Nineteen students from Osceola County high schools graduated last week from the iBuild Pre-Apprenticeship Training Program at Osceola Technical College’s St. Cloud Campus. The six-week program introduced students to careers in utility and construction industries through hands-on experiences and exposure to skilled trades.
“We gave them a little bit of everything, a little bit of carpentry, a little bit of plumbing, a little bit of electrical intertwined with the utility aspect of things,” said Crystal Davidson, vice-president of iBuild Central Florida, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to attract and recruit more people into the commercial trades industry. “Students earn their NCCER Certification, including the NCCER core which is the basics of construction, heavy on safety, hand tools, power tools, blueprint reading, material handling—all those basics that you would need to be a construction helper.”
The students also receive their OSHA 10 certification, and CPR and First Aid training.
“Another big aspect is obviously the hands-on component,” Davidson said. “That’s the main reason we host it over at the St. Cloud campus is because they have a huge lab, and they get to actually build a small, tiny house. They were able to do a little bit of electrical and a little bit of plumbing on that, obviously a lot of carpentry skills. I think the most fun part for them was the actual handson that they were able to do and complete.”
Three field trips; to the OUC, a construction site at the Orange County Convention Center and to the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) center were also included.
“Seeing actual sites and interacting with these people, you learn things that you would never find on Google,” said Jordan Martinez, one of the graduating students. “You have to go there, you have to see it in person. It really makes a difference Having this program has forever changed how I see construction and this career, and it seems like a really great career path to follow.”
Fellow grad Jesus Rondon was recognized with the Golden Hammer Award.
“The students this year were very good,” said Jay Avant, Building Technology Technologies Instructor at Osceola Technical College, who is the supervising handson instructor for the fourth year. “They come to study. Quite a few of them, they don’t realize what all construction entails when they come in. They think, ‘OK I see a building’, and that’s it. They don’t realize about the architecture, the engineering, the supply chains where everybody needs to get their materials. But once they see it, they start realizing ‘hey, there’s more to it.’ And then when they start seeing what kind of money they can make being a carpenter or being a superintendent and don’t have to go the college route to get there, they decide okay, this is the way to go.
“They learn all the aspects of construction, and they also have to do the math. I ask them every year—how many of you like math, and they all go ‘nah’ and I go ‘well in construction you’ve got to know math.’ And then they realize that what they were learning in school that they’ve always been thinking ‘I’m never going to use this’, when they learn the Pythagorean Theorem—they use it quite a bit in construction, they think ’oh, maybe that teacher wasn’t just pulling my leg, maybe I do need that’.”
“This class taught us more than construction,” said Gianna Peters, another graduate. “It taught us the importance of hard work, teamwork, responsibility and always putting safety first.”
The program was sponsored by the Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC), iBuild Central Florida, Turner Construction and the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) of Central Florida in partnership with the Osceola County Public Schools. While long active in Orange County, this marks OUC’s first venture of this sort into Osceola County. “Coming together on a partnership like this to provide capital dollars and the funding to make sure this happens is something we’re really proud about.,” said Alandus Sims, who oversees the Empowerment Zone for OUC.
“We love doing this every summer.” said Michelle Overstreet with the Adult Learning Center of Osceola Technical College. “The students have been amazing.”
