Centre County Grange to Host Youth Construction Career Day

Over 800 high school students are expected to attend a Pennsylvania Construction Career Day event at the Centre County Grange Fairgrounds in Centre Hall on Wednesday, April 23, 2008.

The goal of the program is to introduce 9th, 10th, and 11th grade high school students to career opportunities in the Commonwealth’s $3.0 billion transportation construction, design, and maintenance industry.

Activities will include hands-on demonstrations of heavy equipment operations, testing materials, surveying, welding, designing a bridge, use of safety equipment, making and finishing concrete, rebar tying, estimating jobs, use of GPS/GIS technology and much more. College and university representatives will also be present to talk to students about civil engineering, geo-technical, construction management, environmental, and information technology degrees that are in great demand with transportation construction industry employers.

The event is being planned by a public/private partnership consisting of the Associated Pennsylvania Constructors, PennDOT, PA Turnpike Commission, Federal Highway Administration, and the PA Department of Education.

Interested students need to contact their school guidance counselors for more information. There are no registration fees but schools are responsible for transportation to and from the event.

More information can also be found on the web at www.PaConstructionCareerDay.com .