The Alaska Contractor - Summer 2008

Urban Alaska
EDUCATION, TRAINING &
WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT REPORT
“Our Mission: through Alaska Construction Academy
effort, Alaskan students and adults will be recruited, trained
and placed into jobs in the construction industry.”
– Kathleen Castle, Executive Director
of the Alaska Construction Academy
This year, 2008, Construction Academies statewide will
teach basic skills to 1,000 high school students and 300
adults to prepare them for jobs in construction. Through
$3.5 million appropriated by Gov. Sarah Palin and the Legislature,
Construction Academies were established in urban
communities that had a local chapter of the Alaska State
By ROBERT CRESS,
Training Director
Together with the effective efforts of our many partners in industry, government, and education, AGC of Alaska continues to see
substantial gains in workforce development and specialized contractor training throughout Alaska.
In Ketchikan, nine adult students recently
completed the academy’s first class, held
at the University of Alaska Southeast Ketchi-
BY PAM ROTH
kan campus. Basic Construction Techniques,
a 50-hour class, used classroom teaching and hands-on experiences
that provided an overview of tool usage, building procedures
and codes, job site planning, layout and foundation,
floor, wall and roof framing methods.
“It’s a great way to train a workforce in the community
where they’ll live and work,” says Wendy Gierard, assistant
director of workforce development at UAS-Ketchikan.
“We’re teaching them what is expected from an entry
level laborer on the job,” says Charles “Chas” Edwardson, a
UAS adjunct professor and a general contractor in Ketchikan
for the past 14 years.
The Southern Southeast Alaska Building Industry Association,
SSEABIA, is working to place the students into
on-the-job training summer work with local builders, and
is working in partnership with the Ketchikan Gateway Borough
School District to make sure the curriculum being
taught meets the needs of the local industry.
Additional courses will be offered at UAS-Ketchikan. A
unique aspect of the academy is that there is no cost to the
participants – the academy pays for all tuition, books, tools
and supplies.
Similar to other academies, Ketchikan reaches out to
high school students as well as adult learners. Construction
Academy grant funding is provided to hire an additional
construction trades teacher at the high school. The academy
is setting up a “tech-prep agreement” for dual credit.
Chas Edwardson said he believes the focus on high
Home Builders Association. Construction Academy training
is offered in two components: high school students and
adult learners. High school students receive high school
credit and in some cases, college credit for the courses (dual
credit). The adult component offers training in the evenings
and Saturdays. Both receive hands-on training by experts in
the construction trades.
While you will find similarities and differences among
the individual academies, all share the same mission: giving
student and adult participants new opportunities to explore
one or more construction trades that may lead to rewarding
careers in construction.
Academy adult students working on their shed project being built at the
Ketchikan Indian Community parking lot.
school students is especially important.
“We’re getting older and the younger people are not
stepping in,” he said. “We need to focus more on vocational
training in the high schools. Hopefully, the academy will
help generate more students from the high school.”
Partners include the SSEABIA, UAS-Ketchikan, Ketchikan
Gateway Borough School District, AGC of Alaska, Ketchikan
Job Center, Ketchikan Indian Community, Ketchikan
Youth Initiatives and Alaska Works Partnership.
Pam Roth is the executive officer for Southern Southeast
Building Industry Association.