Masonry Magazine May 2002 Page. 17
Arundel County
Arundel County sends approximately 1,500 students annually. The masonry program is one of twenty eight trade and technical programs offered. It is a three-year program that serves between 50-60 students. Real world experiences are obtained from building projects for local schools and communities. Projects over the last couple of years have included: baseball dugouts and two 28' X 40 X 12' block storage buildings for two of our feeder schools. We built a 48' X 24' split-face block storage for a local little league. We also build two or three brick, block, or stone signs annually with the latest being a brick sign for the Anne Arundel County Fire Headquarters.
One of our most inspiring projects was built in our shop for our open house in October, 2001. Students constructed a 10' 8" X 16' American flag using split-face block, red brick & glazed block. CAT-N Masonry has a partnership with the Masonry Institute of Maryland and BAC local #1 of Maryland, District of Columbia and Virginia.
Massachusetts
About 2 years ago the New England Concrete Masonry Association joined forces with an association known as the Massachusetts Trowel Trades Association. This group, made up of and run by vocational school masonry instructor volunteers, is very active in supporting masonry training in the state. They also welcome those from outside Massachusetts. This group has held three major events each year. The first, in the fall, is a masonry seminar, which acts as a professional development opportunity for the instructors. They organize a day of presentations from experts on the masonry industry and invite all instructors to attend. In the February timeframe they hold their annual "Masonry Knowledge & Safety Bowls" which challenge students on the textbook instructional aspect of masonry. And finally, in May they hold a "Best Trowel Competition" which allows student teams to compete in the skills area of masonry.
This year the group is consolidating these separate events into a single Career Days event in early April. Added to the program will be seminars and demonstrations for contractors and architects as well as an additional competitive element for students to better display their talents to this new audience. The level of effort and results produced but this grassroots volunteer group is truly amazing and deserving of recognition.
Dugouts for local baseball and softball diamonds are a popular off campus project for many schools. This one was constructed by students in Buffalo, New York.
Rolla, Missouri
Mr. Harold Martin, masonry instructor at Rolla Technical Institute (RTI) and his students have been involved with a variety of community service projects this year. Recently, an elderly couple lost their home as a result of fire. Four of the twenty-six masonry students and Mr. Martin volunteered an entire weekend to complete a block foundation for the couple's new home. The class also helped the Rolla Lions Club remove an existing park pavilion and rebuild the new pavilion's foundation. In addition to the community service, the masonry students complete all the brickwork for the RTI construction trades tech house.
The University of Missouri-Rolla (UMR) is carrying out a comprehensive research program in conjunction with the Rolla Technical Institute (RTI). Unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings represent a large part of the building inventory around the world. Recent earthquakes have shown that performance of URM walls has not been adequate when subjected to seismic loads. Failure of URM walls can be prevented and/or lessened by using Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) composite materials. Test results have demonstrated the effectiveness of FRP composites as a mean to strengthen URM walls. The masonry specimens were built by students of the RTI Masonry Program as part of their training. The RTI students of have also been involved in the strengthening of the walls. These tasks have been conducted under the supervision of their instructor Mr. Harold Martin in coordination with Dr. Gustavo Tumialan and Mr. Jason Cox from UMR. The main objectives of this research program are to provide design recommendations for the strengthening of URM walls with FRP composites.
West Plains, Missouri
The Masonry Program at West Plains is a two year program for 11th and 12th grade students and post secondary students (adults). The program covers all aspects of the masonry trade. Each year the students brick veneer a home. This project also includes brick steps, brick sidewalks, concrete poured driveways, mailboxes and fireplaces. The students also participate in many hands-on projects throughout the community, some of which include Habitat for Humanity, set up at the Home and Garden Show, and the stone work on our Community Welcome Center. This program is also active in SkillsUSA-VICA and last year one secondary and one post secondary student took first place honors at the state competition and went on to place at Nationals. Randy Schutjer, masonry instructor, considers his masonry class to be a beginning apprenticeship, and he tries to prepare his students for the