NBN Online for the week of March 10, 2008

Students Battle in Construction Project Competition at IBS

	Arizona State University winners of the Residential Construction Competition’s four-year division are joined on stage by Pulte Homes representative Craig Russo. Photo by Oscar-Einzig

Nearly 1,500 of NAHB’s student members traveled to Orlando last month to attend the International Builders’ Show (IBS).

As always, the highlight of the NAHB Student Chapters' schedule at the show was the Residential Construction Competition, where participating schools showed the judges how their six-student teams had taken a large-scale housing construction project from groundbreaking to completion.

Pulte Homes sponsored this year’s construction project and provided teams with real plans from its Berkshire Park single-family home development in Windermere, Fla.

Fifty-four teams competed this year from 30 four-year universities, 12 two-year colleges and 12 high schools and technical schools.

After three days of presentations, the winners were announced on Friday, Feb. 15, at the Student Chapters Award Ceremony:

• In the four-year division, Arizona State University upset 2007 champion Middle Tennessee State University to take home the coveted first-place trophy. Last year’s champion finished in third place, while Brigham Young University grabbed second, moving up one spot from its 2007 showing. Finishing in fourth and fifth place in the standings, respectively, were 2005 and 2006 winner Cal-Poly San Luis Obispo and last year’s second-place team Colorado State University. Iowa State University was named Rookie of the Year.
  
  
• In the two-year division, top-three stalwart Pennsylvania College of Technology took first prize and Utah Valley State College came in second. Brigham Young University — Idaho finished third. Rookie of the Year honors went to the College of Southern Idaho.
  
  
• Participation in the secondary division moved up to an even dozen, topping last year’s record of seven teams. First-time competitor Jackson High School took home Rookie of the Year honors and impressed the judges so much that they also nabbed a third-place finish. 2007 winner Cumberland Perry Area Vocational Technical School (AVTS) finished second this year. After a year’s hiatus from the contest, Juneau Douglas High School came all the way from Alaska to reclaim top honors.

Winning teams took home the coveted NAHB Student Chapters divisional trophy and individual plaques, along with checks for the teams, calculators donated by Calculated Industries and duffel bag coolers from Sage Timberline.

In addition to Pulte Homes, who donated at the highest Presidents' level to support all IBS activities, Professors' level supporters Centex Homes, K Hovnanian Homes, Lend Lease Retail & Communities and Toll Brothers were present during the week and were able to promote their companies at the Building Careers Job Fair.

NAHB’s philanthropic arm, The National Housing Endowment, provided students with Internet Kiosks and bus transportation from the awards reception.

Outstanding Leadership, Chapters and Faculty

Several other prominent awards were presented at the ceremony:

• Bill Faulk, a champion of Student Chapters Residential Construction competitions, particularly in the two-year and secondary divisions, received the NAHB Student Chapters Distinguished Service Award for his continuous support of the program. Faulk played a major role in increasing secondary school participation from three in 2006, to seven in 2007 and to a record high of 12 in 2008.
  
  
• Sponsored by NCHI — The Leading Suppliers of NAHB, the top Outstanding Student Chapter awards again went to perennial powerhouses Southeast Community College in first place, Delgado Community College in second place and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in third place. Southeast Community College and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln were both sponsored by the Home Builders Association of Lincoln.
  
  
• This year’s Outstanding Educator award was divided into awards for an outstanding educator with less than five years experience and an award for all others. The winners were John Breitenbach from the Cherokee Technology Center, Gaffney, S.C. as the Outstanding Junior Faculty member and Richard Gebken from Missouri State University in Springfield, Mo. as the Outstanding Educator.

For more information on NAHB Student Chapters, e-mail Page Browning at HBI, or call her at 800-795-7955 x8918.

	Southeast Community College reclaimed the Outstanding Student Chapter Award after a one-year hiatus. Photo by Oscar-Einzig

Home Builders Institute Offers New Program to Teach Hispanic Adults English Sed de Saber™-Construction Edition is an easy-to-use, take-home learning tool created exclusively for the construction industry by the Home Builders Institute to improve communication, quality and safety on the job site.

The product, now available at www.seddesaberconstruction.com, uses proven LeapFrog technology to allow workers to listen, record and play back their pronunciation of more than 500 vocabulary words and 340 phrases. Participants who practice 30 minutes each day will complete the program in just four months. Learning at home, on their own time, also eliminates scheduling conflicts.

Sed de Saber™-Construction Edition was developed by a team of subject matter experts assembled through HBI — including superintendents, craft skills experts, remodelers and builders — to ensure that the information is relevant to today’s home building workforce. To address worker safety issues related to the language barrier, HBI created a seventh book based entirely on the NAHB-OSHA Job Site Safety Handbook.

NAHB members can purchase the learning system, all seven books and a skills assessment to chart employee progress for $395 per kit. The non-member price is $495. Order today and empower your workers to learn English at www.seddesaberconstruction.com.