FGCU hosted Southwest Florida\u2019s first-ever Masonry showcase for aspiring masons and apprentices of the trade on Saturday, Dec. 6. The competition was organized by South Fort Myers and East Lee High Schools, as well as Florida Masonry, to provide students with experience in working with time constraints and blueprints.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a great opportunity for them to experience real-world job site conditions,\u201d Executive Director of Florida Masonry Donna Hinson said. \u201cThere are so many different types of jobs that you can have within the industry.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The first hour gave participants time to set up their stations and prepare everything. The competition kicked off at 9 a.m. after an opening speech by one of the organizers. Each competitor was given an identical blueprint to complete within the two-hour time limit, allowing enough time for their structures to be judged.<\/p>\n
The participants were critiqued on how long they took to build their structure, the proportions, tidiness and more. Contractors from around the area attended the event, with some acting as judges and others scouting for potential hires.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of these students here today are graduating this month or in the spring, and so they\u2019re being looked at and interviewed by contractors that have come here today to see what the programs are producing, and some of them will probably have jobs as a result of competing in this contest,\u201d Hinson said.<\/p>\n
One of the contractors, Bob Withers of Commercial Concrete Systems in Naples, competed in brick laying competitions himself before and it was his second time watching one. His son was one of the competitors. He mentioned what he looks for in employees.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d be looking for people that are leaders. They use their tools properly. They check their dimensions,\u201d Withers said. \u201cThey got to be conscientious, quality is everything in this business.\u201d<\/p>\n
The high schoolers are involved in a pre-apprenticeship program, gaining training to build skills rather than having to learn on the job. This is to make it easier for them to be hired.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201c[I told them] to support these students who have given up their Saturday to participate here, and to let those students know that there are opportunities just outside the door,\u201d Hinson said. \u201cI also wanted the contractors to see what the students are learning, and how important that\u2019s going to be for their business to actually hire these students when they graduate.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Masonry isn\u2019t among the top contenders for young people as they consider careers after graduating high school. However, competitors of the Masonry Showcase and everyone who attended that day stressed how important a trade like this really is, especially for younger generations.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe median age of everyone in the construction industry has got to be in the 50 to 70 years old. What does that say to a crop of 20-somethings? Tons of opportunities,\u201d Hinson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She emphasized Floridians need good architecture to combat the common issues they experience in homes and buildings, which are typically hurricanes, mold and termites. Concrete blocks help protect from those problems. Hinson learned masonry from the financial side, first managing business and finances for Florida Masonry.\u00a0<\/p>\n
South Fort Myers High School senior Jacob Smith was announced as the winner.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Smith has always been interested in construction, which is why he enrolled in South Fort Myers High School\u2019s masonry program. He is one of severa students looking to be hired by a contractor after he graduates. Smith said he believes neatness, time management and staying on the measurements helped contribute to his win..<\/p>\n
\u201cI laid the first course and it was off, so I had to redo it like three times, but eventually I got it,\u201d Smith said. \u201cMy confidence in what I can do under pressure, I did way better than I expected so I\u2019m just really happy about it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FGCU hosted Southwest Florida\u2019s first-ever Masonry showcase for aspiring masons and apprentices of the trade on Saturday, Dec.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":100248,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[209,211,210],"class_list":{"0":"post-100247","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cape-coral","8":"tag-cape-coral","9":"tag-cape-coral-headlines","10":"tag-cape-coral-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100247"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100247\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}