ethic and the skills that they’re learning while they’re at the CTC are really setting them up so that they can come into the workforce and hit the ground running,” Boyer said. “Obviously, there’s a lot more to learn, but as far as initial information and learning how to operate and even just behave on a work site, it gives them a much better feel for what the real world is like and gets them exposed to all that.”
Ashley Fickel, executive director of Lebanon County Builders Association – which put the show together – said she was glad the Lebanon students are back to competing. She said she stopped by throughout the show as they were working, and she was impressed with their attitudes and enthusiasm to learn more.
“I see a good future finally,” she said. “I think they are eager, more than they have been in the past. I think they want to do more hands-on things, and this is an outlet to give them that. There’s nothing but future employers walking through these halls.”
Between the several days they were in the building, she said they only had around 8 to 10 hours because they had to work around school schedules. And they get to tear it all down on Monday, saving as much of the resources as they can so it can be reused by classes later.
“That’s why us as instructors see that as such an impressive thing, and it just shows that they’re determined,” Kless said. “They got it done, and they have to clean it all up, too.”
Brennan Lurch, a junior mason on one of the teams, said working with a group wasn’t his first choice, but he was ultimately glad he did it.
“I had a blast,” he said. “I had a good time working with my team, meeting new people — it was fun.”
Outside of his masonry, he said he also learned more about carpentry from his groupmates, who shared their knowledge and made sure everyone stayed involved throughout the entire building process.
It wasn’t just the teachers who noticed improved communication skills. Lurch said he was more comfortable and learned how to work alongside others.
“It did help with my communication skills and I felt like I’m more of a people person now,” he said. “It gave me an opportunity to learn different trades, work with different people. All together, a good time and I’m happy I did it.”
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