Career Exploration Event Set For Sept. 14
Penn Manor High School and Warfel Construction will host a "Careers in Construction Exploration Event" for parents and students from 9 to 11 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 14, at the construction site on the high school campus, 100 E. Cottage Ave., Millersville.
During the event, participants will tour the site and learn about construction careers, including the roles of carpenters, electricians, HVAC technicians, plumbers, project managers, virtual design coordinators, drone pilots, and construction superintendents. The event is not limited to Penn Manor students and is open to any student in grades seven to 12. Student attendees must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
The deadline to register is Monday, Sept. 9. To register, readers may visit http://www.warfelcc.com/student_tour.
Sept. 14 will not be the first time Warfel and the high school have collaborated. For Penn Manor High School students and staff members, the massive construction project that began this past year at the school brought parking restrictions, relocated classrooms, and the constant din of heavy equipment just outside classrooms and offices. It also provided opportunities for students to learn about real-world math, engineering, and design applications and to study the life cycle of trees.
Math students learned how construction workers and surveyors use trigonometry and algebra in the field. Agricultural mechanics students learned about the inner workings of a temporary ag shop as it was being built, and plant science students got to examine the rings of a tree cut down as part of the project.
Warfel Construction also established an internship that enabled one student to attend weekly construction meetings and visit on-site work, and groups of students were able to tour the construction site and learn about the excavating, plumbing, drywall, technology, and other trades represented by the workers they observed.
"When there's a construction site in your back yard, you take advantage of the valuable career exploration for your students," said Michelle Wagner, support and transition teacher at the school. "This fits into our goal of transition and preparing students for life after high school."
Staff members from Warfel and Boro Construction, the electrical contractor on the project, visited three of math teacher Gary Luft's classes in April and May to talk about their roles in the project.
"The students were given an overview and the phasing of the total construction project, as well as an explanation of what was currently being done on site," Luft said. "It was very beneficial for the students to hear from the experts in the field."
Meagan Slates' plant science class got to examine the remains of a giant tree cut down during construction as part of a "Tree of Life" lab. Students counted the tree stump's growth rings to estimate the age of the tree - more than 50 years - and then compared it to the tree they were studying in the lab.
"This was a great experience, and I'm so thankful that Warfel and the Penn Manor administration were so open to sharing these experiences with our students," Slates said.
The interactions were designed to help demystify the construction field, said Warfel project engineer Kevin McGuire. "We want to involve the students and then turn that into a discussion about what they plan to do in the future. What's going on outside the window, and how could that involve you?" he said. "We need more conversations like that in the education field."
McGuire said he hopes to continue the collaboration as the construction project progresses over the next two years.
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