Masonry Magazine January 2003 Page. 40
MCAA News
Joint training funds enable union apprenticeships to keep pace with new technology. Plumbing and pipefitting apprenticeships, for example, train workers in precision orbital welding that can achieve tolerances of up to 1/10,000th of an inch. Precise welding is critical to the construction of high-tech facilities such as air-tight clean rooms in computer chip plants that must be 100 times cleaner than hospital operating rooms.
The CALM apprenticeship report also uncovers, for the first time, rising rates of post-secondary education among unionized construction workers, signaling opportunities to combine apprenticeship with low-cost college.
The share of unionized workers in Pennsylvania construction occupations with some post high-school education has jumped from 16 to 28 percent since 1983-85, with only a 12 to 15 percent rise among non-union workers.
Rising educational attainment stems partly from articulation agreements that ensure college credit for classroom training in joint apprenticeships.
Many joint training funds also make it possible for workers to continue on after apprenticeship to acquire subsidized two-or four-year college degrees.
These findings suggest that, while the college option once siphoned off many apprenticeship candidates, including the children of former skilled trades workers, the ability to combine apprenticeship with low-cost college now gives union programs a leg up in attracting high-quality students. Apprenticeship today opens the door to careers in management and engineering for workers.
"Union construction apprenticeships," said Stephen Herzenberg, workforce economist and report co-author, "offer important."
Home Building Game
New CD-ROM Home Building Game Outstrips Early Expectations of Success with Educators and Students
It's no surprise that kids are scrambling to turn learning into fun by using the new multimedia home building game from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). Enormous teacher demand has exhausted the first run of 10,000 CD-ROMs in just six weeks, compelling the association go back to the presses for a second run.
"We are overwhelmed and gratified by the reception and success of Building Homes of Our Own among the education community," said F. Gary Garczynski, president of NAHB and a builder/developer from Woodbridge, Va. "This first-of-its kind teaching tool challenges middle and high school students to build a virtual house, presenting a real-life, balanced view of what it takes to build a new home. Kids get a hip simulation game that also incorporates the realities of budgets, timelines and consequences of their decisions-and if they do well, students unlock more difficult levels," he added.
Building Homes of Our Own is part of the ongoing educational outreach initiative of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). Responding to the impact computers are having on classroom instruction and the way children learn, NAHB aimed to develop a program that takes advantage of new technologies. The program is partially funded by NAHB's National Housing Endowment www.nationalhousingendowment.org, Freddie Mac www.freddiemac.com and the Fannie Mae Foundation www.fanniemaefoundation.org.
The delivery of Building Homes of Our Own by request to educators and through NAHB members across the country conservatively translates into a reach of 281,925 students, 16,110 teachers and 338,310 parents-in just a few short weeks. Demand continues to grow as teachers share the resource with each other and more NAHB affiliated builder associations reach out to their local educators.
Building Homes of Our Own features three levels of play within each of the four building sites in urban, suburban, rivers and lakes, and coastline settings. Throughout the game, players encounter a variety of obstacles and issues that test their skill, patience and resourcefulness. Players can elect to perform lab testing, conduct research or call upon special consultants and engineers to help them arrive at sound decisions that satisfy environmental concerns or nervous neighbors. Attending a virtual town meeting or working within community planning and zoning laws are just a few of the many challenges students will encounter.
The program won the support of the National Association of Elementary School Principals at their 2002 annual meeting in San Antonio, Texas, and is a finalist for an Electronic Multimedia Award (EMMAs), a prestigious competition involving over 500 entries worldwide.
Building Homes of Our Own is free to educators. A comprehensive, 200-page Teacher's Guide on the CD-ROM provides additional activities, exercises and projects for single classrooms, integrative learning and even distance learning applications. Also built into the game is a 22-minute tutorial that introduces teachers and students to the classroom tool.
Parents and students are urged to let their teachers know this resource is now available. Building Homes of Our Own is compatible with the Windows Operating System. To order, visit www.HomesOfOurOwn.org.