Oklahoma Team Wins AEM's Construction Challenge

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The Link-Belt-sponsored team from Englewood, Ohio, won second place overall in the competition.

March 18, 2008 • An Oklahoma team has won the first ever Construction Challenge held at last week's ConExpo. Teams from Illinois, New Jersey, Ohio and Texas also took home top honors in the teen competition, which was initiated by the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM).

More than 50 student teams competed at the event, drawing hundreds of spectators watching the students compete. The teams built pieces of “construction equipment,” debated other teams on infrastructure issues and created interactive educational products to help spread the word about construction careers and equipment.

First place went to a team from Perry High School in Perry, Okla. Team members were Amy Bieberdorf, Kelsey Cave, Evan Williams, Cassandra Bratcher, Daniel Cross, Dakota Johnson and Trevor Kukuk.

The group's teamwork during the Road Warrior challenge • with self-built “construction equipment” • impressed judges, competitors and on-lookers. Each team member won a $2,000 scholarship and a computer.

“Lots of hard work paid off,” Williams said.

“We learned time management and problem-solving skills, and we logged lots of hours after school to get ready,” said team member Kelsey Cave.

“We built the whole [Road Warrior] course at school so the team could walk in feeling confident and prepared,” said Jeff Zagar, the team's manager, a technical education teacher. “We logged our hours and each team member an average of 112 hours in prep time.”

A total of seven teams won titles and prizes. The team taking 3rd Place Overall, the only all-girls team in the competition, also won 1st place in two of the three challenges, Dialogue and Product Development. Their product, a coloring book for young girls, will now be used by the construction industry as an educational tool to introduce more young people to careers in construction.

The construction industry will create more than 1 million new jobs by 2012, but currently there are not enough skilled workers to fill all the jobs. AEM, in partnership with Destination ImagiNation, Inc., initiated the Construction Challenge specifically to engage the interest of teens in careers in the industry through a hands-on, educational experience. The Construction Challenge offered a chance for students, teachers, parents and community leaders to learn more about this growing industry. They also learned about the industry's need for skilled employees to deal with infrastructure problems of crumbling bridges, overcrowded roadways and aging water and wastewater systems.

“The response that these students have gotten is better than we dreamed of when we started this project 17 months ago,” said Al Cervero, senior vice president at AEM. “Not only were ConExpo-Con/AGG attendees checking out the challenges, they were talking about the need to increase awareness of the industry and the great jobs that are available. They were stunned by the creativity and knowledge on display this week by all of the teams.”

Construction Challenge 2008 Results:

1st Place Overall

Perry Public Schools, Perry, Okla.

Additional honors: 1^st Place in Road Warrior Challenge

Sponsor: Ditch Witch

2nd Place Overall

Miami Valley Career Technical Center, Englewood, Ohio

Additional honors: 2^nd Place in Road Warrior Challenge

Sponsor: Link-Belt Cranes

3rd Place Overall

West Geauga High School, Chesterland, Ohio

Additional honors: 1^st Place in Product Development and Dialogue

Sponsor: Caterpillar Inc.

2nd Place Dialogue

Bartlett High School, Bartlett, Ill.

Additional honors: Bartlett High School had four teams competing in the finals, more than any other school.

Sponsor: Bomag Americas

2nd Place Product Development

Mahwah High School, Mahwah, N.J.

Additional honors: 3rd Place Dialogue

Sponsor: Manitowoc Crane Group

3rd Place Road Warrior

Jesuit Prep Academy, Dallas, Texas

Sponsor: Volvo Construction Equipment

3rd Place Product Development

Highland Park High School, Highland Park, Ill.

Sponsor: Miller Electric Manufacturing Co.

The students competed in three challenges:

Infrastructure Dialogue (counted for 30 percent of overall): Teams researched infrastructure issues (such as drinking water systems, road and highway systems and bridges), and were randomly assigned to answer a policy-related question on one of these topics. They worked with another team to present their answers and then took questions on the topic from the panel of judges and from the audience.

Equipment & Careers (30 percent): Teams researched, designed and developed an interactive educational resource or product to help teach specific audiences about construction careers and equipment. Teams identified a target audience, designed their product, tested and revised it before traveling to the finals.

Road Warrior (40 percent): Teams built one or more equipment devices used during this challenge. First, two teams worked together to finish a partially completed infrastructure that included a road, a bridge and a pipeline. Once completed, the collaborating teams were pitted against each other to move the most gravel across their newly completed infrastructure, using their team-built equipment.