Masonry Magazine November 2008 Page. 25
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
* MCAA, 800-536-2225, www.masoncontractors.org
* RMMI, 303-893-3838, www.mmi.org
* MITA, 800-995-4540, www.trainmason.com
* IMI, 800-803-0295, www.imiweb.org
Amy Vasquez-Webb. "There's never going to be a machine that will take the place of handcraftsmanship. It's job security." IMAS
K.K. Snyder is an Albany, Ga-based freelancer writer and editor. She can be reached at kkondeadline@hotmail.com.
razzo, stone, plaster and restoration and to understand the advantages of craftworker-designer collaboration.
The two professions work not as adversaries, but as members of teams working on a design-build challenge. That team challenge requires both professions to experience each other's job in intense hands-on sessions, both in the design studio and on the construction site. Masonry Camp is a team experience designed around hands-on learning and applied to design-build challenges.
Getting through the IMI certification is no easy task. Participants have to pass a written test, as well as hands-on skills performances. Contractor College includes a curriculum of 64 credit hours and completion of the intense Manual of Professional Practice.
Masonry Industry Training Association
AMY VASQUEZ-WEBB is the Southern California executive director for the Masonry Industry Training Association (MITA), formed by a group of contractors concerned about the lack of qualified laborers within the industry. The association, led initially by block manufacturers, began taking the mason training programs into high schools, adult education centers, colleges and other outlets, soliciting vendors and customers to help supply all the materials, tools and books students needed to complete the program.
The program recently celebrated its 10th anniversary and has built to 180 members with about 1,000 students enrolled in the mason program across 25 schools, says Vasquez-Webb.
"People are getting hands-on training, either working day jobs and learning a new skill at night, or learning to just build something in their own backyard," she says, adding that there is a diverse enrollment in the three-year journeyman program, which has expanded into Idaho. "We're hoping it'll give them something to fall back on in this economy."
Most instructors in the program are retired from the masonry industry or have left the jobsite permanently due to injury. Their rich experience in the field is invaluable to students participating in the MITA.
"When we train people, we like to let them know masonry doesn't just have to be a job; it can be a career, concludes Vasquez-Webb.
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