BUILDING THEIR WAY TO THE FUTURE

(January 21, 2011)...At the Indiana County Technology Center (ICTC), students have four program areas to choose from that relate to the construction field, Carpentry, Electrical Occupations, Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning, and Masonry.  The Construction Trades industry offers multiple career pathways for students attending the ICTC.  The ICTC students in the construction trades cluster can take the 10 hour Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) course for the construction industry.  This course is designed to teach students certain OSHA-mandated topics, such as an overview of OSHA, tips on how to locate specific OSHA regulations, basic electrical safety, and fall protection.  After the class, attendees receive a certificate of completion to certify they successfully completed the course.  This certificate is good for a lifetime.

All students in Carpentry, Electrical Occupations, Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning, and Masonry have the opportunity to be a member of the National Association of Home Builders Student Chapter.  The Home Builders Student Chapter provides students in building-related fields such as construction management, engineering, architecture, and trades as an opportunity to learn more about residential building through membership in the industry's largest trade association. Through this program, students are given first-hand exposure to the "real word" of the building industry and an invaluable complement to their academic studies.

Each chapter is sponsored by local or state homebuilders association (HBA). The student chapter at the ICTC is sponsored locally by the Indiana-Armstrong Home Builders Association. As a sponsor, the association serves as an invaluable information source for chapters and may provide speakers, summer internships and job opportunities, scholarships and community projects.  So far this year, student members have had the chance to go to the building site of the Sovereign Grace Church and the building site of a house.

Students are under the leadership of Carpentry Instructor, Dennis Overdorff; Electrical Occupations Substitute, Timothy Bash (HBA advisor); Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning Instructor, Matthew Bornak and Masonry Instructor, John Koenigsberg. 

The Indiana County Technology Center's Student Chapter of the Home Builders Association is accepted by the National Association of Home Builders of the United States as an Affiliated Student Chapter.  If you would like more information on the construction trades, please visit our web site www.ictc.ws.

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