Masonry Magazine December 2017 Page. 91
when an opening occurs. The masonry program requires that the student must have a 9.0 or higher in reading and math to receive a Florida Depart�ment of Education Certifi�cate of Completion.
The Florida Department of Corrections has estab�1ished a highly effective Career and Technical Education system in their institutions. The FMAEF has a great working rela�tionship with the eleven FDC Masonry Training Programs throughout the State. They played a key role in establishing the NCCER Masonry Cur�riculum as the curriculum taught by the FDC. These 11 masonry programs have an average of 25 students all year. This means that at any given time there are well over 200 inmates receiving masonry training. Classes are six hours per day. Participants receive both classroom and hands on training and they begin the process to obtain their OSHA Ten Cards and NCCER Blue Card and Credentials.
FMAEF provides Industry Speakers who give pre�sentations to the inmates to inform them about our trade. The FMAEF offers additional education and training to the masonry instructors through a Train the Trainer Work�shop. The FMAEF has also certified the FDC masonry instructors to be masonry judges and they help judge the Fastest Trowel, Brick 500, FMAEF Apprentice Contest, and the annual Florida Skills State Masonry Contest.
In September of 2016, Robert Melgaard, a third-generation ma�son and the instructor at Baker Correctional in Sanderson, Florida, worked with the FMAEF to host an Open House for Mason Contractors and Suppliers. The pur�pose of this event was to demonstrate what the masonry program teach�es and give them an op�portunity to meet the in�mates in their classroom and work area. This was the first time an event of this kind has taken place inside the wire. The contractors spent over four hours inside. They saw and heard what the inmates do as they learn their ma�sonry skills. The inmates heard directly from the contractors which skills they require in a worker
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