McCarthy Introduces High School Students to a Career in Construction

ORANGE and SANTA ANA, Calif. — Employees from McCarthy Building Companies recently gave students of Century High School in Santa Ana a first look at CHOC Children’s new 425,524-square-foot patient tower, which is nearing construction completion. The tour was held in conjunction with the ACE (Architecture, Construction and Engineering) Mentor Program of America, a partnership with building industry professionals and school educators who work together to teach high school age students about the various career opportunities available within the architectural design, engineering and construction fields.

In the ACE Mentor Program, industry professionals, volunteer to become mentors to high school students in order to introduce them to the professions and encourage them to pursue studies and careers in these fields. In return, the construction industry, which is anticipating a shortage of skilled workers as the baby boomer generation continues to retire, gets a much-needed boost of new talent.

McCarthy has participated in the ACE Mentor program for 10 years, and each year the firm teams with an architect or engineer to give students a comprehensive view of what it’s like to work in the building industry. This year, McCarthy is teaming with Tom Nusbickel, AIA, the lead ACE Mentor for Century High School, to mentor approximately 25 students from Century High School in Santa Ana. Rebecca Holliman is the teacher in charge of the group at Century High School.

Over a nine-month period beginning at the start of the school year, the Century High students tour construction jobsites; visit construction, architect and engineering offices and participate in hands-on training at the Local Unions. The students will also complete a final project and present it in front of the other Orange County schools who are participating in the ACE Mentor Program.

As the first outing of the year, McCarthy Project Manager Adam Kaufman, who is the ACE representative for McCarthy, along with the McCarthy project staff from the CHOC Children’s Hospital led the high school students through the McCarthy jobsite offices at CHOC to see the project plans and meet the team involved with the tower project.

Later, the students learned about construction safety, put on hard hats, safety vests, goggles and other safety gear before touring the seven-level building. During the tour, students witnessed the finishing touches being put on the new facility and learned about the hospital construction process. McCarthy project engineers and the project manager in charge of the CHOC project were on hand to provide project information and discuss building elements unique to the CHOC project.

“In the next year or so, each of these students will be making decisions regarding college and potential career choices. Exposure to the construction industry on such a large scale and at this young age can only broaden the horizons of each student’s career path,” said Adam Kaufman.

As a testament to the program, the group at Century High School was among the top three finalists in the country selected to present its ACE Mentor final project in the National ACE Mentor Competition on May 1. The students used 3-D modeling and room/space programming among other new construction technology methods to design the project and create the presentation.