June 13, 2011
Nation's Building News

The Official Online Newspaper of NAHB

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Workforce Development
HBI Job Corps Students Create Award for Army’s Heavy Hitters
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HBI students at the Old Dominion Job Corps Center in Monroe, Va., with their instructor, Sean Kelly, left, earned an award from the U.S. Army for designing and crafting Heavy Hitter Award plaques for non-commissioned officers at the Lynchburg Army Recruiting Station.

Seventeen non-commissioned officers from the Lynchburg Army Recruiting Station who have gone above and beyond the call of duty recently received the station’s first Heavy Hitter Awards, which were created by Home Builders Institute (HBI) facilities maintenance students at the Old Dominion Job Corps Center in Monroe, Va.

The award features a clear pine wall plaque that holds and displays a baseball bat. It was made by the students as part of the community service and skills training that are central to the HBI Residential Construction Academy curriculum.

The project allowed the students to hone their mechanical abilities while they helped their country in a small but meaningful way, said HBI facilities maintenance instructor Sean Kelly.

The project took the students two weeks to finish in the midst of their day-to-day coursework and career training.

The students collaborated in a brainstorming session to arrive at the design.

They created templates for the plaques with the appropriate dimensions. With a jigsaw and drill press they cut out hangers and the backs of the plaques, then smoothed out the edges and fashioned hanging rails with a router.

Finally, they applied stain and polyurethane to the plaques and put them together with screws and glue, Kelly said.


Sgt. Jeffrey Craddock of the Lynchburg Army Recruiting Station displays the Heavy Hitter Award plaque the HBI Job Corps students crafted for him and other non-commissioned officers.

Staff Sgt. Tennyson noted that the project had to be completed within a limited amount of time, and after discussing options with the students, “we were confident that they would be able to deliver a quality result to us.”

At an assembly of the center’s entire student body, the Army presented the students with an award in appreciation of their services.

“They came through on their promise and delivered us an outstanding end-product,” said Tennyson. “We are grateful for their willingness to give back and for Job Corps’ continued support of the United States Army.”

“It’s good to be appreciated by those who serve our country,” said HBI facilities maintenance student Domonique Brown. “It meant a lot to be able to show the servicemen and servicewomen that we appreciate them.”

For more information about the HBI Job Corps program,email Keith Albright, or call him at 800-795-7955 x8911.

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