Our chapter is hosting Block Kids at Crestline Elementary on Wednesday morning, January 25th.  Crestline is located in Vancouver, WA off of I-205 and Mill Plain Exit.  Our participants will be the entire fifth grade of the school – approximately 80 students. 

A little history … The Block Kids Building Program was developed as a tool to introduce young students to the idea of a career in one of the many facets of the construction industry.  As you know, our industry faces a workforce shortage that poses a serious problem for our national economy.  In order to meet the employment demand for construction, our industry needs to attract, educate and train about 240,000 newcomers annually. 

Here’s a link for more information about the program:

https://nef-edu.org/block-kids-building-competition/

We will begin with each student being provided a bag of Lego blocks, string and a piece of foil.  Each student will have 40 to create anything they like – hopefully construction-oriented.  Judges will interview each student while they are working.  Prizes will later be awarded for first, second and third place winners.  The first place winner will advance to the regional competition and one semi-finalist from each NAWIC region will then be judged at the national level.  Each student will also receive a goody bag.

How can you help?  We need approximately 20 judges plus SWAG (appropriate for ages 10-11) for the goody bags.  As a judge you will be assigned 3-4 students to monitor and interview during the building process.  Co-workers and friends are welcome to join the fun as well!

Please email Kelly Aust (kelly.aust@skanska.com)  if you are interested in Volunteering